Lisa Schmoetzer and her husband, Tony Velasco, moved from Phoenix five years ago to a 28-acre farm they bought in Anderson County, KY.
With no farming background except what she remembered as a child growing up on a small farm in Indiana, Schmoetzer started raising chickens and selling dressed poultry and eggs. She now raises meat and milk goats to sell, and has a vegetable stand at the Lawrenceburg farmers market.
Financially, it has been tough, said Schmoetzer, 47, who holds a master's degree in ecology. "I'm used to researching things and being analytical, but most of what I've learned on the farm has been by trial and error."
It's farmers like Schmoetzer that two University of Kentucky agricultural economics professors, Lee Meyer and Jennifer Hunter, had in mind when they received a $748,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to establish a comprehensive farm management program to help beginning farmers. The USDA made such grants to 29 universities.
Read the full story at kentucky.com.