It is hard to believe but in 5 1/2 months we will be spending 5 days and 4 nights at beautiful 4-H Camp Palmer.  The excitement is already starting to build as the 2019 4-H Camp Counselors recently held their first meeting and selected a theme.  The theme for 4-H Camp this year will be “To Infinity and Beyond” at 4-H Camp Palmer.  Counselors for 4-H Camp this year include: Charles Clapsaddle, Cameron Cox, Madison Coyne, Sydney Coyne, Megan Garrity, Jacob Graham, Shannon Hale, Alli Hefner, Emma Horstman, Hailee Huner, Misti Klopfenstein, Eli Moore, Ellie Moore, Katie Oberlin, Joseph Reineck, Sydney Reineck, Carson Rupp, Jacob Stouffer, Matthew Stouffer, Catherine Strable, Dylan Vogel, Hailey Weidenhamer, Hannah Wilhelm, and Nathan Wilhelm.

More information, including the 2019 4-H Camp registration packet will be coming in the next couple months.  I hope to see all of you at 4-H Camp this summer where we do “Make the Best Better”.

Quality Assurance training in Paulding County is quickly approaching.  The first training is this coming Monday, January 28th beginning at 6:00 pm in the Extension Hall.  Below is a previous post with information pertaining to Quality Assurance training.

The dates are set for the 2019 Quality Assurance trainings in Paulding County.  These dates are different from year’s past so please plan accordingly.  The dates are Monday, January 28th from 6:00 to 8:00 pm in the Extension Hall or Saturday, March 30th from 9:00 to 11:00 am in the Extension Hall.  I highly encourage all animal exhibitors to check their schedules now and be sure you have one of our Quality Assurance training dates on your calendar.

Please remember that the Paulding County Agricultural Society requires any youth (and a parent) who wish to exhibit an animal at the Paulding County Fair complete Quality Assurance.  The Ohio Department of Agriculture also requires exhibitors to complete Quality Assurance 45 days before the start of the fair.  For us that date would be April 24th.  There are very few opportunities outside of Paulding County that will meet the necessary requirement set by ODA.  If you have scheduling conflicts please contact Michael at 419-399-8225  or use the Contact Paulding County 4-H link at the top of the blog site for other possible training dates outside of our county.  Please remember that once April 24th has passed, there is nothing that can be done to meet the requirement.

If you are not sure if you need to attend Quality Assurance please look at the list of animals below that will require Quality Assurance in order to exhibit at the fair.

Beef, Dairy Beef, Dairy, Goats, Swine, Rabbits (except for pet rabbits, this is a still project), Sheep, Chickens, Ducks, Turkey, Geese, and Horse.

The State 4-H Office has released the 2019 Meat Judging Calendar of Events.  The calendar can be found at: https://ohio4h.org/statewide-programs/animal-sciences/ohio-4-h-meats-judging.

If you have any questions about what is offered on this calendar you can contact Michael at 419-399-8225 or Dr. Lyda Garcia at garcia.625@osu.edu

OSU Extension receives NIFA grant to address opioid issues

OSU Extension has received one of nine Rural Health and Safety Education Competitive grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. The grants are meant to address the needs of rural Americans through individual and family health education programs delivered through Cooperative Extension. For FY18, the awards are focusing on the prevention and reduction of opioid misuse and abuse in rural areas.

OSU Extension’s project will focus specifically on three rural counties: Paulding, Hardin, and Vinton. Educators in these counties will build on existing relationships within their communities to maximize the benefits of the Promoting School-Community-University Partnerships to Enhance Resilience (PROSPER) program and will further encourage positive change within their communities through the presentation of Generation Rx, Mental Health First Aid, and Youth Mental Health First Aid trainings. The grant will build and sustain engaged and multidisciplinary community teams (comprising parents, students, faith leaders, health and social service providers, etc.) that are connected to residents and other stakeholders to serve as local advisory bodies as well as advocates for the project, implement the PROSPER delivery system and its evidence-based prevention curricula for students and families, expand and deepen the reach of Generation Rx, and implement Mental Health First Aid trainings.

On behalf of Ohio Military Kids, we hope you have enjoyed your holiday season and will have a Happy New Year! Now that 2019 is here, the Ohio Military Kids Program has some major updates. On our website, we have posted our 2018 Year in Review video. This video highlights some of our biggest memories and experiences from the last year. Our 2019 scheduled events are also updated on our website!

Do you have camp counselors who are looking for another opportunity to serve? The OMK Program is looking for qualified candidates for Camp Kelleys Island in August of 2019. Applications are linked here to our website and are due by February 15, 2019.

We also have several opportunities for people to volunteer and support our program. There are events starting in April and goes throughout the entire summer and most of the fall. Please visit our website to see these opportunities.

Please check out our website at: go.osu.edu/OMK to see all of the updates and share with military families.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Kayla Oberstadt, OMK Program Manager, at oberstadt.1@osu.edu.

This information has been sent by Kayla Oberstadt, 4-H Program Manager, Ohio MIlitary Kids and Older Youth Leadership Development

The 2019 State 4-H Animal Sciences event calendar is now available.  This calendar lists all state-wide 4-H Animal Science events available to all 4-H members in Ohio.  The calendar is located at https://ohio4h.org/statewide-programs/animal-sciences.  This calendar will be updated as needed to reflect additional programming added at the state level.  The State 4-H Animal Sciences program also has a Facebook page that they use to stay connected to the Statewide 4-H community.  The link for their Facebook page is: https://www.facebook.com/Ohio4HAnimalSciences/.

This information has been shared as requested by Dustin Howman, Program Manager, 4-H Special Projects.

The Ohio State Fair has updated their possession date changes for all livestock being exhibited at the Ohio State Fair in 2019.  Below is the announcement discussing these changes.

Livestock Animal Ownership changes for 2019 announced:

In order to be more consistent with statewide livestock exhibition ownership rules from the Ohio Department of Agriculture, the Ohio State Fair has modified ownership rules beginning with animals exhibited at the 2019 Ohio State Fair. Specifically, some market animals (swine, lambs, goats and poultry) will have ownership date changes.

Market animals – SOME CHANGED FOR 2019 OHIO STATE FAIR

• Market beef – January 1
• Market swine – May 1 26 (changed for 2019)
• Market lambs – May 26 (60 days prior to the Ohio State Fair; will change annually) (changed for 2019)
• Market goats – May 1 26 (changed for 2019)
• Market rabbits – June 1
• Market poultry – within 5 days of hatch (changed for 2019)

Breeding animals – dates have not changed for 2019:

• Breeding Beef – May 1
• Breeding Swine – June 1
• Breeding Sheep – June 1
• Breeding Goats – June 1
• Breeding Poultry – June 1
• Breeding rabbits – June 1
• Dairy Cattle – June 1

For questions regarding the Ohio State Fair livestock shows you may visit the Ohio State Fair’s Livestock Competition website at: https://ohiostatefair.com/livestock.  Please note that the Ohio State Fair website does not have the most current dates but it is being updated shortly.

There will be an information session on January 20^th, 2019 (2:00 – 4:00 PM) located at the Animal Sciences Building (2029 Fyffe Rd, Columbus, OH 43210) for those interested in an opportunity to be chosen to represent Ohio during the National 4-H Livestock Skillathon Contest in Louisville in November.

I encourage everyone who is interested to attend the January session to ask any questions, etc. If you could please respond with your intentions to be at the first session on Sunday, January 20^th it would be appreciated.  Please respond by January 16th, 2019.

Starting in January, practice sessions will be conducted to work on individual and team activities on Sunday afternoons (2:00 – 4:00 PM) located at the Animal Sciences Building (2029 Fyffe Rd, Columbus, OH 43210).

• Sunday, January 20^th (informational, parents are welcome to attend)
• Sunday, February 17^th
• Sunday, March 17^th
• Sunday, April 14^th
• Sunday, May 19^th
• July – OSF skillathons
• Sunday, August 18^th
• Sunday, September 8^th
• Sunday, September 22^nd (Mock Contest and selection of team)
• Additional practices in Oct/Nov for team members

The practices in Sept/Oct/Nov are mandatory and you must be able to attend the mock contest to be eligible for the team.

This information has been sent by Lizz Share, Extension Specialist, 4-H Youth Development.  For more information about this team please contact Lizz by e-mail at share.8@osu.edu

The Paulding County Jr. Fairboard is looking for fair theme ideas to discuss.  If you or your club have ideas that you would like to submit you may e-mail them to schweinsberg.5@osu.edu.  Please be sure that the themes submitted are appropriate.  Any theme ideas that are deemed unappropriate by the Jr. Fairboard Advisors will not be presented to the Jr. Fairboard.