PRINCETON, Ky. – For the first time in four years – and nearly a year after last December’s tornado – Beef Bash 2022 will celebrate and honor the state’s beef cattle producers. The event will be Oct. 20 at the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture Research and Education Center in Princeton.

“The state of Kentucky has been through a lot in the last year in regard to natural disasters that have impacted our communities, our families and our farms,” said Katie VanValin, University of Kentucky assistant extension professor of beef cattle nutrition.

“In addition, Beef Bash has always been more than just a field day, but really a celebration of the beef industry and the people who make up that industry in Kentucky,” she added.

She said the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, stationed at the college’s Research and Education Center, hasn’t had the opportunity to host a Beef Bash in-person in western Kentucky since 2018.

“My hope is that this year’s event is an opportunity for our producers and industry leaders to come together and celebrate the fact that regardless of the challenges we have faced over the last several years, we have persevered and continue our goals of raising beef cattle to feed the world,” she said.

Officials said Beef Bash is a unique, hands-on field day for Kentucky beef cattle producers of all experience levels. The event, which began in 2010, is a way for the University of Kentucky and the Kentucky Cattlemen’s Association to give producers the most current information about beef cattle, the officials added.

VanValin said, “I also think this event will give folks that weren’t directly affected by these natural disasters an opportunity to learn about the recovery process, and hopefully we will all be even better prepared to help one another when the next natural disaster occurs. Unfortunately, we know all too well that we weren’t the first to be affected by this type of disaster and we also won’t be the last.”

She said the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture Research and Education Center took a direct hit from an EF-4 tornado, which caused catastrophic damage to nearly every structure on the property.

“This includes our main building that housed offices, laboratories, classrooms, meeting facilities and was home to the Grain and Forage Center of Excellence, which had undergone a complete renovation and expansion that was completed in 2019,” she said.

“We lost several homes that were on the station that housed students and employees; fortunately, all of our people were safe, and we had no loss of life,” she added.

She said the station also lost most of its farming equipment, storage facilities and vehicles.

“The beef unit specifically lost two barns with a third sustaining damage as well,” she said. “We lost the use of all of our cattle handling facilities, and all of our silos were either damaged or destroyed. However, the biggest hit to the beef unit was the loss of fencing. Approximately six miles of fencing was either destroyed or damaged in the tornado.”

She added the recovery process is slow, but progress continues to be made. “We are still working on getting temporary facilities up and running so that all of our faculty and staff have a place to work on-site while rebuilding efforts continue,” she said.

She said repairs are being completed on buildings and structures that were not a total loss, and temporary structures for equipment storage are on-site.

“While a lot of fences has been replaced, work still continues to replace and repair fence across the beef unit,” she added. “This rebuilding process will take several years, but in the meantime, we are committed to our work of conducting research, and serving the agricultural community of Kentucky.”

She said Beef Bash 2022 will touch on more than recovering and rebuilding from the tornado.

“We recognize the importance of touching on topics that are important to our producers and their operations,” she said. “We will share research updates from some of our ongoing work in mineral nutrition, discussions related to bull selection, including genomic testing and evaluation.

“We will have opportunities for producers to visit with extension specialists from the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, as well as updates on emerging issues from our extension veterinarian, just to name a few,” she added.

According to officials, Beef Bash 2022 will offer demonstrations, commercial vendors and educational exhibits, including updates on tornado recovery and rebuilding the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food and Environment and the beef unit, as well as research updates from University of Kentucky faculty and extension specialists.

“Historically, the beef unit at Princeton has been a critical component of the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture Research and Education Center’s beef cattle extension and research programs, and we are excited to share our vision for its future operation and contributions,” said James Matthews, University of Kentucky College of Agriculture Research and Education Center associate dean for research, and professor of animal and food sciences.

Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. CST, and the program will begin at 9 a.m. CST. The event is free, and attendees may purchase lunch on-site, which will be available from the Caldwell-Lyon Cattlemen’s Association, with all proceeds going to benefit their scholarship program.

The University of Kentucky College of Agriculture Research and Education Center address is 348 University Drive in Princeton. Signs will direct attendees to the beef unit.

For more information, contact Katie VanValin at (859) 562-1361, or via e-mail her at Katie.VanValin@uky.edu; vendors may also contact her to register.

Organizers are encouraging students interested in agriculture or beef industry careers to attend. 

“We felt it was important to continue the Beef Bash tradition in-person and move forward with the program at the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture Research and Education Center,” VanValin said.

“We are looking forward to this opportunity to fellowship with those in the Kentucky beef industry and talk about the challenges and learning experiences we have had recovering and rebuilding from a natural disaster,” she added.