WINTER/SPRING 2003 the Magazine

New Department Helps Kentuckians Turn Change into Progress ..... 2

A Plant Pathologist Takes on Tall Fescue’s Endophyte .....6

Take a Walk on the Wild Side .....10

Toward Solving the Medical Mystery of MRLS ..... 14

Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service Annual Report ..... 18

New Department Helps Kentuckians Turn Change into Progress

When the Department of Community and Leadership Development was created in July of last year, it marked a strengthened emphasis on individuals, families, and communities that are abundantly evident throughout the commonwealth. Its aim is to help Kentuckians take change and turn it into progress.

The new department is comprised of bits and pieces of other departments and units. Rural sociologists, whose appointments had been straddling both the College of Agriculture and the College of Arts and Sciences, became fully associated with the College of Agriculture. (The rural sociology faculty still participate in the doctoral program associated with the Department of Sociology.) The agricultural education teaching faculty, housed for the past 10 years in the Department of Agricultural Economics, became part of the new department. The agricultural communications teaching faculty also joined the new department, as did two faculty members responsible for development and evaluation of the Extension program.

"The new 18-faculty member department is not just a reconfiguration of faculty members from disparate places. Rather, this new department's faculty bring to bear the collective talents of faculty members who can help Kentuckians in their quest for progress," said Gary Hansen, chair of the new department.

Those collective talents were amazingly easy to organize into a new department, as every faculty member saw the advantages of the new structure. The faculty of the new department and college leaders agreed remarkably on the need for such a department and worked diligently to accomplish its establishment.

Even though the act of creating the Department of Community and Leadership Development began prior to the appointment of Lee Todd as president of the University of Kentucky, it nonetheless supports to a "T" his vision of the University of Kentucky becoming a resource for all Kentuckians.

The Goal: Progress
President Todd often speaks of committing the University to a higher purpose, chiseling away at what he calls the Kentucky Uglies—low literacy, poor health, and low incomes—and the constellation of factors that give rise to them.

With these seemingly long-standing-but-still-unresolved issues coupled with the complex changes imposed upon Kentucky during the last decade, this new department has its work cut out for it.

But Hansen is resolute as well as optimistic.

"Even though the effects of these old issues and recent social, demographic, and economic changes are quite profound in about every sphere of Kentucky life, we shouldn't believe they must determine our fixed destiny. We can do something about them if we have the skills and desire to do so. We need to remember that change happens to all of us all the time, but progress happens only when we take change and turn it into what we want," Hansen said.

Community Development
Kentucky needs skilled leaders with the ability to assess their communities' situations and to make them better places to live. This department can address those needs with a variety of its programs, Hansen said. Programs now in place offer communities ways to deal with the legacies of the past and the challenges of the future.

The community visioning program led by Lori Garkovich, Ron Hustedde, and Julie Zimmerman is helping communities assess what's happening to them and what they can do to make their community a better place.

"When I go out to a community, the fact that I've been invited means that community leaders see a need to think through their destiny and have a desire to make plans to shape it," Garkovich said. What happens during the visioning workshop is little short of amazing. Just look what happened in Carter County, when local citizens "visioned" their community of the future.

In early 2000, the community leaders met for a day-long session with Garkovich. By the end of the day, the leaders had a laundry list of what they believed they needed to do to make the county a better place to live.

The group met again 15 months later to share a progress report. The accomplishments included expanding emergency care for citizens, mapping water line expansion for five water districts, and developing a long-range plan for road resurfacing.

Research for Kentuckians
While community development is a broad focus of the new department's work, its research in other areas promises huge dividends.

Already, faculty members are partnering with a number of other groups in Kentucky, including the Tracy Farmer Center for the Environment, the Martin School of Public Policy and Administration, the Kentucky Association of County Officials, the Kentucky Cabinet for Families and Children, and the Appalachian Center, among others.

Keiko Tanaka's research program investigates the intersection between agriculture and biotechnology, especially how people think about the use of biotechnology for food and medicine.

Because people have differing sentiments about biotechnology based on whether the science is used for food or medicine, Tanaka's social science research helps scientists in agriculture and medicine understand the public's reaction to their research and findings.

"Ultimately, the future of biotechnology—especially as new genetically engineered products move from the laboratory bench to the marketplace—will be determined by whether people accept the premises of the research. If they are squeamish, for example, about genetically modified animals but not plants, researchers may decide to develop pharmaceuticals around the plant model," she said.

Trish Dyk's research about how welfare reform is affecting Kentucky families provides vital knowledge to the state's leaders as they seek to implement policies that enhance the lives of those affected by welfare reform. And colleague Roz Harris' work on the impact of poverty on children and youth has been instrumental to policy makers in enacting programs to help meet the food needs of young people whose families are below the poverty threshold.

"It may sound hokey, but it's true nonetheless. This department is an exciting place to be right now. We are energized by the possibilities for research, teaching, and outreach and by the new working relationships we are creating that will give us the opportunity to help all Kentuckians, their families, and their communities progress in the years ahead," Hansen said.

We are energized by the possibilities for research, teaching, and outreach and by the new working relationships we are creating that will give us the opportunity to help all Kentuckians.
—Gary Hansen

The Instructional Program
It's a mouthful of a program name, but it opens a world of opportunities for its graduates. The major is called the B.S. degree in agricultural education, communications, and public service and leadership. Students enrolled in the major—and currently there are 125 students pursuing the degree—can concentrate on one of the three options.

• The agricultural education option, housed for many years in the College of Education and then in the Department of Agricultural Economics, trains students to become vocational and technical high school teachers. Many of the students, however, use the training to pursue non-school teaching careers, such as those in agribusiness and farming. Currently 50 undergraduate students are enrolled in the agricultural education program, and another 50 graduate students are working toward an M.S. degree.
• The agricultural communications option currently has 55 undergraduate students enrolled. Graduates of the program enter careers in agricultural writing, public relations, and marketing, although many students also find the course work helpful in graduate and professional school.
• The 20-plus students majoring in the public service and leadership option are being prepared for careers in government and non-profit organizations, although, as with the other two options, students often use their degree to pursue other careers.

A Plant Pathologist Takes on Tall Fescue’s Endophyte - top
by Randy Weckman

Don't ask plant pathologist Chris Schardl about tall fescue grass unless you've brought your lunch along— and maybe dinner, too. Schardl is a world-renowned expert on tall fescue and its symbiotic friend, an endophyte fungus that lives inside the plant between the plant cells.

His research focuses on the relationship between the fungus and the grass. The plant nurtures and gives sustenance to the fungus and, in return, the endophyte helps the plant keep insects at bay, survive drought, and tolerate grazing by livestock. Schardl plans to tinker ever so slightly with the cozy relationship between the two to make the tall fescue-endophyte system better for livestock.

Tall fescue is a popular forage grass, with millions upon millions of acres of it growing from Wisconsin to Florida and from the East Coast to Kansas and beyond. Because nearly all of these millions of acres of fescue are infected with a fungal endophyte (which is a word made up from Greek, meaning within the plant), the grass has tremendous advantages over other common grazing grasses. But it also holds a significant disadvantage for livestock. The endophyte, with the scientific name of Neotyphodium coenophialum, can be responsible for poor weight gain, hormonal imbalances that lead to reduced fertility and lactation, birthing problems, and in extreme conditions, gangrene of the animals' limbs. Overall, it is estimated that tall fescue toxicosis may cost the livestock industry roughly $1 billion annually.

"In the tit-for-tat relationship between the two, the endophyte helps in a variety of ways, including drought tolerance, shoot growth, tillering, seed production, seed germination, phosphorus uptake, and resistance to nematodes and insects alike," Schardl said.

The symbiotic relationship is many thousands of years old. In fact, Schardl's group discovered that N. coenophialum shares a relationship with other Neotyphodium species (also called Epichloe species) in fescues and ryegrasses that are all over Europe and northern Africa, but the tall fescue endophyte has a uniquely complex origin as a hybrid of three other endophytes.

As a hybrid, the tall fescue endophyte brings together many beneficial traits that ancestral endophytes evolved as symbionts of ancient grass species. But like mules, which are the hybrid product of horses and burros, the tall fescue endophyte cannot reproduce sexually. Reproduction of the endophyte depends on its ability to extend microscopic runners into each developing seed of the tall fescue plant. When that seed germinates, the endophyte proliferates throughout the new plant's tissues.

Keeping the Good, Removing the Bad
Schardl's research, funded by both the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Science Foundation, is a two-pronged project to:

• Determine exactly how the fungus in fescue helps the plant.
• Manipulate the genetics of the fungus to keep the good qualities while removing its ability to cause fescue toxicosis.

The plant pathologist believes that much has been accomplished toward these aims. Schardl's group, along with other researchers at UK and elsewhere, has shown how the endophyte starts the process that leads to toxicosis in grazing animals. The fungus produces three types of alkaloids. Of these, ergot alkaloid in the form of ergovaline is the most likely culprit in toxicosis in grazing animals.

The fungus also produces loline alkaloid and peramine alkaloid, both of which help protect the fescue plant from insects and drought. (Loline alkaloid is a natural insecticide. Peramine is rather nasty tasting to insects, which helps the plant ward off invasion from hungry insects.) Schardl also wants to see if loline alkaloid helps tall fescue survive drought. Apparently neither loline alkaloid nor peramine alkaloid is poisonous to grazing animals.

Schardl also has identified specific genes that control the production of the three types of alkaloids. Each is triggered by a different set of genes.

How did he do that?

Schardl's laboratory brings to bear the most current techniques in biochemistry and molecular biology and the classical techniques of Gregor Mendel and Thomas Hunt Morgan to find the alkaloid production genes. For example, in a "reverse genetics" approach, the researchers find out what chemical reactions are responsible for each step in the complex pathway the endophyte uses to manufacture each alkaloid. Then they find and analyze the biochemical catalysts (enzymes) for each of those steps. Finally, they use knowledge of the enzyme structure to find the genes that code for them. (Genes are really sequences of DNA that come together in a particular linear order to control the development of every cell in any living thing.)

A parallel approach uses principles of evolution, earning for Schardl a worldwide reputation as an expert in the evolution of symbionts. Schardl started his work in the evolution of symbionts by studying the origins of Neotyphodium species that are symbiotic with wild grasses, which are related to tall fescue. In doing so, he has discovered scores of new Neotyphodium species, some of which produce the same alkaloids as the tall fescue endophyte and some that don't.

By comparing the DNA sequences from different Neotyphodium species in what amounts to a sophisticated process of elimination, his group confirmed the identity of genes responsible for the production of ergovaline, the alkaloid that is toxic to animals. This same approach helped them find other genes that apparently direct the endophyte to make loline and peramine alkaloids, which help protect the plant from insects and drought.

The Next Step
Now that they've found the genes they were looking for, Schardl's group plans to insert foreign DNA (the building blocks of genes) in the middle of the gene that controls the production of ergovaline. It is hoped the result will be that the gene will not be able to express itself because of interferences from foreign DNA. This would stop the endophyte from producing the ergovaline toxin. Genes that control the other two alkaloids—the ones that help protect the plant from insects and drought—would be unaffected.

Schardl speaks about his work with confidence but without arrogance, as if what he's already done is merely applying known techniques to the problem described by other scientists. He is equally confident that he will be able to disengage the specific gene in the endophyte that causes fescue toxicosis while keeping the protective qualities of the endophytic fungus intact.

Already, graduate students in his laboratory have disengaged this gene in an endophyte of ryegrass (a first cousin to fescue) and have shown that the modified endophyte was still a capable symbiont.

Having put all the techniques in place and found the key genes, Schardl's laboratory is now engineering out the ergot alkaloid gene in the tall fescue endophyte. But why was time spent on a ryegrass endophyte, if plans really were to apply the techniques to tall fescue?

The answer is that the tall fescue endophyte, being a complex hybrid—sort of like a mule—requires more than double the time and effort needed to accomplish this task.

"It was necessary to show the U.S. Department of Agriculture that we knew how to do this so they would fund our work on tall fescue, which will cost more time and money than ryegrass," Schardl said.

The ryegrass system is being used to determine specifically the costs, benefits, and risks of this kind of engineered product. Meanwhile, Schardl's students are developing and testing more sophisticated approaches to modify the tall fescue endophyte.

"Our new approach is intended to remove the gene we want to remove yet have no foreign gene in its place," Schardl said. "Although this may sound simple—and maybe someday it will be—it actually requires us to make some additional technological advances in fungal molecular biology," Schardl said.

"The payback could be enormous. If we can eliminate the endophyte's ability to manufacture ergovaline, we may greatly improve the economics of pasturing livestock in Kentucky and much of the eastern U.S.," he said.

The Stowaway Grass and Fescue War - top

Tall fescue grows throughout the South as the premier grazing grass. The most common cultivar—which became known later as Kentucky 31—was discovered in Menifee County, Kentucky, by University of Kentucky agronomist E.N. Fergus in the fall of 1931, a year noted for a severe drought. Fergus, in Frenchburg that day judging a local sorghum syrup contest, heard from the clerk of the circuit court about an amazing grass growing locally. Intrigued, Fergus asked to see the grass growing on W.M. Suiter's farm. Fergus later admitted that he didn't recognize the species. To his astonishment, the grass was lush, green, and quite vigorous. Fergus noted that on that hillside where the grass was growing there was virtually no erosion. He asked for seed, which he brought back to Lexington. The grass performed well in research trials and was officially named Kentucky 31. Because of these characteristics, Kentucky 31 was planted throughout the South and Midwest to provide grazing pasture and control erosion on millions of acres.

Kentucky 31 was so aggressive and hardy that it took over large regions wherever it was planted. But soon, farmers noticed that livestock grazing it sometimes didn't perform well, especially in hot weather, and they raised questions about it. As a result, Kentucky 31 became quite controversial within the College of Agriculture's agronomy department, especially between two professors. One professor continued to preach the blessings of the grass, while the other cursed it. Fergus reported many years after his retirement that he was able to stay out of the fray, but opined that avoiding the conflict was difficult. Sometimes referred to as the Fescue War, the duel over Kentucky 31, which was quite acrimonious and public, continued from the late 1940s until the summer of 1952, when both antagonists left the University of Kentucky. Subsequent to that, other University of Kentucky agronomists continued to investigate the concerns with Kentucky 31 fescue and helped establish the mechanism by which fescue toxicosis is effected.

The fact that the grass found on W.M. Suiter's hillside in 1931 is not a native grass, but rather of European origins, is puzzling. The story explaining how this European grass became established in Menifee County is fascinating but well may be apocryphal. The legend is that a shipment of bone chinaware from England arrived in Menifee County sometime in the 19th century. Grass packing material surrounded the fine china to help prevent breakage during the long ship ride across the Atlantic. That stowaway grass was tall fescue, and its own stowaway was the fungal endophyte. The seed in the packing grass, perhaps planted on purpose or by accident, became the progenitor of today's fescue, now growing on millions of acres throughout the South. And despite tall fescue toxicosis, the growth, persistence, drought tolerance, and suitability on hillsides continue to make it a very popular grass.

When Continents Collide
Sometime after the primordial mist had settled and about 50 million years before dinosaurs, the great land masses of the Americas, Europe, and Africa collided. The force of the collision, which took millennia to finish (the collision occurred so slowly that your fingernails grow at a faster pace) was so full of energy that it uplifted and tilted one set of rock layers over another, creating the Appalachians, including Pine Mountain of Kentucky. And thousands of miles to the east, the Himalayas in Asia were created at pretty much the same time and by the same forces.

Kentucky's Pine Mountain, on the Kentucky-Tennessee-Virginia border, displays its history on its western shoulder, where visitors can see the swell of the layers of rock set at 40 degrees to the horizontal. The layers of the northwestern edge of Pine Mountain were pushed up about 2,000 feet eons ago. Since that time, wind and water have reduced that amount by half. At one strategic point, now called the Cumberland Gap, erosion was sufficient for passage of both people and migrating animals.

The 120-mile-long Pine Mountain (it reaches from near Jellico, Tenn., through Pound, Va., northward to Pikeville) was so named because of large stands of pine trees scattered throughout its length, in sharp contrast to other nearby mountains that have few pines, including Black Mountain and Cumberland Mountain. The pine stands on the mountain are due, it is thought, to its thin, sandy soil. It isn't just pines that make Pine Mountain distinctive. The other flora and fauna on the mountain are unusual, too. One source says that the mountain is home to more than 90 species of rare plants and animals. Several of these are known nowhere else in the world. Of the more common species, deer (and now elk), bear, and other small mammals, along with raptors and other high-flying birds, use the 120-mile-long narrow corridor to move between feeding areas.

Ecotourists will be able to experience the wilderness of the mountain as they hike its trails and imagine the area a hundred, a thousand, a million years ago.

Take a Walk on the Wild Side - top
by Randy Weckman

Experts in economic development sometimes advise community leaders to look at what they already have that could serve as a basis for economic development before they worry about what they don't have. After all, they reason, you don't decide what you're going to have for supper by making a list of what you don't have in your pantry.

Using that positive approach, the people of Letcher County spied a potential crown jewel in their own backyard—Pine Mountain, which is both historic and ecologically significant and a potential renewable resource for tourism. But how would they move from idea to realization?

That's where Cooperative Extension Agent Shad Baker entered the picture. Four years ago, Baker responded to community interest in developing a hiking trail through the area—a hiking trail that would allow local and maybe some regional hikers to enjoy the wilderness of Pine Mountain.

Baker worked with interested local leaders to form a committee to explore the concept of a simple hiking trail.

Committee: Promote, Protect
The committee, small at first and comprised mostly of people interested in hiking, quickly expanded to include other local leaders who realized that Pine Mountain, if properly promoted and protected, would be the economic shot in the arm they needed to offset dwindling coal revenues.

Economic incentive is pretty strong in Letcher County. After all, its major industry, coal mining, has had its shares of ups and downs. Some 50 percent of jobs in the mining industry evaporated between 1990 and 1995, leaving county people in need of jobs. Per capita income ranks at just 54 percent of the national average.

Baker knew firsthand the riskiness of depending on coal for long-run economic stability; both his mother and father were coal miners.

"But coal isn't the only blessing we have in this mountain," Baker said.

Because he grew up in Jenkins, Baker is no stranger to Pine Mountain. "My grandpa taught me to squirrel hunt on Pine Mountain," he said. "I think if you're from the area, Pine Mountain always rests in your soul."

Baker, like many a mountain boy, plays modest about his role in taking the community leaders' concept and making it a reality.

"I did what Extension agents do. I helped the people of Letcher County think through their idea. I connected them with experts who could help them hone it into a package that would serve the county's interest in ecotourism while protecting the ecological uniqueness of the mountain," Baker said. "They did the work; I just gave them ideas on how to organize their efforts."

Tourist Attraction
One of the first things the local committee did was take stock of what Pine Mountain offered for tourists. They found one main attraction—a 60-foot waterfall, Bad Branch Falls. The falls was known locally but probably not on any list of must-see spots for tourists, although visitors seldom fail to be awestruck by its majesty and the peaceful wilderness surrounding it.

"We believed that the number of tourists coming to view Bad Branch Falls would be enhanced if we developed a hiking trail. People could do both when they visited Letcher County," Baker said. And the more tourists visit, the more money they spend, which boosts the local economy.

With enthusiasm running on high, the committee added more members who could help flesh out a plan. With about 150 members, it became the Pine Mountain Trail Conference Inc., a more formal organization that would take the idea to the next step—a plan of action.

From Simple to Spectacular
As the local leaders talked about their dreams of sharing Pine Mountain with the rest of the world, they broadened their initial concept of the simple, relatively short hiking trail into a spectacular nature trail—not quite as extensive as the Appalachian Trail that runs from Georgia to Maine, but a nature trail long enough to be significant to backpackers, hikers, and nature enthusiasts. Their plans included a 120-mile-long trail from Breaks Interstate Park (on the Kentucky-Tennessee-Virginia border) to Cumberland Gap National Historic Park (near Middlesboro) that would include the picturesque vistas and panoramas that only Pine Mountain could offer. Their trail would be a very narrow corridor trail—sometimes only 250 feet wide, sometimes 1,000 feet wide—that would feature natural treasures including upland bogs, pine barrens, meadows, and pioneer homesteads.

"We are set right smack dab in the middle of the Pine Mountain Corridor and a stone's throw from Breaks State Park," Baker said. "We thought if we connected the dots, so to speak, with a nature trail along the spine of Pine Mountain—between Breaks State Park and the lower end of the mountain 120 miles southwest at Cumberland Gap near Middlesboro—we could have an ecotourism attraction that would lure many tourists to the region."

Because of the plans of the Pine Mountain Trail Conference, the trail—even though still just an idea (although a great idea) was named one of 16 Millennium Trails by the White House Millennium Council in 1999, which selected trails that were both ecologically and historically significant. Extension agent Baker completed the application for the honor.

First Dollars, Then Work
Just two years after a few local people asked Baker to help them put together a simple hiking trail, the plans were under way for a major ecotourism draw. And the Pine Mountain Trail Conference, bolstered by the Millennium designation, applied for a grant of $1 million to start buying land and easements for the trail's head in Letcher County. By 2000, the grant was earmarked for the Pine Mountain Trail Conference in the federal transportation budget, in large measure through the efforts of Rep. Hal Rogers.

With the grant, the conference began construction of the trail from U.S. 23 near Jenkins to Cumberland Gap. Locals call this stretch of Pine Mountain the Birch Knob section. When this first leg of the trail was completed, the conference, with the help of the Letcher County Cooperative Extension Service, published a trail guide for would-be tourists. The 60-page guide describes the local flora and fauna and provides maps of points of interest in Letcher County.

Because of its early success, the enthusiasm of Letcher County leaders, and the promise of economic development coming to the area with the Pine Mountain Trail project, Gov. Paul Patton asked to meet with representatives from the group to explore crafting a bill to establish the corridor needed to complete the trail. And, he allocated $600,000 to match $600,000 provided by the Department for Local Government to start purchasing privately held land to augment the public land that makes up much of the trail.

In March 2002, Gov. Patton signed the bill establishing the corridor into law. The $1.2 million Patton provided, in addition to the $1 million received through the federal transportation grant, put really sturdy legs on the plan.

And to further help Letcher County's local leaders, the governor asked for $1.2 million from the T21 fund, a federal program to enhance transportation in the 21st century.

Today and Tomorrow
Already, four years after the first community leaders asked Baker for help in thinking through their idea, the Pine Mountain Trail is a reality, with 32 miles of trails established. The currently open stretch starts at Breaks Interstate Park in Elkhorn City and meanders along the ridge of the Virginia side of Pine Mountain and back into Kentucky at U.S. 23 above Jenkins. Another 90 miles of trail will be designated within the next decade.

Will the trail make a difference in the county's economy in the next few years?

UK Cooperative Extension tourism specialist Rick Bates said that the economic difference the trail will make will resonate throughout the local economy. He estimates that the average tourist spends about $50 per day for food, lodging, and incidentals.

Baker estimates that the finished trail will attract between 100,000 and 200,000 tourists each year, although only a small number of them will hike the entire 120 miles of the trail. That yearly estimate rivals the 250,000 pioneers who crossed west to the frontier through the Cumberland Gap throughout its entire use from the late 1700s to the mid-1800s.

The effects of that number of tourists spending $50 per day will be big for a county where unemployment and underemployment are high. Not only will more tourists mean more dollars coming into the county, but there will be more jobs as business activity expands to provide food, lodging, and hiking equipment for the tourists.

Baker is proud of the Letcher County leaders' accomplishments with the ecotourism project.

"This project shows that Extension is the art of the possible," Baker said.

Pine Mountain Trail State Park became official March 30, 2002. On hand to mark the day were, from left to right, Leonard Fleming, Kentucky Department of Transportation; Shad Baker, Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service; Randy Tackett, Letcher County attorney; and Gov. Paul Patton.

Ecotourism:
An Old Concept with a New Name
Kentuckians are not strangers to ecotourism, even though the term is relatively modern. From the 1850s on, Kentucky had abundant forms of it, from the strange to the still popular. Many other states did, too. Recall Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, Ruby Falls in Tennessee, and the La Brea Tar Pits in California, to name just a few.

In Kentucky, sulfur baths were popular respites for mid-19th century Kentuckians—at least for the landed gentry and their coterie. Called "taking the waters," these mini-vacations included a strong dose of attention plus bathing in and drinking water from naturally-occurring mineral springs. Evenings at these tourist stops may have been spent at a cotillion—the place to see and be seen by those who could afford it.

While scientists today would ascribe little to the curative powers of such mineralized waters, it is likely that the dosage that made the difference to those who felt the cure was due to the tender loving care "patients" received at the hotels rather than the water they bathed in or drank. The revelry that accompanied taking the waters may well have been the efficacious tonic the patrons needed.

The Mammoth Cave area was an early 20th century ecotourism stop. The vast underground caves, replete with stalactites and stalagmites, lured thousands of people each year to visit the area—as the caves still do. It didn't take a Wall Street banker to figure out that visitors to the caves spent far, far more money locally than the simple cost of a ticket into the underground warrens. By the 1880s, guides were hired to shepherd visitors throughout the caves. For a price, tourists could visit various rooms of the caves that were embellished by fanciful names such as the Gothic Chapel, the Maelstrom Pit, and the Bridal Altar.

Lodging, food, and trinkets to take home to attest to one's good style in visiting the caves became a regular source of economic stimulation. Mammoth Cave alone is said to provide more than $96 million in economic activity annually to the surrounding area.

The Pine Mountain Trail will serve as the modern economic catalyst for tourism. Its ecotourism appeal is to conservationists, nature lovers, and those who want to enjoy the ecology of the mountain. And while the trail will mean big business, it will also be compatible with conservation and preservation of an ecologically important area.

If you want to know more about hiking the Pine Mountain Trail or want to see the beauty of the trail, log onto the Web at: www.pinemountaintrail.com

Information about Bad Branch Falls can be accessed on the Web at: www.KYnaturepreserves.org/badbranch.html

Toward Solving the Medical Mystery of MRLS - top

From elementary school through graduate school, students are inculcated with the scientific method as the preferred way of discovery. To many, the scientific method seems contemplative, systematic, thorough, and exhaustive, which indeed it usually is. For scientists, the method is rigorous, logical, and fascinating, and maybe even comforting because of its measured pace.

Every now and then, however, all those qualities of the scientific method must be put to work fast, at breakneck speed, because scientific discovery cannot wait for the niceties of time. In such urgent times, experiments succeed and fail in rapid fashion; ideas are proposed, tested, and pursued—and discarded in favor of more compelling theories—in days and weeks instead of years. In these times of urgency, the scientists themselves renew their understanding of their passion and excitement for the process of science, and their appreciation of it becomes even more keen.

Such was the case in May 2001, when the number of stillborn, weak, and dying foals and early aborted foals in Central Kentucky mares grew alarmingly high. During the weekend of the Kentucky Derby, Lenn Harrison, the director of the UK Livestock Diagnostic Center, knew that his life in the near future would be directed toward research at machine gun pace until the cause—and hopefully a prevention strategy—was discovered. On Derby Saturday alone, 73 dead foals and fetuses—10 times the normal number—had been delivered to the back door of the facility; by Monday, that number had reached 276. It was becoming abundantly clear with each new foal or fetus that whatever was causing problems was doing so with a vengeance.

At the same time, veterinarians Roberta Dwyer and David Powell of the Maxwell H. Gluck Equine Research Center were fielding questions from Central Kentucky horse breeders and local equine veterinary practitioners who also had noticed an increase in stillborn, weak, and dying foals as well as aborted fetuses during the last days of April.

More than a few times that weekend and throughout the next few weeks, when weekdays, weekends, and workdays were indistinguishable, Harrison thought about other scientists—epidemiologists who worked on medical mysteries such as Legionnaire's disease, the Hanta virus—as he organized a strategy to deal with the mystery. Not only would the scientists have to be good, they would have to be fast, because every foal or fetus lost due to the mysterious illness represented a monetary loss of great magnitude. With each ticktock of the clock, the cost of the disease, as well as fear among horse breeders, grew.

Pieces of the Puzzle
The pieces of the puzzle were intriguing. The epidemic seemed to be restricted for the most part to Central Kentucky, with few similar cases being reported in other states, and the disease affected all breeds of horses from ponies to Thoroughbreds to Morgans—horses that would most likely never have contact with each other—discounting a bit the idea that a communicable contagion was causing the problems. Further, the onset of the disease was sudden, with a sharp escalation in cases. Research had to find an answer—a control and prevention—if not an explanation. Harrison and the scientists from the Livestock Disease Diagnostic Center couldn't do it alone; they needed help.

Within days of the Derby, a team of more than 100 scientists from all over the College of Agriculture was assembled to investigate the mysterious disease. In some ways, organizing research to find answers as fast as possible is like playing the parlor game of 20 Questions. Instead of asking about whether it was animal, vegetable, or mineral, team members asked whether the cause of the weak foal and fetal losses was viral, bacterial, or environmental. If the cause were bacterial or viral, it might well be contagious; because of the great number of deaths and abortions, that possibility couldn't be ruled out entirely. And if it were environmental, what was the reason that it seemingly was confined to a very narrow band, nearly exclusively in the Central Bluegrass? Known viral agents, Harrison knew, would show up on necropsy and subsequent tissue testing. (Necropsy is a term used when a postmortem examination is performed on an animal, roughly equivalent to an autopsy in humans.) The pathologists found no indication of known viruses.

Bacterial agents, too, would show up at necropsy as damage to particular organs and could be cultured using petri dishes, a growing medium, and a warm environment. Unlike viruses, however, bacteria are found often on necropsy, and some bacteria are considered routine invaders of dead animals—sort of the coffin flies of bacteria. Early necropsies found rare bacterial infections in many aborted fetuses, but the scientists concluded that while they were rare—and even perhaps related to the syndrome—they likely were not the sole culprit, the smoking gun, that caused death.

And with either viruses or bacteria, the findings from necropsy should be pretty much consistent from accession (a fancy term for dead animals logged in for examination for cause of death) to accession. If, for example, the virus damaged the liver—and caused death by that damage—then the damage to the liver should be found in every necropsy performed in theory and most in practice.

Environmental Links
By May 14, just a hair over two weeks after the staff at the Livestock Disease Diagnostic Center first noticed the unusual number of foals and aborted fetuses being sent for necropsy, results of a survey of Central Kentucky horse farms indicated that the syndrome was widespread in the area, and it was continuing.

By this time, the mystery was occupying most of the pathologists at the Livestock Disease Diagnostic Center as well as scientists at Gluck Equine Research Center, the Department of Animal Sciences, and local equine practitioners. Several faculty members at Gluck remembered that in 1980 and again in 1981, early fetal losses were unusually high—but not as high as the current losses. No cause had ever been found. In both years, the mysterious syndrome started and stopped rather abruptly.

The unexpected starting and stopping of fetal and foal losses suggested strongly, but not absolutely, that something in the environment was related to the syndrome, by now named the Mare Reproductive Loss Syndrome (MRLS).

What was common about 1980, 1981, and 2001 that could be related to outbreaks of early fetal losses and weak and dying foals?

"A similar pattern of weather conditions just prior to the outbreak in all three years occurred," Harrison said. "March temperatures were below normal in all three years, followed by above-normal temperatures in April. Such a pattern could be related to an explosive biological activity in both plants and insects." All three years also were noted for having a frost or freeze in the third week of April followed by a warm-up just days later.

The similarity in weather patterns was strongly suggestive of something weather-related occurring that had an effect on pregnant mares and their fetuses, Harrison said.

Biological Factors
The avenue of the search now turned to biological factors related to weather — either through plants or insects.

Organization of the research teams within and outside the College of Agriculture was facilitated by veterinarian David Powell of the Gluck Equine Research Center and included scientists from practically every discipline whose knowledge could define the scope of the inquiry.

Weather could be linked to a variety of possible agents of the fetal deaths and weak foal births, including mycotoxins, poisons given off by fungi that can explode when the weather is just right, ergot-type alkaloids (also given off by fungi), and phytoestrogens, which are plant hormones that mimic naturally produced estrogens. At first blush, all of these seemed among the possible suspects for the losses. If any of these were the cause of the syndrome, they should show up on testing. None did.

If the common culprits appeared unrelated to the losses, the question became more intriguing. Weather and what else?

"Early on, some people had suggested that eastern tent caterpillars might be the culprit, but it didn't seem plausible," Harrison said. "No one had ever reported that tent caterpillars were anything but fairly benign creatures that created inconsequential webs in trees in early spring."

But with time ticking away and no other obvious cause on the horizon, the scientists turned their attention to the eastern tent caterpillar. The literature on the caterpillars did, however, indicate that their favorite plant to feast on was the wild cherry tree. Wild cherry leaves can release cyanide, a poison, when ingested and were known to be deadly to livestock eating them in large amounts.

Agronomist Jimmy Henning, now a principal investigator on the problem, noticed on visits to farms where the outbreaks had been most severe that wild cherry trees—and eastern tent caterpillars—were also abundant. A thorough survey of farm managers with and without losses to MRLS was led by veterinarian Roberta Dwyer and confirmed the associations. But, as any scientist knows, simple presence of phenomena does not necessarily imply a cause and effect relationship. Nonetheless, the idea was intriguing and worth further exploration.

By May 20, 2001—less than a month after the first known cases—the deaths of newborn foals and spontaneous abortions of early fetuses dropped off precipitously, just as they began. This coincided with the drop in eastern tent caterpillar numbers. And although losses were down to normal levels, the scientists continued their search to prevent and explain the syndrome that reared up in 1980, 1981, and 2001. What about future outbreaks?

Applying Research
With eastern tent caterpillars coincidently being linked to the losses, the next step was to try to replicate the losses in a controlled experiment. Up to now, the scientists had to rely on survey techniques that helped narrow the field of causes, but they were less than conclusive in a scientific sense.

Entomologist Bruce Webb, whose specialty is insect molecular virology, and equine reproductive researcher Karen McDowell designed an experiment to see if eastern tent caterpillars were linked to the losses.

The experiment was straightforward: expose 10 pregnant mares to high levels of tent caterpillars and their frass (excrement), expose nine mares only to the frass, and try to minimize exposure of 10 mares to both caterpillars and frass in a control treatment.

Wow! Within a week, the first losses were noted, and ultimately 70 percent of the mares exposed to the eastern tent caterpillars or their frass aborted their foals. Mares in the no-treatment group also had abortions, but significantly fewer. Webb explains that those abortions were likely related to the fact that the experimental facilities failed to keep all the caterpillars in their assigned pens. Because of logistical problems, caterpillar fences—made of plastic pipe cut into a half-round shape so that the caterpillars would fall back to the ground if they tried to crawl outside the pen—could not be completed until the experiment was well under way. Webb’s data confirmed that some of the caterpillars escaped to other treatment groups. Indeed, he found out caterpillars are harder to keep in a herd than horses.

"From this experiment, we were pretty sure that caterpillars were associated with the fetal losses. And following our initial experiment, we worked with local equine veterinary practitioners to verify our findings with another experiment," Webb said.

In that experiment 15 mares were put into one of three treatments. Those in one group were administered ground-up caterpillars directly into the stomach in a saline solution; a second group received frass in a saline solution; the third set of mares received the saline only.

"Eighty percent of the mares treated with the ground-up caterpillars aborted their fetuses, while none of the other mares did," Webb said. "With that, we were pretty confident that whole caterpillars—and not just their frass—were associated with MRLS." So if horse producers wanted to minimize their losses to MRLS, they should try to minimize exposure of pregnant mares to the eastern tent caterpillars.

The 'How' Is Still Unanswered
Okay, if caterpillars are linked to the outbreak of the syndrome, then how? That's still under investigation by scientists.

Currently, they are pursuing three leads on the precise mechanism by which eastern tent caterpillars cause such destruction:

• First, it might be that eastern tent caterpillars are the vector for some heretofore unidentified pathogen.
• Second, eastern tent caterpillars could carry an unidentified toxin, such as the blister beetle carries canthradin poison, so lethal to horses but not other animals. Scientists are studying the eastern tent caterpillar further to determine if this is possible.
• Finally, something about eastern tent caterpillars themselves may cause internal injuries to horses, which would result in secondary pathogens getting a foothold in pregnant mares and foals.

"From the first MRLS cases in 2001 to the last in 2002, scientists have been perplexed by the many features of this syndrome," Harrison said. "Now that a strong, scientifically-based association has been made between MRLS and the eastern tent caterpillar, scientists can focus their research efforts on projects that will provide a thorough understanding of the mechanisms that cause this disease syndrome."

The Power of Teamwork
While the logic of science helped the scientists ferret out the association between eastern tent caterpillars and Mare Reproductive Loss Syndrome, it wouldn't have happened without the complete dedication and cooperation of more than 100 scientists in the College of Agriculture, who worked together with equine veterinary practitioners, and Kentucky farm managers. Every person involved provided yeoman's service to the cause.

Scientists vigilantly tramped through pastures throughout Central Kentucky, assessing them for a plethora of factors that might even distantly be related to the syndrome. In addition, they spent days and weeks investigating potential causes and some factors that were, quite frankly, long shots. Equine veterinary practitioners monitored their cases of MRLS and provided rich data to the UK scientists; without their help the association between tent caterpillars and the syndrome might still be obscure. Vigilant farm managers kept tabs on the situation and provided complete access to their farm records and situations, helping speed up the investigation enormously.

2002 Extension Annual Report - top

Annual Report stories
by Martha Jackson

Our job is to help people improve their quality of life.

One of our Extension specialists, talking about his work in community development, said that local citizens "can take the information and run with it themselves; you can let go of the process. It truly is education." Said another: "We bring credibility. We're unbiased, research-based. People trust us."

That's the genius of Extension: our mission to empower people to help themselves and our visible, credible presence across the state. We have lots of stories to tell about how we carried out our mission in 2002.

Program Highlights
Our efforts in agricultural development have been especially significant in 2002. As Kentucky producers have looked for alternatives to tobacco and as tobacco settlement funds have been made available through the Governor's Office of Agricultural Policy, Extension has played a critical central role. We have helped develop local leadership and have provided support and education for local leaders and producers as they assess county needs.

To help producers replace lost tobacco income, we also continued to provide research-based information to help them maintain viable agricultural production systems and develop new, diversified operations. Among the many other activities and programs conducted by Extension in 2002, we also:

• Joined with the Kentucky Horticulture Council, the Kentucky Agricultural Development Board, and the New Crop Opportunities Center in bringing research-based information about alternative horticultural crops to producers.
• Joined the Kentucky Agricultural Development Board, the Kentucky Beef Network, USDA, and the Kentucky Department of Agriculture in helping the state's beef producers improve quality and markets for our beef products. We also worked with producers to develop new livestock enterprises such as meat goat production.
• Launched, with the Kentucky School of Public Health and USDA, a partnership called Health Education through Extension Leadership (HEEL), which will provide new access to health information through Extension.
• Initiated county and state 4-H "conversations" and Kentucky's participation in a national conversation to help young people expand their role in shaping their own lives and the world around them.
• Helped communities assess their strengths and weaknesses and develop new opportunities for locally based businesses, including those in agritourism.
• Educated youth and adults about life skills such as good parenting and decision making.
• Taught citizens ways to protect and preserve Kentucky's natural resources and environment.

Extension by the Numbers in 2002
Extension made 6.7 million contacts in 2002, including contacts with more than 49,000 Hispanic residents, a growing segment of Kentucky's population. In addition:

• $19 million in additional income was realized by Kentucky farmers who adopted new practices.
• 41,000 people gained leadership skills.
• 36,000 people made lifestyle changes to improve their health.
• 23,000 people took steps to reduce their debt or increase savings.
• 68,000 youth and adults learned new life skills.
• 30,000 individuals adopted practices to improve the quality of Kentucky's water.

We are proud to have served you in 2002 and look forward to working with you in the years ahead.

—Larry W. Turner, Associate Dean for Extension
Associate Director, Cooperative Extension Service
306 W.P. Garrigus Building
University of Kentucky
Lexington, KY 40546-0215
E-mail: lturner@uky.edu

The University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service received a total of $62 million in funding in the fiscal year 2002.

Sources of Income
The University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service receives funding from county, state, and federal sources in addition to external competitive grants and contracts. In fiscal 2002 (July 1, 2001—June 30, 2002), 81% of Extension's $62 million base was from state and county sources. These funds were supplemented with approximately $4.5 million in external grants and contracts. Counties also fund local facilities and some additional program and staff support.

Program Emphasis
CES programming is supported by faculty and staff on campus in Lexington, at the Research and Education Center in Princeton, Robinson Station in Quicksand, and in each of Kentucky's 120 counties.

Improving Beef-Forage Systems
Many of the ideas for efficient beef-forage systems promoted by Extension over the years are now coming to fruition, for two reasons:

• With its large number of beef cattle and a forage base of 6 to 7 million acres, Kentucky clearly is a major beef-producing state. The latest agricultural statistics show that Kentucky has more beef cattle than any state east of the Mississippi.
• An influx of tobacco settlement money is funding new options for farmers for whom expanded beef production makes sense. Many farmers have raised beef along with tobacco in the past, so both the knowledge base and infrastructure for marketing and selling it are already in place.

"It's where we can make the biggest long-range sustainable impact. We've got a huge opportunity to position ourselves as the best in the country," said Roy Burris, Extension beef specialist.

"You go with your strength. We've got a lot of land that can't be used for other purposes," said Jimmy Henning, Extension forage specialist.

Curtis Absher, former assistant director of CES for ag and natural resources, said that when national speakers talk about what's needed in beef production "it's a checklist of what's happening in Kentucky."

Why? Lee Meyer, ag economics Extension professor, said "we're making better use of our resources—the land, for example." Meyer also thinks Kentucky is improving the nutritional forage and reproductive efficiency of its cattle herds, resulting in greater profit.

Meyer said most importantly, "we've got a more professional beef cattle enterprise manager."

Many of these "more professional" beef producers are taking advantage of the research-based advice Cooperative Extension provides, including:

• Best management practices for improving forage, bull genetics, and cattle handling, so every producer doesn't have to reinvent the wheel.
• The certified preconditioned health programs for feeder calves. The calves certified through the program bring, on average, $40 more per head than calves in other sales.
• Integrated resource management, so producers can mesh their beef and forage systems for maximum productivity.
• The Five-State Beef Initiative (Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan), which tracks calves electronically through production, providing feedback that helps producers make profitable improvements to their beef management practices.
• Education including grazing workshops, demonstrations, videos, pocket-sized publications to take to pasture, even a kind of high school (Master Cattleman Program) and graduate school (Cow College) for beef producers.

Improving beef production in Kentucky is not a solo act for Extension. Also involved are the College's research faculty, the Kentucky Cattlemen's Association, the Agricultural Development Board managed by the Governor's Office for Agricultural Policy, the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, the Kentucky Farm Bureau, local veterinarians, and cattle producer associations. But Extension, with its hands-on approach and widespread agent base, is uniquely suited to helping beef producers learn new tricks.

In Bourbon County, more than 130 beef producers have begun to sell their cattle through a multi-county association, a trend being played out across the state. "When you join forces and get volume, you can market in a much larger fashion and see some premiums," said Glenn Mackie, Bourbon’s ag and natural resources agent.

A similar alliance of beef producers in southern Kentucky, the Wilderness Trail Area Beef Marketing Alliance, has added $45 per head to the price beef can bring, said Glen Williams, Laurel County's ag and natural resources agent.

"We've been able to rejuvenate forages and have better quality facilities," Williams said.

In Madison County, tobacco settlement money has provided funding "to help do some of the things we knew 15 years ago would help," said John Wilson, the county’s ag and natural resources agent. Replacement heifer sales are improving the female side of the herd. The genetics of Madison County bulls are improving too. "We put out about 99 quality bulls in 2001, 65 this year, and expect to put out 150 more in the next five years," Wilson said.

Helping Communities Thrive
A groundswell of change is afoot as Kentuckians use creativity, positive thinking, and plain hard work to help their communities grow while they sustain the local way of life. Extension is in the middle of all this effort and is:

• Connecting people to people, people to agencies, and agencies to other agencies so that ideas can become reality.
• Providing information communities can use, such as economic data and expertise in business development.
• Offering written and visual materials and training so local citizens can take advantage of proven methods to gain participation, set and accomplish goals, and assess the results.

Campbellsville, in Taylor County, made headlines about five years ago when Fruit of the Loom closed its plant there, taking thousands of local jobs to Honduras.

Economic development was identified by the Extension Council as Extension's top priority, said Becky Nash, the county’s family and consumer sciences agent.

Keeping the local workforce in Taylor County while hunting new industry was important. Extension helped a local crisis relief center consolidate services of several groups in one place.

Another Extension effort has been The Homeplace on Green River Inc., a 230-acre agricultural treasure trove near Green River Lake in the area of Taylor, Green and Adair counties. The property, Nash said, has possibilities for agritourism, education, and conservation. It could also demonstrate practices for sustainable farming and best management.

Making The Homeplace a reality involved several agencies, three counties, a tourism development association, and the Nature Conservancy. Extension was able to help pull people together, point leaders in the right direction to obtain funding, and help set up the organizational structure. A coalition of leaders and agencies has worked to find ways to put the local economy back on its feet. Most notably, it has brought in the Internet retailer Amazon.com, which has created new local jobs with a distribution center housed in Fruit of the Loom's former space. Taylor County's unemployment rate is now at about 7 percent, Nash said—compared to 28 percent about five years ago.

In Elliott County, there were few jobs, and geography made it easier to get out than come in, said Gwenda Adkins, the county’s family and consumer sciences agent. Extension and other groups began to look at what the county had to offer instead of what it lacked. They found that Elliott County had more riches than might first be apparent.

"We had geologic formations, pristine streams, history, folk artists, traditional crafters," Adkins said. As community development efforts got under way, Extension offered guidance and connected the local, state, and national resources necessary for change to occur.

Now, Elliott County has a hotel, and storefronts and the courthouse have been remodeled. And, the county has a handicapped-accessible hiking trail.

In Wolfe County, there's a new building downtown with a big blue awning. It's an Extension education center, but family and consumer sciences agent Kaye Holbrook thinks the building, used for all kinds of meetings, is also a tangible sign that her community is moving forward. "It has become a viable part of this community because it's neutral ground," she said.

In Pike County, Tim Campbell is blazing a trail as one of the first community development agents hired by Extension in Kentucky.

Campbell, who previously worked in community development in Wisconsin, had praise for Pike County's leaders. "It's a real team attitude," he said.

This fall, he'll work with those leaders to look at the county's potential for business retention and expansion.

Equipping Kentuckians for Health
Some of the state’s health statistics are grim and—if you look at the people behind the numbers—heart wrenching.

Consider that:

• From 1994 to 2000, the incidence of diagnosed diabetes in Kentucky went up 50 percent.
• Incidence of lung cancer, colon cancer, and prostate cancer is higher than the national average.
• Kentucky ranks near the top of the list nationally in incidence of heart disease.

More and more, an important part of the mission of Family and Consumer Sciences is to empower Kentuckians to take better care of their physical, emotional, and financial health.

"We've got to find the key to make Kentucky well, vibrant, and healthy," said Bonnie Tanner, assistant Extension director for Family and Consumer Sciences.

That focus is making itself evident in the commonwealth through:

• Workshops at the county level, with how-to publications to support them.
• The Health Education Extension Leadership (HEEL) initiative, a groundbreaking approach that's combining resources across University lines.
• Resourceful Extension personnel who see the need firsthand and find creative ways to help.

One notable program is Wildcat Way to Wellness, which began several years ago as a snappy way to get across the message of good health. Now, the program has rolled out a 4-H edition—the Clover Cat Way to Wellness—for young Kentuckians.

Another popular topic has been how to have healthy indoor air—important in a state where, the number of children with asthma is rising, as it is nationally. Unhealthy indoor air is part of the problem.

The award-winning Keys to Great Parenting program has distilled research about good parenting into seven concepts supported by easy-to-read materials, now available in English and Spanish.

Extension also makes sure county agents receive up-to-date information about the Kentucky Children's Insurance Program (K-CHIP) so all eligible children can be enrolled in it.

There's also programming on aging gracefully and estate planning.

Extension Assistant Director Tanner, talking about the HEEL partnership of Cooperative Extension and the Kentucky School of Public Health, says the joint initiative is "involvement, commitment" because, in a move uncommon in university circles, Extension and the Kentucky School of Public Health have both put up money for faculty to run the program.

If you're prone to forget that this programming is about lives, all you have to do is hear some of the local stories about Family and Consumer Sciences' health programs.

At least once a month, Alice Ann Bradley, Letcher County's family and consumer sciences agent, loads an Extension van with women who now have an annual appointment on their calendars: a screening at UK's Markey Cancer Center for ovarian cancer, potentially fatal and often without symptoms until its later stages.

In Jackson County, Cathy Howell, program assistant with the Extended Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP), is a true believer in what her program does. She puts her zeal and her cooking skills together to motivate her clients to eat healthy foods.

Howell also takes UK medical residents who are rotating through a local pediatric practice along with her on home visits, if the clients say okay. Having doctors-in-training see the home setting was the pediatrician's idea, and Howell thinks it's a good one.

"They become aware of who it is they are working with," she said.

In Taylor County, a woman with diabetes has been coming faithfully to a Wildcat Way to Wellness exercise class. She no longer needs to take insulin, and her doctor says that if she keeps it up, she may be able to stop taking her oral medications as well.

"I like making this kind of difference!" said Becky Nash, Taylor County family and consumer sciences agent.

Teaching Kids about Money
4-H is helping Kentucky's youth grow smarter about money, careers, and making life decisions. It uses three programs—Reality Store, Mini-Society, and Dollars and Sense—to help kids acquire a skill that some of us never learn: how to stretch dollars so you can thrive financially.

These programs, requested by school systems and supported by classroom teachers, chambers of commerce, and parents, have been immensely popular.

Martha Welch, the 4-H Extension associate who has been a leader in Extension's effort to prepare youth for the workforce, estimates that last year 40,000 Kentucky kids took part in a Reality Store.

"A lot of youth realize for the first time that there is a connection between the career they choose, the educational requirements for that career, and the potential lifestyle that career might produce," she said.

In Metcalfe County, eighth graders show up for their Reality Store at the Extension office on a day in late January or February. They all have pre-assigned careers. Those careers determines everything that follows.

Charlotte Atkins, Metcalfe 4-H agent, said "reality hits when they walk in and are told they have an after-tax salary of $1,000 to $4,000."

Every student gets a ledger sheet and walks from booth to booth, "buying" the necessities of life: housing, transportation, groceries, taxes, utilities, garbage pickup. And the students make choices among low, average, and high cost items. Every time they pay a bill or make a purchase, money is deducted from their ledger sheets.

As part of the dose of reality, every student has to support a child on whatever salary he or she makes.

For those who find themselves in financial trouble, there's an S.O.S. booth. They might hear, "You're running out of money? Give up that cell phone."

Atkins said the students are amazed at how much it costs to raise a family. The ultimate goal, she said, "is that they think about education and career and also realize that budgeting is part of life and that wants and needs are different."

In Warren County and some other counties, a sixth-grade version of Reality Store is used. It's called Dollars and Sense.

Instead of a salary, kids get an allowance. Instead of a child, they get a pet. "It's the same shock factor," said Janet Turley, Warren's 4-H agent.

Turley says the students who go through the program learn "that money does have to be stretched."

In about 40 counties across Kentucky, Mini-Society comes to life for fourth and fifth graders as a way to teach business concepts: how money works, how businesses develop, how to solve problems related to competition. The program is funded by the Kaufmann Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership at the Ewing Marion Kaufmann Foundation.

One year in Green County, Tyrone Gentry, Green County’s 4-H agent, said the kids dreamed up ways to make money, both services and products.

"There was a pencil-sharpening expert—a fine tip for a price," Gentry said. "A newspaper developed. Other businesses could buy ads in it. One kid brought in a karaoke machine; you could dedicate songs to folks or pay for announcements."

Gentry is enthusiastic about Mini-Society. "The things the kids come up with, the creativity with services, products—it never ceases to amaze you," he said. One Mini-Society "graduate," now in high school, makes $8,000 to $10,000 a year selling lawn furniture. Gentry says the young man learned some of his business skills in Mini-Society.

He sees long-term value in what Mini-Society teaches, not only for individuals, but for his community as a whole. It offers kids a chance to learn how to create a business or service that can provide them a living in their hometowns. They won't necessarily be forced to move or commute long distances to find work.

"It's really workforce development," Gentry said.

Marketing Our Garden
Much of Kentucky's agricultural landscape used to be painted in the rich browns of tobacco, but as the market for that product shifts, farmers are beginning to grow a broader palette: blackberries, blueberries, tomatoes, green peppers, corn, and so much more.

Producers are finding that the marketing of fruits, vegetables, and nursery products is a crucial and complex part of the job.

Extension specialists and agents are helping producers move into this brave new world, where you have to think more like Madison Avenue and less like Mayberry. Growers are joining up with other growers, and farmers are traveling outside the state to ferret out market possibilities. Producers may have tomatoes in the back of the pickup truck, but they have spreadsheets in their hands. Through demonstrations, workshops, publications, and conferences, Extension has worked to make sure horticultural producers have:

• Know-how to package and promote their products.
• Market research data on what buyers want.
• Backup for local and regional marketing efforts.

Extension, working with agencies including the Kentucky Department of Agriculture and the Kentucky Farm Bureau, is helping farmers successfully market their horticultural products through farmers markets and roadside markets, on-farm sales, and cooperatives (three out of the four horticultural cooperatives in the state have sprung up in the past five years).

Success stories abound. In Daviess County, Annette Meyer Heisdorffer, Extension horticultural agent, helped Western Kentucky farmers find a market for their sweet corn. It seems that a growers cooperative in Florida needed a supplier of corn in July and August (when it's too hot in Florida to grow it) so it could offer its customers corn year-round. It just so happens that July and August is when Kentucky's corn is at its best. It was a match made in heaven—or at least by the West Kentucky Growers Cooperative, which grew out of the venture. The cooperative is now 65 members strong, and sales top $3 million.

On a smaller scale, Meade County now has a farmers market that's a success.

Extension staff, working with local producers, found out that customers wanted to buy produce in the afternoons, on the way home from work. In the past, farmers had unsuccessfully tried to market their wares in the mornings.

So, the market was set up from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays and Thursdays in the Extension parking lot, which faces the bypass. It has been a success.

In the Lincoln Trail and Mammoth Cave areas, consumers and farmers have begun to connect through the Farm to Table programs. They're learning marketing techniques they can use for direct selling.

"We're honing in on what's easy: milk crates, folding tables, bales of straw," said Janet Johnson, Allen County Extension agent for family and consumer sciences.

Farm to Table has also given growers in the Lincoln Trail and Mammoth Cave areas a chance to network. Meeting other growers and consumers at two annual conferences and other events has sparked ideas for new products and forged business relationships.

Tim Woods works with the College's New Crops Opportunities Center to gather the hard data on packaging, size, and taste that growers need to tweak their products. Sometimes that's as simple as handing a shopper a spoonful of blackberries to sample. "The market research helps them get the most out of the opportunity," Woods said.

The kind of systematic and comprehensive gathering of market information Extension is able to provide—with the help of research colleagues—gives Kentucky's horticultural producers that much more of a competitive edge.

The background photos in this annual report are of the sand mural that hangs in the upper lobby of the Agricultural Science Center. Records show that the mural was completed in the early 1960s by Mr. and Mrs. Louis Frederick, Louisville artists.

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Special thanks to Tom Barnes, Extension wildlife specialist, for use of his photos on the cover and in the story Take a Walk on the Wild Side. On the front cover: Bad Branch Falls in Letcher County. Inset: cardinal. On the back cover: Cope’s gray tree frog. Inset: spicebush swallowtail. Page 11: Poor Fork of the Cumberland River: Inset: northern red salamander. Page 12: large flowered trillium. Inset: gray fox. Page 13: View of Letcher County from the top of Pine Mountain.

The natural wonders of Pine Mountain in Eastern Kentucky are depicted by Letcher County artists in a trail guide for hikers, including winter (top) and summer (bottom) by Patricia Shelton and “A Scout Outing” (center) by Gail Patterson.