Month: September 2023

Thank You Note Station at Fair

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Thank You Note Station: Be sure to visit the Thank You Note Stations housed in the Ed Sands Building during the week of the Fairfield County Fair. Blank Thank You notes will available each day at the station, and all finished notes that are dropped off will be mailed. Thank you to the Fairfield County Endowment Board for sponsoring postage again this year.

Thank You Notes: We need to make sure our sponsors receive thanks and appreciation for supporting Fairfield County’s youth! This includes all youth receiving awards at Summerfest, as well as Junior Fair Exhibitors who will be receiving awards at fair. Please make sure thank you notes are sent to the award sponsors – even if it’s just a rosette or ribbon. Each rosette and trophy will have the sponsor’s name and address attached. Unfortunately, we have had sponsors stop donating for fair awards because they did not receive a thank you note. If a member is not sure of their sponsor for an award received at Summerfest or at the fair, check out the Awards Portion of the Junior Fair Book as it gives the name of the sponsor. If you are not able to find an address, please contact the OSU Extension Office and we can help you find it! Also encourage youth to include information about their project, award received, etc. as the sponsors enjoy reading this information. Sponsors also love pictures if members have any of their project they would like to share.

4-H Endowment Breakfast: Sunday, October 8th from 8-10 am, Ed Sands Building

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The 2023 Endowment Donation Breakfast will be held at the Ed Sands/Farm Bureau Building on Sunday, October 8th, from 8:00 a.m. until 10:00 a.m. (or until sold out). Come have some fun, enjoy breakfast and make a donation to the Fairfield County Endowment Fund. Money donated covers the cost of the breakfast and helps provide training and personal development opportunities for 4-H members today so they can be strong leaders tomorrow.

4-H Booth Information and Setup

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The 4-H theme for 2023 is “4-H is the Ticket to Success.”  Clubs should decorate their booth using this theme. Please note, no straw, sand, mulch, feathers, etc. is permitted in the displays. To view a booth score rubric, see the Advisors Resources on our website!

  • The club booths will be in the Ed Sands Building. All booth related questions should be directed toward Haley at 768@osu.edu.
  • If your club is not requesting a booth, there will be a special area in the Ed Sands Building for your member’s projects to be displayed. A reminder that for a member to receive a premium for their project, it MUST BE DISPLAYED the entire week of the fair!
  • 4-H Display Setup is Friday October 6th from 2:00 – 7:00 p.m. and Saturday, 7th from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. (NO SUNDAY SETUP!).
  • 4-H Display Tear Down is Sunday, October 15th, 12:00 – 2:00 p.m. No booths or projects may be removed prior to this time!
  • There will not be display barn guards this year.
  • A reminder when creating your club booths – if you are including pictures of your members, please make sure that the photo release was checked and electronically signed via 4-HOnline by the parent of your members. No photos of members who did not accept the photo release should be displayed. If you need to see who did not agree to a photo release, please contact the Extension Office.

Junior Fair Gardening & Crop Entries

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4-H/FFA crops will be exhibited in the Ed Sands Building this year. Items can be dropped off and checked in with an OSU Extension staff member during 4-H Display setup hours: Friday, October 6th from 2:00 – 7:00 p.m. or Saturday, October 7th from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. All items must be dropped off by Saturday, October 7th by 2:00 p.m. Items will be displayed in a central location in the Ed Sands Display Area. 4-H members should submit their 4-H crop/gardening books to the Extension Office for review by Friday, September 22nd at 4:00 p.m. Books will be returned at fair. All gardening/crop entries can be picked up on Sunday, October 15th between 12:00pm – 2:00 p.m. during 4-H Display teardown, please do not take your project early.

Fairfield Co. Junior Fair Livestock Judging Contest – Preregister NOW (through Oct. 4th)

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The Livestock Judging Contest will be held on Sunday, October 8th with registration beginning at 12:30 p.m. and the contest will begin at 1:00 p.m. in Feeder Creek Vet Show Arena. We will be having youth sign-up online (go.osu.edu/fclivestockjudging) prior to the contest so that we can help prep judging cards in advance. For more information, please review Livestock Judging Contest Rules in the Junior Fair Book at go.osu.edu/fcjrbook.

Livestock Exhibitors: Back Tag Pickup Info

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Exhibitor back tags will be available for pickup on Saturday, October 7, 2023, from 12 – 6 pm at the Jr Fair Office. After Saturday, they will be available in the Jr. Fair Office during open hours – Sunday 7:30 am – 6:00 pm, Monday – Wednesday 7:30 am – 5:00 pm and Thursday 7:30 am – 12:00 pm.

Livestock Sale Updates for Fair (Sale Etiquette, Commissions, Add-On’s, Take Homes, Buyer Info)

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Livestock Sale Etiquette – Due to some concerns expressed from buyers and families, please make sure you review the Livestock Sale Etiquette fact sheet to learn the Do’s and Don’ts of Buyer communication.

Livestock Sale Update: Sale Commissions – Continuing for 2023: All dollars handled by the Livestock Sale Committee are subject to commission, not to exceed 4%. This includes direct to packer animals and all add-ons.

Livestock Sale Update: Add-Ons – Continuing for 2023: In order for an exhibitor to receive an add-on, the exhibitor must qualify for a sale slot as either an individual or in a group. Take Home animals are not able to receive add-ons. Parents and exhibitors should not be completing Add-On Forms on behalf of a buyer – it is the Buyer’s responsibility. Parents and exhibitors should not be including Add-On Forms in their buyer letters. Buyers can request an Add-On Form by contacting the Sale Clerk or picking up a paper copy on sale days. New for 2023: Add-On’s must be received by the Sale Clerk by 5:00 p.m. the Friday following fair (Friday, October 20th at 5:00 p.m.)

Livestock Sale Updates: Take Home Animals – The 2023 Fairfield County Fair Junior Fair will have a partial terminal sale/show for all species. This will allow for a Take Home option this year.

  • The exception to this is the 8 champions that must be slaughtered and inspected at a designated packer according to ODA (grand/reserve market beef, grand/reserve market hog, grand/reserve market lamb, grand/reserve market goat).
  • Additionally, grand/reserve dairy beef feeders, grand/reserve market rabbits, grand/reserve market turkeys, grand/reserve market ducks, and grand/reserve market chickens will forfeit any take home option and must sell in the respective sale slots.
    • In the event that the buyer chooses to NOT KEEP any of the top non-terminal species (grand/reserve dairy beef feeders, grand/reserve market rabbits, grand/reserve market turkeys, grand/reserve market ducks, and grand/reserve market chickens), then the exhibitor may take their animal home if they completed a Take Home Form at weigh-in.
    • Any animal that does not have a packer bid (i.e. poultry) will be offered to the buyer, if turned, the owner is responsible for that animal.
  • Take homes will be allowed for all species with the exception of those all grand/reserve champions listed above.
  • Take homes must be declared before the animal leaves the scale during check-in (no exceptions). Exhibitors must express their intent to take home their animal by submitting the Take Home Form at weigh-in. Take Home Forms will be available from your Show Superintendent at weigh-in.
  • Take home animals will lose their sale slot and will not be eligible for a premium, packer bid, or add-on’s.
  • Exhibitors who do not take home must qualify for their sale slot (as individual or group) at the discretion of the species show committee.
  • Take Home animals will be released by the specie’s Superintendent. See Specie Department Rules and Junior Fair Schedule for details: https://go.osu.edu/fcjrbook.

Buyer Information

  • If exhibitors are aware of buyers who often choose to “KEEP” and wish to have animals processed for meat, it is important for the buyer to have arrangements made prior to fair with the harvest facility of their choice. This is due to limited availability for custom livestock harvest and processing capacity.
  • Please send buyers to the https://u.osu.edu/livestocksale/ website to review this information.

Drug Use Notification Forms – due at NOON, Friday, October 6th for Market Beef/Dairy Market Feeders/Lactating Dairy Cows & Dairy Goats/Market Hogs/Market Goats/Market Lambs

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Animals must be drug free by weigh-in day of fair. Each member must complete a Drug Use Notification Form (DUNF) (http://go.osu.edu/fairfielddunf) form online for each animal they plan to exhibit prior to weigh-in at the fair. If the forms are not correctly completed, exhibitors will not be permitted to show. The link to the form will open on Monday, October 2nd (as forms should be completed more than 5 days before fair weigh-in).

  • Animals requiring a DUNF indicating the animal is free from any/all drugs in its system on fair weigh-in/move-in day are:
    • Market Beef
    • Dairy Beef Feeder
    • Dairy Cow (lactating)
    • MQP Barrow
    • Market Barrow
    • Market Gilt
    • Market Goat
    • Dairy Goat (lactating)
    • Market Chicken
    • Market Turkey
    • Market Duck
    • MQP Lamb
    • Market Lamb
    • Market Rabbit (new for 2023)
  • Forms should be completed no sooner than 5 days prior to animal weigh-in to be sure that their animal is drug free during fair.
  • Forms submitted prior to that timeframe will be deleted and exhibitors will be asked to resubmit the DUNF form closer to their animal’s weigh-in. All animals being brought to the fair requiring DUNF forms will need to submit their forms by 12:00 p.m., Friday, October 6, 2023.
  • The only EXCEPTION to the Friday deadline will be Market Poultry and Market Rabbits who will complete DUNF Forms AFTER they receive tags/leg bands so they have identification information to enter into the DUNF Form. One form per pen of animals should be completed for Poultry and Rabbits. Deadline for poultry and rabbit exhibitors is MIDNIGHT on Saturday, October 7th.
  • Animals tagged with an EID 840 (15 digit tag) should include the last 6 digits in the identification field of the form.
  • Scrapie Tag numbers DO NOT need to be entered for market goats and market sheep – please use the last 6 digits of your EID 840 tag.
  • There should be ONE form submitted for each animal Exception: Each pen of rabbits and each pen of market chickens will need a form per pen.
  • Turkeys exhibitors will put N/A in the identification field.
  • Market Chicken exhibitors will put all 3 leg band numbers in the same identification field for their pen of chickens.
  • Market Rabbit exhibitors will put both tag numbers for their pair of rabbits in the identification field for their pen of rabbits.