Whitley native returns home as new horticulture agent

A Whitley County native is returning home as the new horticulture agent with the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service.

Ben Prewitt said his new job will encompass anything related to plants from landscaping to yards, green houses, and row crops.

“Anything plant related, I would be kind of the resource that people would come to,” said Prewitt.

This will be Prewitt’s first job with UK and the extension office.

He will bring a wealth of knowledge about horticulture having taught high school agriculture courses for seven years.

Prewitt said that his decision to leave the classroom and become the new horticulture agent was due to Whitley County. He said the job was an opportunity to come home.

“I grew up here in Williamsburg,” said Prewitt. “I am a Whitley County boy and have been. I have been working away since I graduated college.”

“The opportunity presented itself for me to get close to the people that I love and my family and friends, and I just thought it was a good opportunity to be able to come back and serve my community, the community that I love the most,” said Prewitt.

He said his biggest goal for the new position is to share opportunities available in the industry.

“We have a lot of people that are very knowledgeable in horticulture related projects, and that are already doing some great things on their farms,” said Prewitt.

He said there is plenty of opportunity in this industry for people to either supplement an income or make an income, or maybe just grow their own food.

Prewitt’s interest in horticulture, he said, came from his father.

“Seeing my dad, and seeing the love that he had for it, is really I guess what really sparked my interest and kept me going down this road,” said Prewitt. “I have grown up watching my family, especially my dad, gardening and having a big garden, and later getting some green houses and starting some hanging baskets and different things in spring. I have always appreciated this industry.”

“It means the world to me to be here and working in this county,” said Prewitt. “For me, just the fact that I am able to serve a lot of the people and be a resource to a lot of the people that have really made me who I am today, a lot of my morals and values and things that I believe. Things that I have learned, even about horticulture, have come from the people that I have surrounded myself here.”