Candid Conversation presents a discussion about the topical issues related to Kentucky Farm Bureau (KFB) priorities, the agricultural industry, and rural communities, in a question-and-answer format. In this edition, Laura Stephenson, Dean of the Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, (UK Martin-Gatton CAFE) and the Vice President for Land Grant Engagement at the University of Kentucky discusses her new role and thoughts on the state's agriculture industry.

KFB: For our readers who may not know your story, would you share some of that with us?

LS: My parents are from Cumberland and Clinton County. Clinton County was where our farm was; it was my grandparents' farm. We helped them when I was very young. Then, when a tornado happened on our farm, my dad took a job in North Carolina with an agricultural chemical company.

Five years later, he brought us back to Kentucky to work in the fertilizer industry. He opened up Barren River Fertilizer in Glasgow. He also had a Surge dealership, which supported the dairy farmers in that community. Yes. We had a small farm then too, but I was a little older, so my roles changed. When I was younger, I was picking tomatoes, and working in the greenhouses. When I was older, I was in the hay fields and the tobacco barns. You get to do it all when you're a farm family.

KFB: Having that family history of your own, you’ve experienced that heritage of the family farm.

LS: There's definitely a heritage to being part of a farm family and that farm legacy. You're right, we learned hard work. We learned the importance of working together as a family. For instance, during tobacco season, at Thanksgiving, we were always in the stripping room, telling jokes and having a good time as a family, while getting that done. It was a family event.

KFB: What about your professional career? Would you share that background?

LS: I started as an extension agent in Clark County and was there for 18 years. Then I took a position as the district director for Southeast Kentucky, from Harlan to Whitley, to Breathitt Counties. It was a great experience to get to really know the Appalachian people so well. Then I took a role on campus to support family consumer sciences programming as an administrator. From there, I went to Tennessee for six years as an associate dean and a department chair. Then Nancy Cox recruited me back and I came back to my blue roots.

KFB: In addition to your experience as a county extension agent, I know you served as Associate Dean and Director of the Cooperative Extension Service and Associate Vice President of Land-Grant Engagement. Extension is like KFB in that there are offices in every county. That has to be a huge advantage to people in those communities whether they are farmers or not.

LS: Understanding that we have a land grant mission which is a tri-part mission with teaching, Extension, and research, and how they're integrated together is the reason that we're so successful with Extension in Kentucky.

Our Extension agents and our Extension staff are there to listen to what the community needs, and then work with our faculty and researchers to say, "Here are the questions that are coming up," or "Here are the resources that we need in order to answer the community's questions." That's the root and the secret success of Extension because it's a locally-driven program, but also locally driven questioning so that we can bring that to the university. There's a feedback loop in that way.

In Kentucky, we have had a strong investment from our state and local partners to be able to continue growth and it's based on what the needs are. We have horticulture, agriculture programs, and natural resource programs. We have a lot of breadth and variety in our forestry development programs, and we have family consumer sciences that include health, consumer education, and community development. Because we've had such an important investment from our local folks, we can have that breadth of experience and expertise, again, to meet the needs our local leaders say are important to them.

KFB: Farm families face a lot of challenges these days, from economics to production, to weather issues. What are some of the things on your radar at the university that you're working on that help maybe ease their minds a little bit?

LS: We are working hand-in-hand with Kentucky Farm Bureau related to the farmland transition aspects of the next generation, and how we can make sure that there are opportunities, in this tougher economic market for the next generation to think through how they want to continue farming in Kentucky.

We are also looking at how we can help mitigate or adapt to some of these weather issues that are coming our way. I tell the story that when I was very young, our farm was devastated by a tornado. That was an important moment of change in trajectory for my family because we couldn't put the infrastructure back in place and still know that three generations of a family could live on the farm.

My dad took a job in the agricultural chemical industry and we moved off the farm. That trajectory helps me understand some of the decisions that face our farm families all the time when they have weather events, whether it's the flooding or the tornadoes.

We have Extension faculty and researchers who are looking at ways to help in those situations when they actually happen, but also thinking about what practices we might take into consideration that might help us in flood zones, or thinking about how we manage heat and drought.

KFB: While we don’t have a crystal ball to look into the future, what are some of the things you’d like to see in the future for the UK Martin-Gatton CAFE?

LS: Honestly, a continuation and strengthening of the ability of our producers to do what they love, which is build a life for their family as they take part in the agriculture story here in Kentucky. As we think about what our college could do, it's continually looking at how we can help improve practices. How we can look at the horizon of markets that are coming and help prepare those farmers for those markets. Because there's still going to be expanding markets, there will continue to be opportunities, including value-added markets. And how we can help our producers in Kentucky continue to be strong, and productive, and make a good profit in the work that they want to do.

Agriculture is essential to the health of Kentuckians. Our farmers care and they're invested. That's going to continue to be a really important part of the work we do together.

KFB: Do you see the university having a role to help not only our farm families but help those outside of that farming arena to understand more about agriculture?

LS: Definitely. I think, again, it's the partnerships we have with the Farm Bureau, with our commodity groups, and with all of the groups of people that care about agriculture to really continue to have a strong message about the importance of what we do and how that impacts the everyday life of everyone on the planet. Sometimes people don't realize that, but when they have the aha moment it's beautiful to behold. Continuing to be part of those aha moments in people's lives and to understand the power and the importance of agriculture is why we get up every day.