The coming of winter brings a set of unique challenges to Kentucky livestock farmers.

As the temperature drops and wintry precipitation begins to creep into the forecast, farmers are forced to find ways to combat these weather conditions to ensure the best living situations possible for their livestock.

As 2018 comes to a close, the outlook for the winter feeding period is rough.

With record-setting rainfall this year, many farmers are already dealing with muddy conditions in their pastures, which they would not normally experience until the freezing and thawing periods of February and March.

This could be a long grueling winter of feeding livestock and maintaining ideal living conditions for these animals.

Winter brings conditions such as mud, freezing temperatures and harsh precipitation.

Luckily, there are ways farmers can overcome these things and make life easier for themselves, their livestock and the pastures they roam.

At 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, the Clark County Cooperative Extension Office will be hosting its first “Farmer Forum.”

The topic of this forum will be winter beef cattle feeding.

The participants will get an overview for winter feeding practices at two vastly different beef cattle operations.

The meeting will include discussions, sharing ideas and finding out how other farmers face the challenges of winter elements such as mud, cold and snow.

We will share successes and failures of winter feeding and hopefully offer some new ideas to make feeding your herd this winter a little easier.

For more information about the Farmer Forum and to register, call the Clark County Cooperative Extension Service at 744-4682.

Clay Stamm is one of the Clark County Cooperative Extension Service Agents for Agriculture and Natural Resources.