Hello John,

All of the county offices, including Scott County, will collect and send in your soil samples. You can drop off the soil sample at the office, as well as fill out information about your crop, and they will send it to our laboratory in Lexington. The amount of time until you get the sample back will vary by when you get it back. During seasons where people are submitting a lot of samples, it can take a bit longer for the laboratory to process everything. I believe the time is currently 2-3 weeks from the time you submit the sample till the time when you receive the results.

Have a great day!

Robby

Hey John,

I am not positive what classes and opportunities Scott County is currently offering - I am the horticulture agent up in Boone County. Depending on your goals, I would reach out to the Scott County Horticulture agent (Sharon Flynt, <personal data hidden>) and/or the Scott County Agriculture and Natural Resource agent (Brittany Brewer, <personal data hidden>). Both send out newsletters, which can also be found on the Scott County Extension Office website (https://scott.ca.uky.edu/). I will attach the two most recent newsletters to this message. The newsletters mention a few of their upcoming programs, but you'll likely find out more from contacting their office.

In addition to talking with Brittany or Sharon about what you are hoping to do with your new farm, I would definitely also reach out to your regional USDA agency offices. The two USDA agencies that will likely be most helpful for you are USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) and USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS). The Farm Service Agency can get you set up with a farm number, which will be incredibly important when it comes time to deal with taxes or applying for grants/cost share programs. The Natural Resource Conservation Service can help you with a lot of technical expertise and can also help you build a plan and become eligible for cost share programs. If you want to pursue a cost share program, you can also talk to Brittany about the Kentucky Department of Agriculture's County Agriculture Incentives Program (CAIP). Different counties run their programs differently but this could be quite helpful when paying for some of the expenses associated with starting a farm.

Reaching out to Brittany, Sharon, and your regional USDA office is definitely going to be the best place to start. There are a lot of resources that can help you get started, they will be best able to understand your goals and point you in the right direction.

Good luck with this exciting new venture!

Robby

https://scott.ca.uky.edu/newsletters/december-farmacy-newsletter-2023

https://scott.ca.uky.edu/sites/scott.ca.uky.edu/files/2024%20JAN%20%281%29%20final.pdf