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Tour Highlights Farm and Industry Connections
By
Aimee Nielson
 EAST
BERNSTADT, Ky., (Oct. 25, 2006) – Each year, the Laurel County
Cooperative Extension office sponsors a tour of local farms to
show the agricultural diversity of the county. This year,
organizers thought it was important to show tour participants
that agriculture is more than traditional farming by including
some farm industry businesses.
“You know, everybody gets an idea from seeing other things, so I
hope this will stimulate somebody to get involved in some other
kind of industry,” said Glenn Williams, University of Kentucky
Cooperative Extension agent for agriculture and natural
resources in Laurel County. “Or, perhaps, they’ll see something
they might be interested in going into, but didn’t really have
the know-how or know who to contact. By meeting all these new
folks, you make new acquaintances and it opens up new doors.”
 Riding
on trolleys, participants started at the Laurel County Farmer’s
Market before moving on to Ulrich Custom Cabinets and then to
Burkhart’s Orchard and Robinson’s Stave Mill. Entrepreneur James
Ulrich turns sawed logs into custom cabinets, crown molding and
furniture. Participants viewed Ulrich’s workshop and a variety
of self-engineered technology. Ulrich said he built most the
equipment he uses in his trade.
At Burkhart’s Orchard, tour attendees tasted freshly picked
apples from an abundant fall harvest and got a chance to try a
value-added product – fried apple pies.
Robinson’s Stave Mill manufactures whiskey barrels and then
ships them all over the world. Approximately 75 employees
produce 350 to 400 barrels per day, all from white oak. Laurel
County Judge-Executive Lawrence Kuhl, also a member of the
county Extension council, said the county has experienced a lot
of growth and he believes it’s important for the residents to
know what kind of agricultural-related businesses exist.
“We got a cross-section of people here today that get the chance
to see what goes on in the county, some have never been in some
of these operations before,” he said. “It gives them an
opportunity to see what some of our people do for a living and
where that reaches nationally.
They get a cross-section of what is happening. Sometimes (on the
tour) we take them strictly to farms, where they raise cattle,
those types of things, but today was the industry aspect of it.”
 Beef
producer Bobby Anders went on the tour to experience parts of
Laurel County that he knows little about. He raises more than 75
head of Limousin cattle on 200 acres, so he’s familiar with the
production side of agriculture, but not so much the industry
side.
“It was an eye-opening experience to see what kind of industry
goes on in Laurel County,” Anders said. “It’s something a lot of
people ought to do; they could see what’s going on and what’s
being manufactured in Laurel County. I really enjoy seeing these
manufacturers, like down there where they were making those
whiskey barrels. I really enjoyed Mr. Robinson’s tour that he
gave us, and Mr. Ulrich, I really enjoyed that.”
The tour concluded with a barbecue lunch and door prize
giveaways at the Pittsburg Memorial Shelter in East Bernstadt.
Kuhl commented on how great it was to work with the Extension
staff while organizing the tour.
“This is a good group to work with, they are really interested
in our county and the growth here and providing things for our
farmers and our business people,” he said. “We are here to
expand opportunities; that’s what it is all about.” |
Contact: Glenn Williams, 606-864-4167 |
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The UK College
of Agriculture, through its land-grant mission, reaches across
the commonwealth with teaching, research and extension
to enhance the lives of Kentuckians. |
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