Eden Shale Update - March

This spring marks 70 years since work began at Eden Shale Farm.  The following article was written in 1961 by O.D. Hawkins, the farm’s first manager.

The First Six Years
In April 1953 a group of farmers and professional agricultural workers met together to discuss the need for and the possibilities of getting our University College of Agriculture to establish a test demonstration farm in the Eden Shale soil area. The Eden Shale area includes parts of 32 counties, patterned somewhat like a horseshoe around the central bluegrass counties of Woodford, Fayette, and Jessamine, with the major part of the area in the northern part of the state. This area is commonly known as the Hills of the Bluegrass.

At our first meeting those present agreed unanimously that, since the Eden Shale type of soil is very different from all other soils and is located only in this particular part of Kentucky, there was a great need for the University College of Agriculture to do more work in the Eden Shale soil area than had been done.

A farmer committee met with Dean Frank J Welch, of the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture and Home Economics, and his staff, and obtained from them the opinion that there was a need for a test demonstration farm located in the Eden Shale area. It was agreed that if a farm could be made available to the University, the University would operate it as a test demonstration farm. After this, and organization was set up to raise money by donations, to purchase a farm.

After two years’ work by the organization a fund of approximately $60,000 was raised. Donations were made by many farmers and other persons, farm organizations, and businesses with agricultural interests, and a gift was also made by the governor of Kentucky form his special state fund.

In the summer of 1955 a farm containing of 891.96 acres was bought and deeded to the Commonwealth. Since then an additional 47.7 acres has been bought by the state, making a total of approximately 940 acres.

In the fall of 1955 the University started putting the farm in operation; however, very little work got under way until the spring of 1956. It had already been decided, since the farm was in such a rundown condition, that in order to have houses for people to live in, barns, forage, water and fences for livestock, roads to get around on, it would be necessary to put into effect somewhat of a hurried-up program for the first few years.

As far manager, I want to tell you some of the things that have been done here on the Eden Shale Farm in the last five and a half years, in addition to the special work being done in livestock, agronomy, horticulture, entomology, forestry, farm management, and soils.

The work includes over 400 acres of land has been cleared of bushes and rocks and seeded to meadows or pastures. A central water system has been installed, furnishing pure water to our houses, livestock barns, and to some pasture. One new five room house has been built. Four other houses have been renovated, including bathrooms. A dairy barn, a beef cattle barn, and a sheep barn have been built. Three upright silos and one bunker silo have been built. Six barns used for tobacco, storage, and livestock have been completely renovated, and one new tobacco barn has been built. A plastic greenhouse and several other small buildings, such as garages, storage buildings and farm office have been constructed. Two and half miles of all weather roads have been built. Three farm ponds have been dug; also a small lake measuring 2.5 acres of surface with 20 feet of water depth has been constructed. Approximately 3,000 rods (9.4 miles) of new fence have been built, all the wood posts having been cut on the farm. We grow more than 8 acres of burley tobacco each year and put up forage for our livestock, which at the present time is about 125 animal units.
​
Even though a lot of work has been going on here at Eden Shale Farm, I like to think that we are just about ready to get started toward the objective for which the farm was intended. We now have, I think, our “tents pitched,” and I hope that in the coming years the Eden Shale Farm will be of great service to the farmers of the Eden Shale area.