Author: Kristy Watters

Changes to Junior Fair Bake Off for 2025

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New for 2025 Junior Fair, Bake Off participants will sell in the Senior Fair Bake Sale on Wednesday evening of the fair. All Junior Fair Bake Off participants will be eligible to sell as long as they have met the eligibility requirements for the contest including completing a food related project. Champion and Reserve entries will be recognized during the auction.

This change allows youth participants to sell in both the Senior Fair Sale AND take a livestock project through the Junior Fair Sale.

Deadline to register for the Bake Off will be June 1. Recipes and registration information will be available in early May.

 

Commercial Swine Project Opportunity

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Adams County Junior Fair is adding an additional opportunity to members interested in exhibiting swine at the county fair! New in 2025 will be the Commercial Swine Project.

The goal of the commercial market swine project is to provide the opportunity for members to raise a commercial market animal at a reasonable cost to the exhibitor that can compete against similar backgrounded animals. There will be a limited number of animals available. Members will know if they are selected to participate by February 21.

To participate in the commercial hog project:

  • Members will need to enroll in project 140 Market Hog Project by the February 15 enrollment deadline.
  • Must be a member in good standing of either Adams County 4-H or an Adams County FFA Chapter.
  • Preference given to first or second year livestock member.
  • May take only ONE commercial hog project.
  • Must attend the market hog clinic on March 1.
  • ALL swine department rules for market swine apply to this project.
  • Commercial Market projects may sell in the Junior Fair Sale. Members may only sell one lot in the sale.

Animals for this project will be supplied by the Junior Fair board at cost to the exhibitor. Exhibitors will pick up their animal at the fairgrounds at the designated date and time. Animals will be chosen through a lottery system. All exhibitors will receive one bag of feed with their hog to get started and access to an appropriate feed ration at a reasonable cost.

Hogs will be tagged and weighed on the day of pick up. Established fair weight limits apply to ALL swine projects.
Commercial hog classes will be shown at the beginning of the market hog show. First and second place class winners will be eligible to compete for Grand and Reserve Champion Market Swine. Commercial swine will be eligible to compete for Production Champion Market Swine.

To apply visit go.osu.edu/CommercialSwine.

If you have questions, feel free to contact Kristy at watters.92@osu.edu.

4-H Enrollment Deadline is February 15

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4-H Enrollment deadline is less than a month away! Join now.
🍀 Returning families – visit https://oh.4honline.com and log in using your username (email address) and password. Do NOT create a new account! Can’t remember your password? Click “forgot password” on the log in page.
🍀 New families – visit go.osu.edu/JoinAdams4H to find a list of clubs with contacts, project information, and how to enroll.
🍀 Need more information or assistance? Give us a call at the Extension office at 937-544-2339.
Enrollment deadline is February 15.

Canter’s Cave 4-H Camp 75th Anniversary

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We cordially invite you to celebrate with us at the Canter’s Cave 4-H Camp 75th Anniversary Banquet on Saturday, January 25th. We hope that you will join us for a meal in celebrating this incredible milestone for Canter’s Cave 4-H Camp.
What: Enjoy a fully catered meal with dessert, live and silent auctions, camp activities, and more during an enjoyable evening at the happiest place in Southern Ohio.
Cost: Individual Tickets ($40.00 per person) or 10 Person Table ($350.00)
Interested individuals and organizations can RSVP by returning the attached form to Canter’s Cave 4-H Camp at 1362 Caves Rd. Jackson, OH 45640 or via email. Payment can be submitted via check to Canter’s Cave 4-H Camp or via PayPal at @CantersCaveAlumni
RSVP Online at go.osu.edu/75thBanquet by Friday, January 17.

4-H Scholarship Applications Due February 28

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The Adams County 4-H Scholarship and Chad Downing Memorial Scholarship application is now available!

Applicants must be high school seniors with a minimum 2.5 gpa that have been enrolled in 4-H for at least four years, including the current and immediate past year. A completed application, current high school transcript including gpa, and a letter of reference from an Adams County 4-H volunteer that is not a relative are required to apply.

The number of 4-H scholarships vary each year depending on the success of the annual fundraiser and range from $500 – $1,000. Five Chad Downing Memorial Scholarships in the amount of $500 and two $1,000 Burley Growers scholarships will be awarded. Scholarships are paid upon proof of completion of the first semester or quarter of post-secondary education or training following high school graduation. Adams County 4-H Scholarship deadline is Friday, February 28 by 4 p.m.

 

 

4-H Volunteer Trainings

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4-H Volunteers – mark your calendars! All trainings will be at the Extension Office in the conference room.
Returning Volunteer Trainings
Saturday, January 18, 8-10 a.m.
Wednesday, January 22, 6-8 p.m.
Returning volunteers are up to date if you attended the November training.
New Volunteer Trainings
Thursday, January 23, 6-8 p.m.
Monday, February 10, 6-8 p.m.
Online option – Contact Kristy at watters.92@osu.edu for online instructions.
All NEW 4-H Volunteers must complete New 4-H Volunteer training. To apply to become a 4-H Volunteer visit go.osu.edu/newvolunteer

4-H Camp Counselor Applications Available

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It may be cold outside, but we’re dreaming of summer days at Canter’s Cave 4-H Camp! Teens ages 14 and up as of January 1, 2025 are encouraged to apply for this terrific career development opportunity. Camp counselors receive training, help plan and facilitate camp, work with other teens from across southern Ohio, and help make sure our campers have the best summer ever.

We are looking for teens to be 4-H Camp Counselors, May 30th – June 2nd at our ALP 4-H Camp. Other counseling opportunities available for Forestry, STEM, Shooting Sports, Cloverbud, and Spring Fling overnight camps.
Applications are due February 1st and can be found at https://go.osu.edu/alpcounselorapp

Adams County Junior Fair Market Beef Tag-in

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4-H and FFA market beef projects being raised for the 2025 Adams County Fair must be ear tagged and weighed at the fairgrounds on Saturday morning, December 21, beginning at 8:30 a.m. All animals must be on the fairgrounds and in line no later than 10:00 a.m. Animals identified for the Adams County Fair will be tagged, weighed, and tattooed. Animals tagged as Adams County Born and Raised show entries will need to submit a completed and signed form. No Born and Raised entries will be accepted after tag-in.

Youth may identify and exhibit as many as three market beef animals – steers or market heifers – for the Adams County Fair.  Each market beef exhibitor will be required to designate at least one animal in his/her name and a family can tag an additional two animals of that species per Junior Fair member as “family” animals.  Each exhibitor will have access to no more than three total animals in that species, including “family” animals. State Fair steers and heifers cannot be registered as a family animal.  Family is defined as junior fair eligible youth who are legally siblings, half-siblings or stepsiblings.

Ohio State Fair

The Ohio State Fair requires all market beef entered in the 2025 Ohio State Fair to have individual DNA samples taken from each animal that may potentially be entered. These DNA samples must be in the possession of the Ohio State Fair by January 15.

Continuing in 2025: Ohio State Fair will NOT be providing EID tags for market beef entries.

Exhibitors must get their own 840 tags for their entries. The EID 840 tag number MUST be listed on the envelope with the DNA sample.

DNA sample collection kits may be picked up either by 4-H professionals, FFA advisors, or the actual individual directly from the OSF fairgrounds. Prior to submission, the nomination envelope for each sample kit remitted must be signed by either the 4-H professional or FFA advisor, depending in which organization the youth is taking the market animal(s).

The DNA collection will be in the form of a hair follicle sample that will be submitted to the OSF by January 15, 2025, to meet the state fair ownership deadlines for market beef animals. Along with the DNA hair submission, each market animal’s 15-digit EID tag must also be included on the DNA packet.

No DNA samples will be collected by the Adams County Junior Fair Board. DNA packets will be available at tag-in, and anyone wanting to identify an animal for OSF may request a packet. The owner will be responsible for collecting the DNA sample (instructions provided), completing the requested registration information on the packet, having the entry signed by an FFA advisor (for FFA entries) or the Extension Educator (for 4-H entries), and submitting their completed packet to the OSF by the January 15 deadline.

For more information regarding the Adams County Fair market beef tag-in on December 21, contact OSU Extension Adams County at 937-544-2339. For more information about the Ohio State Fair market beef registration process visit the State Fair website at http://www.ohiostatefair.com/.

4-H Volunteer Fall Training

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4-H Volunteers mark your calendar! Fall volunteer training will take place on Tuesday, November 19 at the Ohio Valley Career & Technical Center. Dinner will be served at 6 p.m. and training will wrap up by 8:30 p.m. Please rsvp by November 17 at go.osu.edu/volunteertraining. 
There will be additional opportunities to complete 4-H Volunteer training if you cannot attend on November 19, however we encourage everyone who is able to attend this session. Clubs should be sure to send at least one volunteer to the November 19 training in order to pick up club packets for the year. 
All new and returning volunteers are encouraged to attend the fall training, however new volunteers are also required to attend new volunteer orientation (date tbd).
If you are not currently a 4-H Volunteer but would like to become one, please complete the New Volunteer application to begin the process prior to attending training.
Looking forward to kicking off another terrific year in Adams County 4-H!

OSU Campus Bus Trip

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Ohio State college visit, Thursday, November 21! Open to high school students interested in touring OSU. Please register at go.osu.edu/24bustrip by November 8.

Trip includes meeting with College of Food, Agriculture, & Environmental Science admissions, touring Ag Campus, lunch at Ohio Union, tour of main campus highlights, talking with current OSU students from our area, and an OSU Bus Trip t-shirt. Teens will spend time with Dr. Lyda Garcia, meat science professor, as she talks with them about opportunities at the University and beyond.

Adams County teens will meet the OSU Bus at Pike County Fairgrounds.

This opportunity is funded through a grant from the Ohio 4-H Foundation.

 

Contact Kristy at watters.92@osu.edu if you have questions. Space is limited so register soon!