Our physical office is temporarily closed starting Tuesday, March 17 due to the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak. The office will remain closed until we are notified by Ohio State University administration that we can resume normal operations within our office space.

At this time, all staff will continue to serve clientele remotely during normal office hours. Please feel free to contact Rachel Hoverman at hoverman.22@osu.edu or (419) 203-8570 if you need immediate assistance.

Thank you for your patience, understanding and support during this challenging time. We sincerely appreciate it.

The OSU Extension – Van Wert County office team, Curtis, Deb, Rachel, Melissa, and Heather

Purpose: To promote 4-H in Van Wert County, and 4-H Projects in a way that is fun, inviting, and allows for easy and safe interaction of the public with possible advisors and members!

Goals:

1. Invite all local schools 3^rd graders to attend.
2. 20% of those invited attend event.

Date/Time/Location: March 31, 2019 from 3:00pm-6:00pm at the Jr. Fair Building

Topics to be covered:

Audience: Families of Youth ages 5-18 are invited. Members in the 3^rd grade are invited directly, and the public will be invited through other channels (Media, newspaper, social media, word of mouth, etc.).

Stations- 22 total

These instructions are for Van Wert County, OHIO only. Please contact your local Extension Office for details on your own county’s judging.

CAN I USE MY OLD BOOK?

No. The new packet is designed to have everything you need, and judges will only be familiarized with that format. Bringing an old book will result in your transferring the information to a new book at judging before you can be interviewed, or no score.

I TAKE A RABBIT PROJECT. WHAT BOOK DO I NEED?

You will need to take the market project book, and the breeding book. There are things such as Pedigree Records, and Breeding records that will need to be recorded, but your feed can be the same as the market book if you feed them together.

HOW MANY MARKET/BREEDING PROJECTS CAN I HAVE IN ONE BOOK?

You may only circle one of the project areas per book. Example: If you take a Market Beef Steer, and a Dairy Beef Feeder, you will need two books. Or if you have a dairy heifer and a dairy cow, you will need two books. This is a change from the past, but the correct way to keep records for your books.

ARE ANY OF THE PAGES OPTIONAL FOR MY CHILD? THEY ARE ONLY A FIRST YEAR?

No. All pages are mandatory, but judges take into account their age when judging books. If your child is unable to fill out their own book, please contact Heather for an accommodation Winning Plan Request form to allow you to scribe for them. Filling the book out for your child is noticeable and not acceptable practice.

HOW MUCH ARE THE BOOKS?

The books are $2.00 each from the Extension Office. Advisors will ask you how many you need or if you wish to print your own and will order them with the other project books. They come stapled down the side like a book, and hole punched to be put in a binder. If you wish you are permitted to download the book online, but we find the $2.00 is worth it instead of fighting with your printer.

WHAT IF I AM GOING TO THE OHIO STATE FAIR WITH MY LIVESTOCK?

You will need to fill out a packet for our livestock judging, and a book for the Ohio State Fair. Just fill out the packet and transfer the information to the book.

HOW WILL MY BOOK BE SCORED? WHEN WILL MY BOOK BE SCORED?

Your book will be scored based on the criteria listed on page 3 of both books. The judge has the right to deduct points for incomplete records. Books should be completed as far as possible, and note that the Profit Loss Statement is projected, not final and must be completed. Books will be scored Monday, July 31 at Vantage Career Center. Appointment times will be available from 3:00pm-6:50pm that evening.

DO WE NEED TO COMPLETE A SKILLATHON? HOW DO WE PREPARE?

Starting in 2017 skillathon is a mandatory requirement. All youth will be expected to complete a skillathon. To prepare for this, we have free study packets at the office for each species. Clubs can also check out the skillathon kits (but they cannot be checked out one week prior to Livestock Judging or Black Inc. Judging).

WHY SHOULD WE HAVE TO COMPLETE SKILLATHON?

New in 2017 we are adding an “Outstanding Livestock Exhibitor Program” where factors such as your market/breeding class placing, showmanship placing, skillathon, and project interview will all be taken into account. Our goal is to showcase those youth by denoting them on the sale program. We are currently working to include FFA with this program. We also believe that in order to fully engage in your livestock project that you should know basic things such as body parts, meat cuts, breeds, etc.

I CAN’T MAKE IT TO JUDGING BECAUSE WE ARE NOT GOING TO BE IN TOWN! WHAT DO I DO?

You will need to speak with your Club Advisor, and set up a time for their book to be judged. They will be following the same guidelines as the judging on July 31.  Make up skillathon will be on Monday, August 14, 2017 from 3:00-6:50pm at the Extension Office.  If needed we can also do make up interviews at this time but will be limited to the amount of youth we can judge.

WHAT KIND OF QUESTIONS WILL THE JUDGE ASK? HOW CAN I PREPARE MY CHILD?

Judges will ask questions about the records in the book, such as the following:

• Tell me about your animal.
• What do you feed your animal?
• Describe your animal’s pen/cage.
• What was the most surprising expense for your project?
• Point out information on the feed tag (based on the questions below the feed tag).
• Did you have to treat your animal with any medicine? What did you learn from that?
• Can you tell me what rate of gain is?
• What was your favorite part of your project? Least favorite?
• What was the most important thing you learned?

Judges will most likely not ask every single one of these questions, and may ask a variation of the questions above. If you feel your child may struggle with interaction with one of our judges and requires accommodation, please contact Heather to complete a Winning Plan Request.

ARE THERE STILL RESOURCE GUIDES FOR PURCHASE?

Yes, but only for the following species: rabbits ($10.50), dairy ($13.00), goats ($17.00), llama and alpaca ($12.00), sheep ($22.00), and swine ($15.50). These books are a one-time purchase per species and most likely would only need one per family to share. It is a good investment especially if you are just starting to learn about your animal.

Additional suggestions for supplements can be found in the 2017 Ohio 4-H Family Guide.

CAN MY CLUB ADVISOR GRADE OUR ENTIRE CLUB’S LIVESTOCK PROJECT BOOKS?

That decision is to be made by the club advisor. They are not obligated to judge the entire club (only asked to do make up or find someone to do make up). If they choose to grade the entire club they will need to check out the skillathon kits to complete skillathons as well. Skillathon kits cannot be checked out one week prior to livestock judging, or one week prior to Black Inc. in order for us to prepare for those judgings.

Download Links (books are available for purchase $2.00 each if you don’t wish to print)

2017 Breeding Livestock Book

2017 Market Livestock Book

These instructions are for Van Wert County, OHIO only. Please contact your local Extension Office for details on your own county’s judging. 

CAN I USE MY OLD BOOK?

Yes. But you must be able to show the judge what you learned this year. We do suggest that you try another project unless it is a more open-ended project with varying skill levels (like cake decorating, or scrapbooking).

ARE ANY OF THE PAGES OPTIONAL FOR MY CHILD? WHAT IF THEY ARE ONLY A FIRST YEAR MEMBER?

All books are different. It can be very hard for us to answer this question with over 200 books. If you flip to the first couple of pages, most books have an outline of the expectations of the project. There it will tell you how many areas you will need to complete. See the next question for a more full explanation.

HOW DOES MY CHILD KNOW WHAT TO COMPLETE?

In each of the project books, there should be a loose sheet of paper that has a table on it. The table lists project number and name, skill level, project completion requirements, county requirements, and Ohio State Fair requirements. This is a great resource for making sure that you have it all completed before judging.

WON’T THE ADVISOR DO THE PROJECT FOR THEM IN THE CLUB MEETINGS?

Club meetings are a great chance to ask questions, socialize with other club members, give demonstrations, and learn about general 4-H opportunities (camp, swim day). Many of the clubs are a general club and advisors are not expected to help your child complete the book in the meetings. Many will help you complete it, practice judging, or talk to you about your project, but actually completing the book should be a family affair with your child in the driver seat of the project.

HOW MUCH ARE THE BOOKS?

The books are $6.00 each from the Extension Office. Advisors will ask you how many you need to turn in a club order. It is preferred that you get your books through the club as we have a limited stock of project books here at the Extension Office and cannot guarantee any book at any given time.

Note: There are some books that vary more in cost. They are marked in the Ohio 4-H Family Guide with their price. Unmarked books mean the price is $6.00.

HOW WILL MY BOOK BE SCORED? WHEN WILL MY BOOK BE SCORED?

Your book will be scored based on the criteria listed from the project completion requirements. The judge has the right to deduct points for incomplete records. Books will be scored Tuesday, July 18 at Van Wert Middle School. Appointment times will be available from 3:00pm-6:50pm that evening.

WHAT ABOUT SEWING PROJECTS?

Sewing projects are scheduled into time blocks. They cannot be scheduled in the system like the others. You will receive a letter than explains when you will be expected to attend judging.

I CAN’T MAKE IT TO JUDGING BECAUSE WE ARE NOT GOING TO BE IN TOWN! WHAT DO I DO?

You will need to speak with your Club Advisor, and set up a time for their book to be judged. They will be following the same guidelines as the judging on July 18.  Please note that if you do not attend the July 18 judging that you cannot be selected as a participant for the Ohio State Fair, or as a County Trophy Winner.

WHAT KIND OF QUESTIONS WILL THE JUDGE ASK? HOW CAN I PREPARE MY CHILD?

Judges will ask questions

• Tell me about your project.
• What did you like?
• Knowledge-based questions

Judges may ask a variation of the questions above. If you feel your child may struggle with interaction with one of our judges and requires accommodation, please contact Heather to complete a Winning Plan Request.

WHAT GRADING SYSTEM DO YOU USE?

We are implementing a grading system this year that is worded differently.

SUPERIOR-4-H member went above and beyond the project requirements. They had superior knowledge of project and developed an extensive exhibit.

OUTSTANDING-4-H member met all project requirements. They had basic knowledge of subject matter and a nice exhibit.

GOOD-4-H member met only some project requirements. They needed more project knowledge and more extensive exhibit.

NEEDS IMPROVEMENT-4-H member met none of the project requirements.

We feel with this model that the majority of projects will receive an outstanding grade, and the ones with superior will be our highlighted projects.

When will I know if my child will win an award?

Awards will be given at the 4-H Awards ceremony the Sunday before Fair begins. You will receive a post card if you are getting an award to invite you to attend.

What other things can my child participate in with their project?

IF MY CHILD DOES NOT GET THE GRADE I THINK THEY DESERVE, WHAT CAN I DO?

Judges are given score sheets to express what they feel is maybe a good or needs improvement project. If you feel your child was treated unfairly, please contact the Extension Office to set up an appointment to speak with Heather regarding the decision. Heather will review the grade and comments along with the book to look over the grade received. Arguments the day of judging will not be tolerated as they provide a hostile environment for the youth that are already tense about the judging process.