SOMERSET, Ky. — In today’s world of advanced technologies, computers have become almost a necessity in most walks of life - farming is no exception.

A program partnered by the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS), the University of Kentucky Agriculture Extension Service and the state is providing farmers hit hardest by the loss of tobacco income with free computers and 12 hours of training on how to use them.

The Computer for Farmers Program is provided through the Adult Upgrade Programs of KCTCS and has 16 service areas that cover the state. Funding for the program started through an Agricultural Development Funds (ADF) grant in 2004 for $92,000 to train 200 farmers to use computers. The Commodity Growers Cooperative State Board provided $25,000 additional funds to add to the grant.

KCTCS Adult Agriculture Coordinator Bruce Metzger said farmers participating in the program pay a minimal fee but get an abundance of training for their money.

“That first year, 196 farmers completed the class and received a computer,” said Metzger.

“The farmers pay $25 to attend the class which consists of 12 hours of classroom instruction including basic computer use functions for financial recordkeeping, inventory records, livestock records, communication through e-mail, accessing and using the Internet for research and marketing and other functions.”

Metzger said the refurbished computers are provided by the McConnell Technical Training Center in Louisville, which takes viable used computers and upgrades them to current standards for programs like this one.

A criterion in selecting locations for the first class was based on the percentage of income lost to the county due to changes in the state’s tobacco program.

Two of the counties hit hardest by the loss of tobacco revenue were allocated three dozen computers, said Alesa Johnson of KCTCS’s Somerset Community College (SCC) Office of Community, Workforce and Economic Development.

“(The program is) intended for farmers in counties that have lost tobacco income,” Johnson said. “Russell and Casey counties were allotted 36 computers out of a total of 400 for the entire state.”

Johnson said two classes had already finished and another started at the end of July with most of the slots filled.

Chris Pierce, instructor of Adult Agriculture at SCC, said the classes offer farmers specific training to help them become more confident in business decisions.

“The Computers for Farmers Program has allowed producers with no prior experience to develop their skills through training that is geared specifically toward their profession,” he said. “The outcome is confidence in their ability to use technology; and even further, an interest in using computers for acquiring market information and keeping farm records that leads producers to make better decisions. And that translates into better farm businesses.”

Katie Coffee of Casey County took advantage of the program after hearing about it through a friend at the local ag extension office. Coffee and her husband, Dewey, raise 350 acres of soybeans and corn along with a herd of Angus cattle.

“I became interested in the program to learn recordkeeping for the farm,” she said. “I had a little computer experience but only in word processing.”

Coffee, in her 50s, didn’t grow up as a child of the computer age, but she found the class easy to understand.

“The class wasn’t too hard, and I thought it was a good basic class to familiarize ourselves with the computer,” she said. “By the time I had finished, I felt comfortable with what I had learned. I’m really glad to know how to construct a spreadsheet and how it helps with keeping records for farm. I learned things I really didn’t know. This will help me keep up with the paperwork.”

A second year grant for the program was submitted and approved for $182,500 to train 400 farmers. That grant will reach completion this fall. Most of the classes are taught during the post harvest – pre-planting season of the year from October until mid-March when farmers are not out in the fields working.

A current grant for $492,500 was also approved to train 800 farmers and will allow all parts of the state to be included in the program.

“The value of the class was the information, the computer was nice but if you don’t know how to use it, it won’t be very beneficial to you,” said Coffee.

For more details, visit the SCC website at www.somcc.kctcs.edu or the KCTCS website at www.kctcs.edu