Jefferson County 4-H

• 4-H Highlights!
• Upcoming Workshops, Contests & Events
• Animal Information
• Special Opportunities
• Calendar of Events

Finalized fair dates: July 15-19, 2020

Theme: Come See a Good Thing Grow'n

Enrollment is open for 2019-2020 Jefferson County 4-H. NOTE AGE CHANGE: All 4-H youth (ages 8-18) as of January 1, 2019 are required to enroll online every year. Enrollment deadline is APRIL 1. We encourage all members to enroll using a computer and not your mobile device. Enrollment instructions for new members can be found at the Extension Office or online at https://extension.unl.edu/statewide/jefferson/4-Hforms/ Call the office 402-729-3487 with any enrollment questions.

4-H Online Enrollment Link: https://ne.4honline.com/Login.aspx?403D4050364539525371705375593D

New 4-H Member Enrollment Instructions Link: https://extension.unl.edu/statewide/jefferson/Steps%20to%20Enroll%20New%20Member.pdf

Re-Enrollment Instructions Link: https://extension.unl.edu/statewide/jefferson/Reenrollment%20Returning%20Members.pdf

We are asking you to share your 4-H story! Post your photos on the Jefferson County Extension Facebook page. Everyone who posts will be entered into a drawing for 4-H t-shirts. The posts need to 4-H related. Show us what your up to in your 4-H clubs or your own projects. Everyone is eligible to participate - youth, leaders, parents, grand-parents, and 4-H Alumni! Let’s see those posts at: Jefferson County Extension & 4-H Youth Development Facebook page. If you don’t see your post let us know and we may have to share it to our page.

We are encouraging our 4-Her's to pick a week during the month of February and participate:

Monday: Motivate yourself to work on a fair project!

Tuesday: Talk to a friend about joining 4-H or becoming a Clover Kid (5-7 year old)

Wednesday: Wear green Wednesday or your red county fair t-shirt.

Thursday: Thankful Thursday - Thank a parent, leader, grandparent or mentor for the role they play in your 4-H experience

Friday: Find out more about 4-H! Enroll or Re-enroll on ne.4honline.com

As a special treat we are having a Root Beer Float Social February 21 from 3:00-5:30 at the Extension office. All 4-H families are invited and encouraged to bring a friend!

4-H enrollment is required for Clover Kids (ages 5-7) online at ne.4honline.com. Enrollment deadline is April 1. Youth should select "Clover Kids" as their club and must select at least one Clover Kid project to complete enrollment. Selection of multiple projects online is not required to exhibit multiple projects at the county fair.

Enrollment Link:

https://ne.4honline.com/Login.aspx?403D4050364539525371705375593D

The Nebraska 4-H Diamond Clover program encourages 4-H youth to engage in a variety of programs, projects, and activities that will enable youth to acquire skills and abilities that will prepare them for success in the future.

The program consists of six levels that require a young person to plan and report a broad range of age-appropriate accomplishments. For each level, the Nebraska 4-H Diamond Clover program provides a list of accomplishments from which 4-H youth choose their goals. The accomplishments increase in quantity and difficulty for each level. At the beginning of the 4-H year, participants plan what to accomplish and at the end of the 4-H year, they report on their completed accomplishments. Successful completion of a level's Plan & Report form results in a 4-H youth earning that level of the Diamond Clover program.

Diamond Clover Forms can be downloaded at http://4h.unl.edu/diamondclover. Forms are due to the Extension Office April 1, 2020.

We are requesting that 4-H families complete this form to serve as a planning tool for the Saline, Gage and Jefferson county 4-H Discover Washington trip. Please specify an approximate date your child(ren) may be interested in attending the 4-H Discover Washington trip. Completing the form and giving us an approximate date does in no way obligate them to attend a trip. We are wanting to use the information in planning future trips.

Please fill out the form here:

We will be holding a photo mounting workshop on Friday, February 14th, from 10:30 am -Noon. This will be led by our photography superintendent Deb Ebke. Deb will explain the proper techniques to mount photos on poster board, sandwich matting and how to fill out the data tags. There will be a $5 registration fee for the workshop and we ask that you bring a printed photo that is ready to mount either an 8 x 10 or 4 x 6 size. Please contact the office to get signed up!

Do you know what it takes to pick the best fruit and vegetables out at the grocery store? Or do you know what judges are looking for when they judge your plants at the county fair? Have you ever wondered, what plant is that!?! We are excited to offer the opportunity to learn these and other important horticulture skills through the Online Horticulture Contest. The contest will be available June 5-22, 2020 at: https://go.unl.edu/hortcontest.

The 4-H Photography Showcase offers a project exhibition opportunity beyond traditional print media. It is intended to help youth develop professional and technical skills as photographers while fostering creativity and encouraging self-expression. Through this opportunity, youth are encouraged to practice and apply skills learned in their photography projects throughout the year.

How Does It Work?

Each month, a new photo will be selected from the online submissions. Selections will be made based on creativity, timeliness, technical execution, originality, and appropriateness. The selected photo will be showcased across the Nebraska 4-H social media channels, including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Youth photographers will be credited wherever and whenever their photo is shared or published.

This opportunity is open to all enrolled 4-H members. Photo recommendations, file specifications, rules, and guidelines for participation are available online at https://4h.unl.edu/photography-showcase.

The Pick Your Project, available at http://4hcurriculum.unl.edu, has been updated for the 2020 program year. Using the searchable, web-based 2020 Pick Your Project, users will be able to search for projects by keywords, curriculum areas, knowledge levels, and geographic levels.

There will be a face to face training on Thursday, February 13th at 1:30 pm at the Tri-County High School ag room for youth ages 8-18 as of that day. Youth 19-21 will have to complete the course online. This training will meet your requirements for the the 2020 fair. We will also be holding another face to face training in Fairbury on June 4th, so if you still need training one will be held then.

Winter months are a great time to work on Horse Advancement Levels. Information and study materials are found in the Horse Project Member Manual and Advancement Level Manual at the Extension Office. We also have the Nebraska 4-H Horse Show & Judging Guide available.

Website: https://4h.unl.edu/horse/advancement

NEW this year! Nebraska has started a livestock judging circuit open to current Nebraska 4-H and/or FFA members that are in good standing and age 10-18 as of January 1, 2020. Contestants will be split into two divisions based on 4-H age: Senior (age 14-18) and Junior (age 10-13). This would be a great opportunity to see and evaluate great livestock across the state. There are a total of 17 contests that youth have an opportunity to compete in. The Top 5 individuals from the intermediate and senior divisions will receive awards and be recognized as the All-State Teams during the 4-H grand drive at the 2020 Nebraska State Fair. Each student must compete in at least 2 contests and PASE in order to be eligible to be on the All-State Team in their respective division. The extension office has a list of all the contests as well as contact information. If you'd like to know more, please call the office. We have a list of all the judging competitions or check out our Facebook page for the flyer with the posted dates and locations. We'd be glad to help you!

The University of Nebraska Lincoln is offering a one day OR two day overnight livestock judging camp. Dates are June 2nd or June 3-5th. The overnight camp is designated for 4-H and FFA members (age 12-18) looking to improve their livestock judging evaluation and oral reasons skills. Blaine French, as well as current and past team members, will focus on proper evaluation with special emphasis on reasons format, terminology, and delivery. Camp cost is $250 per person and includes all meals, lodging, and materials.

For more information visit:animalscience.unl.edu/unl-livestock-judging-team, or contact Blaine French, Livestock Judging Coach, at 402-472-8834 or bfrench6@unl.edu

A message for all cat interested youth:

Do you like cats? What about learning how to care for or show them? Maybe you have heard about the 4-H Cat Club in the past and wanted to join, but couldn't make the monthly meetings.

Do we have good news for you, or what? We are pleased to introduce this year's self-paced Cat Club! No more being bummed that you missed the hour long meeting every second Thursday. You will now have access to monthly lessons and activities that you can complete on your own time. The first lesson can be found here on September 5th: https://4h.unl.edu/companion-animal/cat-club

If you are interested, please stay tuned and register today!

The 2020 National 4-H Beekeeping Essay Competition: Call for Entries is now available at: https://preservationofhoneybees.org/essays/2020-essays.

Interested students should submit state entries to the UNL Bee Lab (unlbeelab@unl.edu) with the subject header “4H Essay Contest” by March 1, 2020. This year’s topic is a bit challenging, especially if they are new to beekeeping, so if there are students who would like to interview or get in contact with a local beekeeper, they can reach out to the Nebraska Beekeepers Association (https://nebraskabeekeepers.org).

Questions? Contact Judy Wu-Smart, Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist in the Department of Entomology at UNL, at jwu-smart@unl.edu or at 402-472-8696.

The county fair is in need of a few superintendents for the 2020 fair. We are looking for individuals that can help us in both Open Class and our Junior Fair. In Open Class we need superintendents for: Farm and Garden Products, Needle Arts, and Baked Goods. For the 4-H/FFA part of the fair we are in need of: Horse and Ag Engineering. If you would be willing to assist in any of these areas, we would greatly appreciate your help! Please contact the Extension office 402-729-3487 or a fairboard member for further deals.

We are looking for ideas for workshops in and 2020. We would like to hear ideas of what you would be willing to attend. We would also like to hear from you regarding what times would work best for most people, after school, 1⁄2 days when school is out, etc. Please contact the Extension Office 402-729-3487 and let us know what YOU are interested in.

Just as a reminder, check out our Facebook page! The page name is "Jefferson County Extension & 4-H Youth Development". Along with our newsletter, we will be using this page to update our members about upcoming events, activities, and deadlines. We also hope to use this page to provide information about community outreach opportunities, scholarships, and research that is important to our followers. The staff will do our best to keep this updated and inform you all of what is going on at the office, Jefferson County, and in Nebraska.

February

13 - Quality Assurance Training, Tri-County High School

14 - Photography Mounting Workshop

17- Extension Office Closed, President's Day

21- Root Beer Float Social from 3:00-5:30PM, Extension office

April

1- 4-H Enrollment Due

1 - Diamond Clover Applications Due

13 - 4-H Public Speaking Contest, Fairbury

May

25 - Extension Office Closed, Memorial Day

26 - Quality Assurance Training, Wilber

June

4 - Quality Assurance Training, Fairbury Extension Office

July

15 - 19 - Jefferson County Fair, Fairbury

Email: darci.pesek@unl.edu
Website: jefferson.unl.edu
Location: 517 F Street, Fairbury, NE, United States
Phone: 402-729-3487
Facebook: www.facebook.com/jeffersoncountyext

Nebraska Extension is a Division of the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln cooperating with the Counties and the United Sates Department of Agriculture.

Nebraska Extension educational programs abide with the nondiscrimination policies of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and the United States Department of Agriculture.

©2020