Posts

It’s May and we have lots of exciting and informative things to share:

First, Some general Livestock Updates 

• The 2025 Junior Fair Schedule has been updated to reflect a change in the weigh-in schedule, all market animals will weigh in between 6:00 – 10:00am on Sunday, July 6th For the full schedule visit: 2025 Fair Schedule Final_1.pdf
• ODA has released a few informative news articles, I believe would be beneficial for families to read and 4-H volunteers to share at club meetings
  • ODA Livestock Exhibition New and Updated Rules
  • ODA Animal Health News – Fairs & Exhibitions Special Edition
  • ODA Animal Health News – Fairs & Exhibitions Special Edition 2  
• Also, it is a great time to review the Lawrence County Fair rules, they can be found at: 2025 Lawrence County Junior Fair Rules
• Showing Livestock at the State Fair, visit Livestock Competitions for more information and registration deadlines.

Market Chicken Pick Up 

• Market Chicken Pick Up is scheduled for the afternoon of May 15th. We will begin calling to let you know ETA, when we pick up.

4-H Project Book Orders

• If you haven’t ordered 4-H project books, our last county order is going in on May 15th. We have some in stock and ready for pick up now but are starting to run low on others. Please contact our office for book orders.

Market Rabbit Tag-In

• Market Rabbit Tattooing is scheduled for June 7th from 8:00 – 10:00am at the Lawrence County Fairgrounds.
• Do you want to tattoo your rabbits yourself or have your breeder do it, to keep you and rabbits from coming on June 7th? That option is available this year. To do so, please follow these instructions: Important Info Regarding Lawrence County Junior Fair Market Rabbit Tattooing | Lawrence County 4-H

Breeding/Non-Market Forms

Reminder – New this year! We will be utilizing the 4-Honline system to register your breeding/non-livestock projects for exhibition. 4-H/FFA members planning to exhibit Beef Breeding, Beef Feeders, Sheep Breeding, Specialty Goats, Fancy Poultry, Breeding Rabbits must register their animals by June 15th. To do so, you will log into your oh.4honline.com account and enter your animals. For help, visit this help sheet: v2.Families.Adding.Animals.pdf

4-H Camping Opportunities

• Adams, Lawrence, Pike 4-H Camp for 3rd – 8th grade is scheduled for May 30 – June 2. To register by May 15th, visit go.osu.edu/alp4hcamp
  • Cost is $165 ($175 for non-4-H members) and payment is accepted at go.osu.edu/lawrenceextensionpayment
• Canter’s Cave Cloverbud Overnight Camp is scheduled for June 20 – June 21. To register by June 6th, visit go.osu.edu/canterscloverbudcamp
  • Required Online Health Forms: go.osu.edu/CloverbudHF
    • Online Health Form needed for all adults and children attending camp.
  • Cost: $60.00 ($40.00 for additional youth/adults).
• Canter’s Cave Teen Camp, grades 9 -12, is scheduled for June 26 – 29th. To register by June 12th, visit go.osu.edu/teencamp
  • Cost is $170 ($180 for non-4-H members) and payment is accepted at go.osu.edu/lawrenceextensionpayment

We will also accept cash or check payments at our office Monday – Friday, 8:00 – 4:30pm.

Cloverbud Day Camp 

• Lawrence County is offering a Cloverbud Day Camp, this evening of fun is only for our Cloverbud age youth, 5-8 years old and will be held at the Lawrence County Fairgrounds on June 19th. 5:30 – 7:00pm. To learn more & register, visit go.osu.edu/lawco4hcloverbudcamp Cost is $10 and registration is due by May 30.

Reminder – Lawrence County Fair Pageant Information: All information regarding each pageant can be found on the opening letter of the applications. All applications are due NO LATER than June 13th, 2025. If you choose to mail your application, please ensure you send it out with enough time to arrive by the due date.

Coming later this month, early June: 

• Skillathon Study Guide
• 4-H Project Judging Registration

2025 Lawrence County Market Rabbit Exhibitors, 4-H Club Advisors, and Parents:

Please read the following information regarding changes to Market Rabbit Tattoo requirements!

2025 Market Rabbit Tattooing Info 

Entering Animals Into 4-HOnline Handout: v2.Families.Adding.Animals

If you have questions, please contact Rachael at fraley.171@osu.edu or 740-533-4322.

April is always an exciting month in 4-H! Our community clubs are busy doing amazing things and we love getting to see and hear about all the different experiences our youth are participating in as part of their 4-H club!

We have a few things to share for this month:

4-H Camp Scholarships – 4-H Camping season is coming quickly! If you would like to apply for a 4-H camp scholarship, the deadline to apply is April 15th! To apply, find camp dates, and register for camp, visit: 4-H Camp | Lawrence For specialty camps like Cloverbud, STEM, Adaptive Adventures, Teen camp registrations visit: Specialty Camps | Canter’s Cave 4-H Camp

Horse Projects – We will be having our in-person Equistep meeting on April 17th, at 7:15pm at the Extension Office, if you are unable to attend or prefer to complete your Equistep training on your own,  you can do so! Also, May 1 is the deadline for Horse Project ID and Equistep completion! Lastly, it is vital we have 4-H volunteers to help make the show a success, if you are interested in helping, we ask you reach out to our office. More information on all the Horse Project details can be found here: Lawrence County 4-H Horse Projects | Lawrence County 4-H

Lawrence County Quality Assurance Deadline is quickly approaching. Quality Assurance must be completed by May 1 to be eligible to exhibit, show & sale at the Lawrence County Fair. If you are 12 years or older, and would prefer to test-out, please reach out to our office to schedule an appointment. Having trouble making it to a Quality Assurance Training, youth may also complete Quality Assurance through the YQCA.org program online for $12.00. To register and complete, visit: YQCA – Youth for the Quality Care of Animals Certificates of completion must be emailed to fraley.171@osu.edu

Breeding Leases – If you are leasing a breeding animal, forms must be on file by May 1: 2025 Lawrence County Breeding Lease Form

Breeding/Non-Market Forms – New this year! We will be utilizing the 4-Honline system to register your breeding/non-livestock projects for exhibition. 4-H/FFA members planning to exhibit Beef Breeding, Beef Feeders, Sheep Breeding, Specialty Goats, Fancy Poultry, Breeding Rabbits must register their animals by June 15th. To do so, you will log into your oh.4honline.com account and enter your animals. For help, visit this help sheet: v2.Families.Adding.Animals.pdf

Market Lamb, Goat, Hog Tag-In is May 3rd, 8:00 – 10:00am at the fairgrounds. If you’d prefer to pick up your tags and tag your market animals yourself, please be sure to follow the directions outlined at Important Information Regarding Lawrence County Lamb, Goat, and Hog Tag-In | Lawrence County 4-H

Market Chicken Update: After some conversation with our hatchery around our 2025 fair dates and our minimum weight requirement, we have updated our Market Chicken pick up. Market Chickens will arrive tentatively May 15th.

Senior Banners – New this year! The Lawrence County Junior Fairboard is sponsoring senior banners highlighting our recent graduates at the county fair. To gather the information needed to create the banners, we ask all 4-H and FFA youth currently enrolled and a high school senior to complete this survey by May 15th: go.osu.edu/2025lawcoseniorbanner

Rabbit Tattooing – Rabbit tattooing is scheduled for June 7th, 8:00 – 10:00am at the Lawrence County Fairgrounds.

The Fair Schedule can be found here: 2025 Fair Schedule Final_0.pdf, no changes, but some clarification on Market Chicken Showmanship and the Fancy Poultry Show! We have also created a landing page for the Junior Fair Livestock Sale to help our buyers and also our families when talking with buyers, as well as a link to go ahead and pre-register as a buyer. For sale information visit: 2025 Lawrence County Junior Fair Sale | Lawrence County 4-H

Lawrence County Fair Pageant Information: All information regarding each pageant can be found on the opening letter of the applications. All applications are due NO LATER than June 13th, 2025. If you choose to mail your application, please ensure you send it out with enough time to arrive by the due date.

Lawrence County 4-H Horse Exhibitors must complete the following if they wish to participate in any county or state 4-H horse show by May 1:

• Horse ID Form – Each member must register their horse by May 1. To do so, you will utilize your oh.4honline.com account and enter your horse through the horse tab. For instructions, visit: v2.Families.Adding.Animals.pdf
• Equistep Training –  Equistep is Ohio 4-H’s Equine Safety, Training, and Education Program. It is an annual requirement for all Ohio 4-H youth enrolled in a horse project. To complete for 2025 visit – https://go.osu.edu/equistep2025
  • If you would prefer to complete in person, we will be holding a county-wide Equistep meeting on April 17th at 7:15pm at the Extension Office.

Request for Volunteers: To be able to help our horse youth be successful and have a positive experience at the county fair show, I am seeking adult volunteers who are willing to help organize, prepare, and work the show!  If you or someone you know is interested – please reach out to me at fraley.171@osu.edu by April 15th.

Important Dates:

South Central Ohio 4-H Horse Clinic – June 5th – June 8th

Lawrence County 4-H Horse Show – Our horse show is scheduled to be in conjunction with the rodeo at the Lawrence County Fair again this year, scheduled for Friday, July 11th at 2:00pm in front of the grandstands.

Happy Spring!

First reminder for this month is the events happening this Saturday, March 29th, I know it’s not quite April but wanted to make sure you didn’t miss this opportunity! Join us Saturday, March 29th at Symmes Valley High School:

• 9:00am – Quality Assurance and Test-Out Option Available
• 10:00am – Small Animal Clinic for Market Turkeys, Rabbits, and Chickens
• 11:00am – Quality Assurance and Test-Out Option Available
• 9:00am – 12:00pm – Market Lamb, Goat, Hog Tag Pick Up

Next, is the information regarding Market Lamb, Goat, and Hog Tag In we released yesterday! If you or a 4-H member you know is planning to exhibit a Market Lamb, Goat, or Hog please be sure to read the post from yesterday: Important Information Regarding Lawrence County Lamb, Goat, and Hog Tag-In | Lawrence County 4-H

More news and reminders:

• Quality Assurance – If you can’t make it Saturday to our county-wide QA or to your 4-H Club’s Quality Assurance Option there are a couple other options:
  • Complete the YQCAprogram.org online course: https://yqcaprogram.org/
  • Contact our office for other club QA trainings open to other 4-H members
  • If you are 12 years old and older, 4-H age, contact our office to set up a time to test-out of Quality Assurance
• Market Chickens – If you are taking Market Chickens to the Lawrence County Fair, orders must be placed and paid for by April 1st. Order form can be found at: Market Chicken Order Form
• 4-H Project Information – After enrollment deadline, we receive lots of questions about what is next for project completion and such – please check out these two resources, as they are very helpful in regard to our 4-H and Junior Fair requirements:
  • 4-H Volunteer and Family Guidebook 
  • Junior Fair Rules 
• Adams, Lawrence, Pike 4-H Camp, 3rd – 8th grades –  4-H Camp for Lawrence County campers in May 30 – June 2nd, Registration is open at: go.osu.edu/alp4hcampDeadline to register is May 15th.
  • Scholarships are available at: 4-H Camp Scholarship Application
• Canter’s Cave 4-H Spring Fling, 3rd – 6th grades –
  The registration for Spring Fling is April 1st! Find the registation link and more details at https://4hcanterscave.osu.edu/…/specialty…/spring-fling
  This is the perfect camp for 3rd-6th graders interested in coming to summer camp, but want to get a taste of what camp is about before they do.
  Questions? Reach out to Highland County 4-H Educator, Dani Combs, at combs.311@osu.edu or at (937) 393-1918.
• 4-H Members & Volunteer Enrollment Updates:
  • Members: March 31st is the last day to update your 4-H project information. If you want to change or add projects, please contact our office by March 31st to make these changes, as the oh.4honline.com system will not allow you to do so on your own. No changes/additions will be accepted after March 31.
  • Volunteers: Your enrollment and volunteer trainings must be complete by March 31st. If you are still pending/awaiting review, it is because you have not completed one of your requirements or your BCI is still pending.
• Dog Obedience – Dog obedience training kicks off next Wednesday, April 2nd at 6:30pm at the Extension Office.

Club Resources: 

• Recreation Ideas –
  • Blue Ribbon Games
• Meeting Ideas –
  • Making the Best 4-H Clubs Better | Ohio 4-H Youth Development
  • Ohio 4-H Volunteer Handbook | Ohio 4-H Youth Development

2025 Lawrence County Market Lamb, Goat, Hog Exhibitors, 4-H Club Advisors, and Parents:

Please read the following information regarding changes to Market Lamb, Goat, Hog Tag In requirements!

2025 Market Lamb, Goat, Hog Tag In Info

Entering Animals Into 4-HOnline Handout: v2.Families.Adding.Animals

Opportunities for Identification Tag Pick Up For Self-Tagging Option 

• March 29th, 9:00 – 12:00pm, Symmes Valley High School
• Extension Office, 9:00am – 4:00pm, Monday – Friday, April 1st – 30th
  • Extended Hours: April 17th, 4:00 – 8:00pm

If you have questions, please contact Rachael at fraley.171@osu.edu or 740-533-4322.

Enrollment Deadline is quickly approaching! Deadline is March 15th! Please note, this is a Saturday and the enrollment system will stay open. However, we highly recommend you enrolling by tomorrow, Friday March 14th at 4:30pm just in case you need help getting into your 4-Honline account. The website to enroll is oh.4honline.com

Enrollment & Project Changes will be accepted until March 31st!

4-H Club Advisors Reminder: 4-H Club Paperwork is due March 15th and 4-H project books are being ordered on the 15th of every month!

Senior Scholarship Applications are due on March 15th, too! If you or someone you know is graduating this year, scholarships are available: Lawrence County 4-H Program | Lawrence

Market Turkey Projects: Market Turkeys are set to arrive in Lawrence County at the Extension Office on Thursday, March 20th around 4-4:30pm. We ask our Market Turkey exhibitor/families to be ready to meet us to pick up upon arrival! ETA will be updated on our facebook @lawrence4H page and band app periodically day of arrival.

Quality Assurance Update: Most clubs have had at least 1 assistant instructor trained to teach Quality Assurance through 4-H Club meetings. We will be offering a county-wide Quality Assurance Training on March 29th at Symmes Valley High School, at 9:00am -or- 11:00am. Please note, this is a date change from the originally posted county-wide QA dates. We decided to make it a one-day event in conjunction with our Small Animal Clinic.

• Quality Assurance Test-Out: Youth, 12 and older, 4-H age are eligible to test out! Please reach out to Rachael at fraley.171@osu.edu or 740-533-4322 to set up a time to test out!

Small Animal Clinic, March 29th, 10:00am: Market Turkeys, Market Chicken, and Market Rabbit exhibitors are invited to attend our Small Animal Clinic to learn more about their projects on March 29th at 10:00am at Symmes Valley High School.

Market Chicken Orders are due April 1st! Order form can be found here: 2025 Market Chicken Order Form

Dog Obedience: Youth enrolled in the Dog Obedience will have their orientation meeting on April 2nd at 6:30pm at the Extension Office, dogs are not permitted at this meeting.

Canter’s Cave 4-H Camp Spring Fling: 3rd – 6th grade youth are invited to the Spring Fling Overnight Camp April 11 – 12th. Registration is due April 1st and is available at: go.osu.edu/SpringFling

Canter’s Cave 4-H Camp is set for May 30th through June 2nd. Registration will be opening soon! However, the scholarship application is open now! Scholarships for camp can be found at: 4-H Camp Scholarship Application Deadline for scholarships is April 15th.

Please be sure to check out monthly newsletters from January & February for other news you may have missed and if you have questions, please reach out! We know it is a busy time for everyone and appreciate your efforts in helping our 4-H Club Program be successful!

Happy Valentines Day! We absolutely love our 4-H volunteers and families who continue to make the best better in Lawrence County! First, I want to thank the 20+ 4-H Clubs and many volunteers who spent Saturday morning with us at the club volunteer training. We had a great time spending time with you!

If you our 4-H Club Volunteer Training Saturday and want to know about your opportunity to complete, please visit the post we shared for more information: Lawrence County 4-H Volunteer Training Make-Up Dates | Lawrence County 4-H

4-H Volunteer BCI Rescreening Due- February 15th. Volunteers must be rescreened every 4 years to remain an active volunteer. If it is your rescreening year you should have received an email with instructions to complete. These must be done by February 15th.

4-H Club Paperwork Due March 15 – In your club packets, volunteers received their yearly club documentation due each year to the Extension Office. If you need help replacing these copies, please visit: Lawrence County 4-H Club Advisor Resources | Lawrence and complete all files under the Yearly Club Charter Documentation Section and return to the office by March 15.

New(er) 4-H Family Open House – We invite anyone interested in learning more about the 4-H program to our info session on Tuesday, March 4th.

4-H Club & Project Enrollment Deadline – In order to be eligible to exhibit at the 2025 Lawrence County Junior Fair, 4-H and FFA members must be enrolled by March 15h. We will accept changes until March 31st. 4-H Families can enroll at oh.4honline.com.

Quality Assurance & QA Test-Out – Many of our 4-H Club Advisors have received Assistant Instructor Training and will be offering Quality Assurance through club meetings. But, we will also be offering some county-wide opportunities at the Extension Office. For dates and registration visit: Lawrence County Fair | Lawrence. Test-Outs are available by appointment for 12 years and older, please contact our office at 740-533-4322 or email Rachael at fraley.171@osu.edu to set up a time to take the test. Quality Assurance is a yearly requirement for our Exhibitors and must be complete by May 1.

Small Animal Clinic – We have scheduled a Small Animal Clinic with guest speakers to help our youth be successful with the Market Turkey, Chicken, and Rabbit Projects. Join us at Symmes Valley High School on Saturday, March 29th at 10:00am. You can come early at 9:00am or stay a little later at 11:00am and receive Quality Assurance Training or take the QA Test. We hope to see our small animal exhibitors at the clinic any ANY, large or small animal, exhibitor for Quality Assurance, if needed!

Poultry Exhibitors – Anytime but especially now you need to be talking about your Biosecurity Plan with more information found here: https://ohio4h.org/poultry. Due to the impacts of HPAI, we do encourage our exhibitors to look into enrolling in a potential back-up project, if you desire! Like all Livestock projects, it’s always good to have a backup option and enroll in those projects ahead of time.

Market Turkeys Exhibitors – Orders are due February 15th, please visit Online Survey Software | Qualtrics Survey Solutions for order form and more information!

4-H Horse Projects – If you plan to exhibit a horse at the 2025 Lawrence County Fair. We will be hosting an informational meeting and an in-person EquiStep viewing on March 27th April 17 at 7:30pm at the Extension Office. The Equistep Training is also available online at: EquiSTEP 2025 – College of FAES, Due May 1st. Your Horse project must also be entered into the Animals Tab within your oh.4honline.com account for animal identification by May 1. For more information regarding Ohio State Fair Horse Participation visit: PAS Qualifying Shows | Ohio 4-H Youth Development

4-H Dog Obedience – Are you interested in taking a 4-H Dog Obedience project? Join Leslie Milleson on April 2nd for the Informational Class at 6:30pm at the Extension Office. Dogs are not permitted at this informational session. Weekly classes will take place on Wednesday’s at 6:00pm. This is a 9 week training with graduation on June 4th and Judging on June 18th.

Lawrence County Junior Fair Breeder List – To assist our members with finding animals, we have created an excel sheet to share Breeders in our area for Junior Fair Livestock Projects. Please note, this is note we are not endorsing these businesses, simply allowing them to complete an info form and us sharing it as potential connections for our youth as the explore trying to find animals. To view the Breeder List as of February 13th, visit: Breeders at of Feb 13.xlsx To be added to the list visit: Qualtrics Survey | Qualtrics Experience Management

BAND APP – We are transitioning to the Band App and will no longer be utilizing the 4-H Now App! To join our channel visit: https://band.us/n/a7a8AenbMbS0D

You can also follow us on our blog at u.osu.edu/lawrence4h and our facebook page.

First, I want to thank the 20+ Lawrence County 4-H Clubs who had at least one volunteer in attendance at the February 7th Volunteer Training. We greatly appreciate the time and attention you gave and truly loved getting to spend time with so many of you!

We know some of you truly hated to miss and have been looking for your make-up date opportunities & they are now here!

4-H Clubs who did not have anyone in attendance: this is your opportunity to receive your 4-H Club training for the year. 1 volunteer from each club (who did not attend on February 7th) is expected to have someone at one of the following options:

• February 14th, 1:00 – 2:30pm
• February 17th, 1:00 – 2:30pm
• February 17th, 5:30 – 7:00pm

You must register to attend at least 24 prior to the date, as they are subject to be cancelled if no one registers! To register visit: 4-H Volunteer Registration

Each time slot does have a cap of 15 participants!

If you are unable to make one of these dates work, you must set up an appointment prior to March 1 to receive your club packet and meet with Rachael, email at fraley.171@osu.edu to do so.

4-H Volunteer Training: 

• If your club had someone in attendance, or plans to have someone attend the make-up days, but you still need volunteer training and you prefer the in-person option – you are welcome to attend one of the make-up dates by registering at 4-H Volunteer Registration
• If your club had someone in attendance at one of the in-person trainings and you prefer an online option, the recording and follow up information for completion will be released by March 1st and available for completion until March 15th.

All Lawrence County 4-H volunteers must complete training by March 15th and at least one volunteer from each club must have attended one of the in-person trainings! 

Welcome 2025 Lawrence County Junior Fair Buyers 

We are excited to offer a new landing page for all the 2025 Lawrence County Junior Fair Sale information

The Lawrence County Jr. Fair Program is made possible in large part by the generous contributions of businesses and individuals like you. Please join us for a fun and exciting week at the Lawrence County Fair Monday, July 7^th through Saturday, July 12^th.

Why should I purchase an animal at the Lawrence County Fair? 

How Does the Lawrence County Junior Fair Sale Work & What Are My Options As Buyer? 

All market animals sold through the Junior Fair Livestock Sale are terminal, meaning all must go to a designated livestock yard or harvesting facility. Animals are not permitted to be given back to the exhibitor. Animals will be sold by the head. The buyer then has a few options:

1. Purchase and send animal to resale at the livestock market. With this option the buyer is paying the difference between auction sale price and the resale market price. Resale value will be posted. There is no resale value for rabbits and chickens.

Example: Bid $1500 for lamb, resale value is $260=(130 lb lamb x $2 resale price per lb), you pay $1240.00

2. Purchase livestock animal (hogs, lambs, goats, steers, turkeys) and process meat for own use, paying full amount. Except for rabbits & chickens, due to no local harvester the meat is not available to buyers and there is no resale value.

                           Example: Bid $1500 for lamb, you pay $1500.00

All animals will be loaded out directly from sale ring, no changes can be made. All Grand & Reserve are required by ODA to be sent to a state inspected facility for harvest and must remain until they have passed inspection and meat is released. Buyers must designate a buyer to pay for the meat and the balance is then distributed equally among all buyers. Opportunity for champion pictures is permitted before the exhibitor leaves the sale ring

How Do I Register as a Buyer?

• Pre-Registration: Pre-Registration for the sale can be found here: https://go.osu.edu/lawcobuyer Pre-registering will allow you to track your purchases live and pay through the online payment system. If you are new buyer or do not know your buyer ID number, please leave it blank and we will enter it for you!
  • On Sale Day, please visit our Check-In Table to receive your buyer number between 9:00 – 10:00 am, Saturday, July 12th.
• Day of Registration: Visit the Buyer Registration Table for a clerk to assist you in registration and to receive your buyer number between 9:00 – 10:00am, Saturday, July 12th.

I am registered, how do I view my account? 

• Once you are registered, you will recieve an email from FairEntry with a link to sign in. You can also visit this Fair Entry Link for easy access: 2025 Lawrence County Junior Fair – FairEntry.com
  • As we navigate through the new system, more information about your account and its accessibility will be shared!

What is the Sale Order? Coming soon!

How do I pay? When is it due? More information coming soon!

Download a 2025 Buyer Letter Here: Coming Soon!