We are excited to announce a filly give-away in Paulding County.

All applications will be anonymously reviewed by a panel of judges that do not reside in Paulding County.  There is no up-front cost to apply but there are minimum requirements that must be upheld.  These requirements include:

1. The applicant must be a Paulding County, Ohio resident who is 18 years of age or younger.
2. The applicant must be a current 4-H or FFA member or be willing to become a member of one of these organizations.
3. The applicant must complete the Horse Project in either 4-H or FFA and show the filly in at least one class at the 2021 Paulding County Junior Fair.
4. The applicant must understand and be willing to assume complete care of the filly, including but not limited to: housing, feed, proper veterinary care, etc.

Applicants must complete this application form, including all required signatures, as well as answer all essay questions to the best of their ability.  Completed applications and essay answers will need to be e-mailed to Schweinsberg.5@osu.edu by 4:30 pm on June 1, 2020.  The winning applicant will be announced on June 20, 2020.  Delivery of the filly will be arranged with the applicant and family on or before August 1, 2020.

Application for the Filly Give-Away: 2020 Filly Give-Away

This filly give-away is generously sponsored by Haviland Drainage Products.

Do you have a Cloverbud in your home?  If so, this is a great activity for them to keep busy.  The message below came from Ohio 4-H.  The linked website gives all the necessary information to complete this challenge.

With the new restrictions on programming in June, we have shifted gears and are now offering the Ohio 4-H Cloverbot Challenge for all Cloverbuds to participate individually instead of as a team/club – no registration required. Individual Cloverbuds can construct their models with LEGO’s or whatever kind of interlocking blocks they have available. Then they can send a picture to us for display in a virtual gallery on the state 4-H website. A certificate will also be emailed to each participant. The deadline is June 13, 2020.

Please share this information with your families. This is a great opportunity for Cloverbuds to participate since they don’t have projects to work on right now. All the details can be found at the website: https://ohio4h.org/families/cloverbuds/cloverbot-challenge

I have been asked to clarify the possession requirements for all market rabbit projects.  Market rabbits do not have to be in the possession of the youth until May 19^th.  On this date, a rabbit identification form will be made available and youth will have until May 22^nd to complete the form and submit the required pictures.  Rabbit tattooing will take place during fair move-in.

The Ohio Department of Agriculture has waived the face-to-face Quality Assurance rule for this fair season.  This does not mean that livestock participants get a free pass.  All youth livestock exhibitors are still required to complete Quality Assurance prior to the start of the Paulding County Junior Fair.  To complete the Quality Assurance requirement, we have been authorized to conduct virtual Quality Assurance trainings for all exhibitors that did not complete the QA training in January.  These trainings will take place using ZOOM and are limited to 40 registrants at a time.  The following dates and times are available in Paulding County: May 5^th at 9:00 am, May 7^th at 2:00 pm, May 11^th at 9:00 am, May 13^th at 3:00 pm, and May 16^th at 9:00 am.  The link below will take you to the registration page where you will register for your preferred training date.

Quality Assurance Registration

Many questions have been received regarding Livestock Tagging for the Paulding County Junior Fair.  The first scheduled tagging date was postponed until April 18^th due to the stay-at-home order.  Now that the stay-at-home order has been extended until at least May 1^st, the Paulding County Livestock Committee has decided that tagging will once again be postponed.  Tagging will now take place at fair move-in.  Youth were still required to have their market project animal in possession on April 4^th.  To ensure that youth have their project animal identified, a form will need to be completed by the exhibitor.  This form asks for basic identification information and requires the submission of 2 pictures.  One picture is of the youth with their animal and the other picture is a close-up view of an identifying mark on the animal.  The form has more information on what to take a picture of.  This form can be found by clicking the link below or clicking the link at the top of our blog site titled “Market Livestock Identification Form”.  A password is required to open the form for security purposes.  The password will be e-mailed to all youth who need to complete the form.  If you do not have the password, please contact Michael or your club adviser to obtain it.  The following projects are required to complete this form no later than Friday, April 17^th:  Market Hogs, Market Goats, Market Sheep, All Feeder Projects.

Market Livestock Identification Form

Ohio 4-H has asked all counties to re-open the project enrollment date for 2020.  Starting immediately, all currently enrolled 4-H youth in Paulding County are able to make changes to the projects they have selected.  If you would like to fill your time working on an additional project or two, ordered your project book but did not receive it before the stay-at-home order went into effect, have found that completing the project you have selected is not able to happen due to the stay-at-home order, or the financial risk of completing the livestock project you selected is too great, we have some amazing opportunities for you.  Ohio 4-H has made some pretty awesome project books available for free for all Ohio 4-H members for this year.  You can check out these books by visiting https://ohio4h.org/stayathomeprojects to find the perfect stay-at-home project for you.  If you are interested in adding one of these projects or dropping one of your current projects, please contact Michael via e-mail as Schweinsberg.5@osu.edu.

If you previously selected a project and are determined to complete it, Ohio 4-H and University Publishing are working on finding ways for you to obtain your project book.  Books are able to be purchased directly from University Publishing but at a higher cost than ordering through our Extension Office.  Ohio 4-H is currently working on trying to get coupon codes in order to bring the cost down.  If you are interested in ordering a project book directly, please hold off until the coupon codes are made available.  A blog post will be made as soon as the coupons are available.

Due to the University enforcing a no contact order until July 6^th, we will not be holding Still Project judging the week of the Paulding County Junior Fair.  Decisions on how and when Still Project judging will take place are continuing to be discussed.  At the earliest, all still projects will be judged the week of July 6^th.  A defined schedule will be developed regarding specific project judging times.  Also changing this year is how project judging will take place.  Instead of in-person interviews, all still projects will be judged utilizing ZOOM.  If you have registered for a still project this year you will be receiving more detailed information on specifics as we enter the summer months.  If you registered for a still project and did not receive a book before the stay-at-home order went into effect, please read our blog post titled “Project Book Update and Open Project Enrollment” for more information on possible solutions for you.

We understand that COVID-19 has made a major impact in our lives.  From being told to stay at home to the uncertainties of finances, we are all under a lot of stress.  At this time, the Paulding County Agricultural Society is planning for the Paulding County Junior Fair.  While planning is taking place and everyone is hopeful that we will be able to exhibit our livestock, we all need to be mindful of the possibility that the fair could be cancelled by our state leaders.  We are not able to make decisions for you regarding your livestock project but we do want to be sure you have taken the time to think about the financial impact of your project.  Are there ways you will be able to cut the cost of raising your livestock project in 2020?  This could mean that you switch from show feed to a less costly option, decide to stick with the old show equipment and attire instead of getting new, or learning how to clip and shear your livestock project on your own instead of paying someone to do it. With all of the unknowns and no guarantees of having a fair or livestock sale, it is very important to consider these and other questions as you work toward project completion.

An e-mail was sent to all 4-H members on Tuesday, April 7th.  If you did not see or read the e-mail it is posted below:

Dear 4-H members, families, volunteers and supporters,

It is with a heavy heart that I share this news with you. Due to ongoing health concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the decision has been made to cancel all Ohio State University Extension in-person programming through July 6. This includes all 4-H programs, activities, and events. Additionally, we’ve made the very difficult decision to cancel all 4-H camps thru August 31. Although in-person programming is cancelled, we will continue to offer virtual 4-H experiences.

We know this is an incredible disappointment and recognize how much everyone looks forward to our cherished 4-H summer events. As 4-H professionals committed to providing positive youth development programming, we share your sense of loss.

Given available information, we anticipate the next few weeks and months will continue to be critical times for stemming the spread of the COVID-19 virus. It is our duty to keep ourselves and those we serve safe through the education we provide and the modeling of safety-conscious behaviors. We do not want to get to the other side of this pandemic and wish that we had done more to keep our future generation of leaders safe and healthy.

While we are making decisions regarding the youth events we organize and manage (such as camps and 4-H project judging), we are deferring to local decision-makers and Governor DeWine’s administration on the events owned by others, such as county fairs. Our decision to cancel in-person 4-H activities and events through July 6 and summer camps, should not automatically imply that local county fairs are also canceled at this time. Please keep in mind that 4-H and our FFA colleagues support the education and development of youth, but the decision about whether fairs will occur is in the hands of others. This continues to be an evolving situation that will require some negotiation and monitoring depending on decisions. We will be ready should fairs move forward and to pivot if they are cancelled.

As we work through the impact of these decisions for 4-H activities and events in the weeks ahead, county OSU Extension 4-H professionals will share important updates and information with you as we develop and provide new online opportunities. We know the experiences will be different than we had hoped, yet we remain committed to working together to grow future generations of true leaders.

Yours in service to 4-H,

Kirk

Kirk Bloir, Ph.D.
Assistant Director, 4-H Youth Development

College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences – Ohio State University Extension

Nationwide & Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center, 2201 Fred Taylor Drive, Columbus, OH 43210

614-247-8168 Office
bloir.1@osu.edu  |  ohio4h.org  |  extension.osu.edu

As most of you probably read in the e-mail sent on Tuesday, 4-H Camp scheduled for July 9-13, 2020, has been cancelled.  The news of this was heartbreaking but we know that safety of each other is a top priority.  Please stay tuned as we work to bring 4-H Camp Palmer to you while you stay at home.  Currently, 4-H Camp Palmer posts 4 live videos on Facebook per week; Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday at 4:30 pm.  Please visit their Facebook page by searching for 4-H Camp Palmer.  While there, hit the like button and be sure to follow the page as they take us on new adventures at 4-H Camp.