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The James B. Beam Institute is the world’s largest teaching and research distillery in the world. The Beam Institute serves as the industry’s research and development vehicle, pursuing its mission to ensure the welfare and prosperity of Kentucky’s signature spirit and related agricultural products. The campus facilities feature a 30-foot column still and maturation facility made possible by Independent Stave and the Boswell Family.

On November 13, 1925, Miles Frank Yount struck oil at Spindletop field in Beaumont, Texas. The field, which had been dormant since the early 1900s, produced over 340,000 barrels of oil an acre per year, pumping in excess of 50 million barrels within 5 years. Upon her husband’s death, Mildred (Pansy) Yount chose Kentucky as the place she would start anew. Spindletop Farm was established in 1935 on 800 acres of land in Central Kentucky. Spindletop was eventually sold to the University of Kentucky in 1955. A hallmark of the Bluegrass, Spindletop Hall was featured in the 2010 Disney film Secretariat and has operated as a space for UK faculty, staff and alumni to dine and recreate.

8am - Welcome and Introductions - Keith Coble - AHS introduce themselves and their institution’s CARET delegates

8:10am - Welcome from the Host Universities

8:20am - NIFA Update - Brent Elrod USDA-NIFA

8:50am - Federal Budget, Farm Bill and Legislative Update – Doug Steele APLU

9:20am - APLU and FANR Update – Doug Steele APLU

Call to Order and Welcome - Larry Holmes

10am - AHS Executive Committee Report from Leadership Meeting July 16-17 in Providence, RI – Keith Coble and Deacue Fields

10:10am - Nomination for Southern AHS Secretary (election at winter meeting) – Keith Coble

10:20 Future Southern AHS Meetings – Eric Young

• Winter 2025 – Tuesday Feb, 4 Irvine, TX during SAAS Conference

• Update on Southern Mini Land-grant – June 9-12, 2025 Fayetteville, AR

− Schedule for separate & small joint sessions (handout)

− Topic suggestions for large joint sessions

10:40am - Institution Updates (handout) – All

12:00pm - Harold R. Benson Research and Demonstration Farm - The Harold R. Benson Research and Demonstration Farm offers educational and research opportunities to Kentucky State faculty, staff, students and stakeholders. Faculty, staff and undergraduate and graduate students conduct research projects at the farm, including in small ruminants, soil management, ornamental horticulture, livestock nutrition, honeybees, conservation biological control, beneficial insects, aquaculture, urban agriculture, organic agriculture and more. Undergraduate classes often visit the farm for tours and activities, such as to sample soils, catch bugs and visit the floating raceways. Members of the community, such as elementary, middle and high school students and small farmers, often visit the farm for educational programming and tours. Additionally, the USDA National Clonal Germplasm Repository (Gene Bank) for pawpaws has been housed at the farm since 1994; this collection includes more than 2,000 trees from 16 states.

2:00pm - Kentucky State University Aquaculture Center - The Aquaculture Program, KSU’s “Program of Distinction,” is widely recognized as being a national and international leader in the areas of paddlefish culture, freshwater prawn culture, Koi breeding, production of large mouth bass on-feed and fish meal replacement research for catfish and hybrid striped bass. The program’s teaching and research effort includes: aquaculture production, aquaponics, aquaculture nutrition, disease diagnostics, genetics, product and aquaculture economics and marketing.

The C. Oran Little Research Center is a nearly 1,500-acre farm purchased in 1991 for the development of a state-of-the-art animal research facility. The farm boasts intensive research programs in beef, swine, sheep, poultry and equine that advance our understanding of species’ health, wellness, comfort, production and nutrition. The farm also plays a unique role in the college’s partnership with USDA Agricultural Research Services on animal forages and forage animal production. In the near future, through a creative public-private partnership, the farm will be home to the new Kentucky Livestock Innovation Center, which will provide for unique opportunities to interact with producers and ranchers. As part of this partnership, the farm will also house a new Meats and Food Workforce Development Center designed to be the premier facility for value-added processing, food safety, workforce training and promotion of Kentucky’s farm-based products.

Spy Coast Farm specializes in the breeding and development of top quality performance horses. They employ an integrated approach to all of their reproductive, training, competition and sales efforts, and over time they have extended this approach to include rehabilitation and fitness services, CEM quarantine and an Equine Education Center.

8:30am - Welcome, Business Reports and Other Updates – Larry Holmes

9am - Action Items from Saturday’s Meetings and Joint Discussions (possible topics below)

• Growth of Foreign Agricultural Research vs the US

• Communicating Return on Investment for Agricultural Research & Extension