High Tunnel Resource Kit and Trainings with Grow Appalachia - Year 2

One major growth area in the region con nues to be high tunnels. The new two-year project’s focus area of Eastern Kentucky has one of the highest densi es of new high tunnels in the na on thanks to several USDA cost-share programs and Grow Appalachia ini a ves. To maximize the impact of these high tunnels, resources and technical assistance are needed to ensure appropriate crops and cropping systems are applied by farmers to leverage the increased produc on poten al of high tunnel infrastructure. In Partnership with the University of Kentucky’s College of Agriculture and the Kentucky Hor culture Council, this project will curate and distribute regionally appropriate high tunnel resources to create a comprehensive resource kit that will assist both new and exis ng high tunnel producers in decision making. To ensure these resource kits are well distributed, and technical support is available for the implementa on of the informa on contained in them, Grow Appalachia and our iden ?ed partners will train USDA-NRCS and Extension Agents on the content. Educa onal materials For the proposed updated EKY-DIGS Program, we will partner with the University of Kentucky’s College of Agriculture and the Kentucky Horticulture Council to compile and curate high tunnel resources that are the most useable and relevant to producers in our service region. Once compiled, these will become a comprehensive resource kit that will be shared with Cooperative Extension and USDA-NRCS Agents who will distribute to farmers to better equip them for successful utilization of high tunnel production systems. Training for regional agriculture professionals and mentors So that farmers have additional professionals to assist in the implementation of the high tunnel resource kits, Grow Appalachia, University of Kentucky’s College of Agriculture, and the Kentucky Horticulture Council will partner to conduct trainings for Cooperative Extension and USDA-NRCS Agents. These trainings will include how to navigate and use the tool kits, as well as critical topics contained in the kits such as site selection for high tunnels and who to connect producers to for additional technical and marketing assistance for their farm. Trainings will be conducted in person and online to reach the largest number of Agents, and so the trainings can be recorded and used for future Agents as they are on- boarded.