Changes to Junior Fair Bake Off for 2025

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

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 139 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.

Adams County Junior Fair Board Applications due September 1

Applications are now available for the Adams County Junior Fair Board!

Junior Fair Board is a group of teen leaders from various organizations that come together to help run the Adams County Junior Fair. This unique opportunity is a great way to practice decision making, build teamwork, and hone your public speaking skills. Members must be at least a freshman in high school and a member in good standing of a junior fair organization such as 4-H, FFA, Scouts, SkillsUSA, or FCCLA.

Applications are available at go.osu.edu/ACJFB and are due to the Extension office by September 1st for 4-H and At-Large seats. They can be mailed, emailed, or hand delivered but must include both the applicant and a parent or guardian’s signature. FFA, Scouts, SkillsUSA, and FCCLA members need to reach out to their advisors to inquire about how to be appointed to represent your organization.

Interviews for 4-H and At-Large positions will take place at The first meeting of the 2024-2025 Adams County Junior Fair Board will be held on Wednesday, October 2. Those selected to serve will be contacted with specific details about time and location.

If you have questions, please contact Kristy at watters.92@osu.edu.

 

 

Pre-Fair Judging Schedule and Requirements

Pre-Fair Judging will take place on Tuesday, June 25 at West Union Elementary School. The complete schedule and project requirements can be found at https://adams.osu.edu/…/4-h…/non-livestock-projects
Please note:
  • Food & Nutrition skillathon is required for all food projects and will be completed between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m. Food project members do NOT need to bring a place setting but should know how to correctly set one up as part of the food & nutrition skillathon.

 

  • Style Review is required for all clothing projects and will take place at 3:30 p.m. Narrative cards will be available to clothing members at project check-in.

 

ALL non-livestock projects must be displayed in the 4-H Booth building at the fair. If your club does not complete a booth, you must drop projects off to be displayed in the county booth at the Booth building on Saturday, July 6 between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. and must be picked up on Saturday, July 13 between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Bake Off

JUNIOR FAIR BAKING CONTEST
Drop off Thursday 12 p.m.
Judging: 1:30 p.m. Awards: 4:30 p.m.
Senior Fair Administration Building
Entries are due in the Extension office by June 1

 

  1. The Junior Fair Baking Contest is open to current members of any Junior Fair organization or club that have completed a food and nutrition or related project.
  2. Participants may only be registered in one category and may represent only one Junior Fair organization or club.Members must submit entries by 4:00 p.m. on June 1st at go.osu.edu/bakeoff.
  3. Each participant will: a) Bring the baked item they have prepared themselves according to the recipe provided by the Junior Fair Board. b) Be required to take a written food preparation and nutrition test when entering the baked item. c) Submit their baked item in a sealed container. NO EXCEPTIONS or you will not be allowed to register.
  4. All baked goods must be registered between 12:00-12:30 p.m. Judging will begin at 1:30 p.m. in the Senior Fair Administration Building.
  5. Scoring will be as follows: a) Quality of baked item – 60%. b) Nutrition test – 40%.
  6. If a participant earns less than 50% on the written food preparation and nutrition test, the baked good will not be eligible for placing or for the sale. Any participant who has difficulty reading should notify the contest chair(s) at time of registration so assistance can be provided.
  7. Classes will be divided into Junior (8-12 years of age) and Senior (13 years of age and older). All ages as of January 1st of the current year.
  8. Junior categories: Quick BreadCookies, and Basic Cake
  9. Senior categories: Yeast BreadPie, and Specialty Cake
  10. Awards will be presented at 4:30 p.m. in the Senior Fair Administration Building.
  11. The awards given will be: Grand Champion – Rosette, Reserve Champion – Rosette, 3rd through 5th places – Rosettes. Each participant will receive a participation ribbon.
  12. Grand and Reserve Champion must sell in the Small Animal and Baked Goods Sale. The baker must be present to sell and follow the Junior Fair Dress Code. NOTE: Grand and Reserve Champion winners will not be eligible to sell any additional units in any Jr Fair Sale unless those units were also designated as qualifying champions in their respective shows.
  13. If, for some reason, the Grand or Reserve Champion is disqualified, no replacement will be selected from that division for the sale.
  14. Entries not placing must be picked up by 5:00 p.m. on Thursday.

Quality Assurance Opportunities – UPDATED

Updated! Peebles High School test out date has changed to April 30.

All Junior Fair exhibitors of beef, dairy, goat, poultry, rabbits, sheep and swine projects must annually attend a qualifying Quality Assurance program or meet age-appropriate test out requirements on an Ohio Quality Assurance test at least 45 days before the start of the fair of the current year in order to exhibit their projects at the Adams County Fair.

The following opportunities are available in Adams County in 2024:

 

Members age 12 & up as of January 1 may test out of Quality Assurance. Tests will be administered at the dates and times listed and members must receive a 70% or higher to pass.

Quality assurance must be completed no later than May 22, 2024. If members choose to do the online YQCA training, they must provide a copy of the certifiate to the Extension office by emailing rowe.316@osu.edu.

 

Market Beef Tag In January 13

4-H and FFA market beef projects being raised for the 2024 Adams County Fair must be ear tagged and weighed at the fairgrounds on Saturday morning, January 13, 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 designated as Adams County Born and Raised show entries will also need to bring the completed nomination form to submit at tag-in. 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 (OSF) Beef Department is once again using EID ear tag and DNA sample protocols for identifying market beef animals for the 2024 State Fair, set for July 24 through August 4. These protocols include the use of an electronic identification (EID) ear tag that has a unique 15-digit number and a DNA sample that will be submitted for all market beef animals that exhibitors plan to enter in the 2024 Ohio State Fair Junior Market Beef show. EID tags are no longer provided by the Ohio State Fair.

The DNA collection will be in the form of a hair follicle sample that will be submitted to the OSF by January 15, 2024, 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 in the Extension office and at tag-in and anyone wanting to identify an animal for OSF may request a packet. The OSF animal must be tagged with the EID tag which will also be used as its Adams County Fair tag. 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 January 13, 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/.

Fair Registration Day is June 1

June 1st is “Junior Fair Entry Day”, here is a list of fair forms and project registrations due by June 1.

 

Junior Fair Baking Contest Recipes and Entry Form

The Junior Fair Baking Contest is open to all current members of any junior fair organization or club that have completed a food and nutrition or related project! Participants may only register in one category in the appropriate age division, junior 8 -12 years of age or senior 13-and up, as of January 1.

Members should register at go.osu.edu/bakeoff by June 1 at 4 p.m.

Baked goods must follow the recipe exactly, be packaged in an airtight, disposable plastic container, and brought to the Senior Fair Administration building to register between 12-12:30 p.m. on Thursday of fair week. Members will be required to take a written test on food preparation and nutrition when they drop off their item. Baked goods placing 1st and 2nd in their division will sell in the Small Animal and Baked Good Sale on Friday evening of fair.

Recipes, rules, and additional information can be found here under Baking Contest.

Pre-fair Judging Reminders!

Pre-fair judging is Tuesday! Please be sure to check out your project interview time on the schedule and review the Non-livestock project requirements to be sure you are bringing all of the required components for your project. Judging will be held at West Union Elementary. You should plan to enter the  school on the “playground” side door closest to the cafeteria. Members will check in there and wait in the cafeteria until their turn to interview. Adults will be asked to remain in the cafeteria to wait for 4-Her’s to complete their interview.

Food & Nutrition project members will also complete their skillathon during the morning judging session. Study materials for this should include their project book, the My Plate guidelines, and basic kitchen tools and procedures. We have had a few questions about the food portfolio/project presentation folder. This should include one page (front only) for each activity or interest area outlined in the front of the project book. The page should demonstrate learning taking place by the member during that activity. It may include journaling, a timeline, photos, or any other format that demonstrates the work of the 4-Her. Each page/activity can be a different format and should be presented in a 3 prong folder.

Clothing project members will compete in the style review at 3:30 p.m. in the cafeteria on Tuesday. This is open to the public. Family and friends are welcome to come support the 4-Her’s show off their skills.

Shooting Sports members should bring their completed project book and poster or display but should NOT bring their firearms, ammunition, bows, or arrows.

Crop and Shop (woodworking, welding, etc.) projects will be judged during the fair. Projects must be registered in at the 4-H Booth Building on Sunday, July 10 between 3-5:30 p.m. Judging time for Wednesday, July 13 will be scheduled at registration on Sunday.

Please remember that all non-livestock projects must be displayed in the 4-H Booth Building for the duration of the fair in order to be eligible for awards and premiums. If your club is not having a booth, your project should be displayed in the County 4-H Booth. These projects must be dropped off in the booth building and a project card completed on Saturday, July 9 between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m.