There are 33 buildings on the property at Eden Shale. Most of these buildings remain functional and provide a service to the operation of the farm.  However, there were some of these structures that had been abandoned and no longer remained safe to have around.

You may recall in an article from last spring that we had a lot of wind damage from an 80+ mph wind event in March. That event is what prompted a discussion with the folks at UK to see what could be done about the damage from the storm. 

Following that wind event, we had several different groups of UK personnel visit the farm to assess the impacts of the storm. They also determined that some of the old abandoned buildings needed to be torn down. After multiple discussions and meetings the final list was agreed upon and approved.  In all there were 16 buildings that needed roofing repairs and 8 structures that were slated to be torn down.

The wind damage varied drastically from barn to barn.  Some just had minor damage and needed metal or a ridge cap screwed back down.  Others had entire sections of roofing that had blown off and some of the roof joist needed replaced.  I do have to complement UK’s contractors as they have done a very nice job on the necessary repairs and they have been neat and tidy with their workspace. 

The eight structures that needed torn down included two old houses.  Both houses were found to have asbestos present in the outdoor siding, the drywall, the window calk, and the linoleum glue. Because of asbestos, these structures had to have the proper abatement procedures conducted, including proper handling and disposal of the material. Once the asbestos was removed the houses could be torn down and hauled off just as the other buildings that were demoed.
​
I want to say Thank You to our UK/Eden Shale Farm Advisory Committee for their continued support of the work we do at the farm and for their commitment to the safety of our guests that tour the farm throughout the year. I appreciate all you do for Eden Shale Farm. 

​There are many ways to measure success depending on what you value. The production data is always important to measure if you want to measure progress. Profitability is a must if you consider your farm a business and not a hobby. Additionally at Eden Shale we measure another metric that most farms do not, visitors.

2023 has been another busy year with lots of interests in the workings of Eden Shale. We have hosted more tours and field days this year than we ever have since KBN took over the farm in 2013.

In the years leading up to COVID we were conducting roughly 30-35 tours a year. Each year we hosted an increasing number of people culminating with over 720 people coming through our gates in 2019.  Since reopening after the pandemic our numbers have rebounded slowly at first, but have picked up speed the last two years. This year has been our greatest number of events putting our total at 40 tours with 525 visitors (and I’m sure I’ll book more after this goes to print).  This is exactly the purpose we had for Eden Shale Farm ten years ago when we started it. We envisioned the farm to be a working classroom where students, producers, and industry professionals could gather and learn about different ways to tackle some of the varying production challenges that Kentucky has to offer.
However, producers are not the only folks who have come to the farm. We have had the opportunity to host regulatory and governmental agencies including KY Energy & Environmental Cabinet’s Division of Conservation, Division of Water Basin Coordinators, NRCS, and folks from the regional EPA office in Atlanta. Other non-producer groups have included a UK Health & Occupational Safety class, Farm Credit employee’s, high school FFA chapters, Auburn Vet Students, and college students from Eastern Kentucky University and University of Kentucky.

During the past year these different groups have had a wide variety of people including beef producers from 42 Kentucky Counties as well as visitors from the states of Indiana, Tennessee, Ohio, Oregon, North Carolina, and Alabama.

This year we have also had an international audience.  Early in the year we had the opportunity to host a group of 15 Chinese nationalists that were touring the United States.  This was the first time that I have ever presented with a real time interpreter standing next to me interpreting as I spoke. In addition to China, we had attendees from Canada, Mexico, Australia, Puerto Rico, and South Africa. We have now had the privilege of hosting foreign visitors from 16 different countries (6 of the 7 continents) since we have been operating the farm.
​
While it does take time out of production to host these tours, we do consider it a measure of success of the work that Eden Shale Farm has been able to accomplish. I want to thank everyone who has made this success possible and especially for the inquisitive folks who have taken time out of their busy schedule to come visit the farm. I do appreciate it.