- Author: J. M.
Read more news at California 4-H News or National 4-H News
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Check out our County Calendar here! March
April |
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Clover Day 4-H Adult Volunteer Event March 17, 2018 @ Youth Ag & Leadership Center Register $10 by March 5 at http://ucanr.edu/cloverday/
All Star Ambassador Application Now online 4-H All Star County Ambassadors are role models for their fellow 4-H members and their community. 4-H All Star County Ambassadors assist with county events, develop plans of action, and perform service projects. This esteemed position keeps older members involved by providing them with leadership development through goals to strive for as they serve as leader role models for younger members. Learn more at http://cesonoma.ucanr.edu/4H/For_Youth/Ambassador/ Qualifications
Completing a 4-H Record Book is not an application requirement. Apply HERE for 4-H All Star County Ambassadors Complete application (including this form and the components listed above) are due to the UCCE Sonoma County 4-H Office postmarked by April 2, 2018. Incomplete applications will not be considered for evaluation. Send applications to either: cesonoma4h@ucanr.edu or by mail to: UCCE Sonoma 4-H Presentation Day
Teen Career Exploration Our 2nd Exploration is coming up! Don't forget to sign up now. March Chickenque updates ARE YOU READY FOR CHICKENQUE? March Fair Appreciation Day The Sonoma County Fairgrounds has long been a supporter of the 4-H experience here in Sonoma County. In appreciation and recognition of this special 57-year relationship, we want to give back to the Fairgrounds and the Fair Board by holding a workday. There will be organized projects for all ages. The workday will be at the fairgrounds on March 11, 2018. Our workday will start at 9:00am and conclude at 12:00 with lunch. Please sign up to volunteer online: http://ucanr.edu/survey/survey.cfm?surveynumber=24007 If you have the opportunity, please share our open house flyer. You are welcome to put it out while selling tickets, share it with friends or ask if your church or local school will include it in their newsletter or family folders. CHICKENQUE FLYER
All T's, child and adult will be $10 (XXL $12) Return this form and payment to the March 15rd Chickenque Rep Meeting or to the 4-H office by 3pm on March 23rd T-SHIRT ORDER FORM POSTER CONTEST: Help us promote Chickenque! All 4-H members are encouraged to make a poster. Adult entries are welcome! Posters will be judged at the club level in March and winners for each category will be selected at the April CCC meeting! POSTER CONTEST FLYER ONLINE VOLUNTEER SIGN UPS: Online sign-ups will be available March 15th. We will email every family a link to the sign-ups. Sign-up early if you are particular about where you want to work as spaces are limited and fill quickly. PROJECT BOOTHS: We would like to encourage your club and project leaders to organize one or two project booths. We want visitors see everything that 4-H can offer to their family. Plus, there is a $50 per booth incentive (up to two booths) per club! DEADLINE TO SUBMIT APPLICATIONS FOR BOOTH SPACE IS APRIL 13TH BY 4PM. Please fill out and return to: CLUB BOOTH INFORMATION CLUB BOOTH APPLICATION The next Chickeque Rep meeting is March 15th, 7pm at the 4-H Center. 2018 March Hare
Judging Schedule Showroom Opens at 7:30 AM Judging Begins with Rabbits at 8:30 AM Showmanship Begins at 9:00 AM Breeders Classes follow selection of BIS ALL ENTRIES DUE: SEND TO:
Sonoma County Youth Poultry Showmanship Showdown April 7, 2018 This event will include: Attention 4-H Fashion Super Heroes!
Remember: You do NOT need to sew or be in a sewing project to participate in Fashion Revue! See the Fashion Revue website http://cesonoma.ucanr.edu/4H/Events/Fashion_Revue/ for information about the 10 different entry categories. Entry Forms: The Fashion Revue entry forms are available at the website. Each participant needs to submit an Online Participant Entry Formwhich is due by midnight, Friday March 30, 2018. For each category entered, participants need to submit a set of Printed Category Entry Forms which are due by 4:00pm at the 4-H Office, Monday April 9, 2018. NEW:Members who are unable to attend the morning evaluations can participate in the afternoon Fashion Show! These members will not be eligible for awards, but they can join our fun show and show off their creations. Submit all entry forms to be eligible. Returning: High point participant award, the Fashion Design Contest, and the Knowledge Contest Lunch will be available to purchase. Please submit your lunch reservations and check with your category entry forms. Volunteers: We are still looking for evaluators and other volunteers to help the day of the Fashion Revue. Please contact the committee if you can help. We will continue to update the website with more information. Email the committee if you would like to be on our email list to receive news and reminders. If you have any questions or need more information about the 4-H Fashion Revue, please email the committee: Hoard's Dairyman Cow Judging Contest Four cash rewards are made to the winning 4-H clubs. Members may enter with their clubs and also with their families. the official placings and reason will be published in our April 25th issue as well as on our website www.hoards.com/cjc2018. Winners will be announced in the May 10th issue. If you are interested in learning more about this Judging project see the information on the website. Hi 4-H Team! I'm a former equestrian 4-H participant and now I work for local environmental non-profit Daily Acts. We are excited to be hosting our 2nd annual Sustainable Equine Management Workshop, coming up March 3 & 4 in Petaluma. I wasn't sure who exactly who to send this to from your team, but I am looking for help in spreading the word about this workshop to 4-Hers in the region. Participants will learn practical strategies for sustainable equine management that can save on vet bills, improve horses' mental & physical health, and make chores easier while helping fight climate change and stormwater pollution. Topics will include small acreage pasture management, manure and mud management, natural pest control, chore efficiency, and wildfire planning. We are flying in Alayne Blickle as our speaker. She is an equine property consultant and founder of the internationally acclaimed program Horses for Clean Water. She's also a life long rider and has worked for the NCRS for many years helping horse and livestock owners. Alayne will also be offering farm consultations, and participants have the opportunity to audit for free. The webpage is here, plus there is a Facebook event page here .
National DNA Day This year marks the 15th anniversary of the completion of the Human Genome Project. To commemorate this milestone, National DNA Day will be celebrated on April 25. It will focus on key genomic advances that have occurred over the past 15 years and the increasing importance of genetics and genomics in people's lives. This project is coordinated by the NIH National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI). Additional activities will be held throughout the year. For more information, including hands-on activity ideas, visit https://www.genome.gov/10506367/national-dna-day/. If you would like some DNA “Did You Know” visuals that could be used at 4-H meetings, workshops or fairs, please email Jessica Bautista. 4-H Animal Science Symposium |
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From the 4-H Youth Development Advisor, Steven Worker Presidents Letter - Naomi Edwards
Livestock Judging was a huge success thanks to Diana and her team. -Naomi |
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Want to show at the fair? Learn about the requirements of showing C. Eligibility to Show4-H members must complete project completion requirements and additional requirements as determined by the county 4-H YDP. Notification of county 4-H YDP requirements must be given to the member at the time of enrollment. Exhibiting at the state fair, county fairs or other exhibition events may have certain entrance requirements separate from the 4-H YDP. See Steps to Success in 4-H and Steps to Success in 4-H FAQ. D. Ages to Show4-H YDP age requirements as set forth in this Handbook are to be used for determining age requirements for fair participation. The levels of membership for 4-H are age based. Each level is defined as follows:
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4-H does not endorse any person in the community who make requests. As always, please use caution when contacting someone. 4-H members who accept listed jobs are doing so as an individual, outside of the scope of the 4-H program. |
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University of California Cooperative Extension, Sonoma County
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It is the policy of the University of California (UC) and the UC Division of Agriculture & Natural Resources not to engage in discrimination against or harassment of any person in any of its programs or activities (Complete non discrimination policy statement can be found at http://ucanr.edu/sites/ anrstaff/files/169224.pdf). Inquiries regarding ANR's non discrimination policies may be directed to John I. Sims, Affirmative Action compliance Officer/Title
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- Author: Penny Leff
A guide for specialty crop promotion and education at California district and county fairs
Almost everyone in California enjoys our county and district fairs, but most people attending California fairs don't know much about local farmers or the crops that are grown in their own region. Many fairs and members of California agricultural communities are trying new ways to connect local farmers with fair attendees.
Specialty crops – fruits, vegetables, nuts, herbs, flowers, honey, and the products created from them – are a big deal in California. California farmers feed their local communities, provide about half of the fruits and vegetables eaten in the United States, and export their crops and products around the world. Fairs attract thousands of visitors from urban, suburban and even rural communities who have never met a farmer or visited a farm and often do not know what is growing in fields and orchards surrounding their communities. California fairs offer opportunities for the agricultural community to connect with these visitors.
In 2013 and 2014, the California Department of Food and Agriculture's Division of Fairs and Expositions collaborated with the University of California Small Farm Program to organize 20' by 40' interactive, fun and educational exhibits at four different California District Fairs to teach about local farms, crops and farmers' markets and promote fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, herbs, flowers and honey to fair-goers.
Project staff created a guide to specialty crop education and promotion at county fairs, based on the experience of the many farmers, educators, fair officials and community groups participating in that project. The guide is funded by a California Department of Food and Agriculture Specialty Crop Block Grant, as part of the "Mobile Agriculture Education Exhibit" Project.
The 22 page guide is available here as a downloadable pdf file:
Discover California Farms... ...at California Fairs!
- Author: Penny Leff
Do county fairs make you think of deep-fried Twinkies and Ferris wheels, and maybe some prize-winning pigs? Can you imagine a local food marketplace next to the quilt show, a demonstration farm by the pony rides, fresh fruit for sale in the midway, a community dinner honoring local farmers, and housing available for hundreds of farm-workers the week after the fair closes?
“We look forward to working with CDFA’s Division of Fairs and Expositions to expand agritourism opportunities; this will expand revenue sources for California’s small farmers,” said Shermain Hardesty, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the UC Davis Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics. Hardesty leads the UC small farm program.
Together we are organizing workshops and tours for farmers and agricultural leaders at seven different fairs throughout the state, to be held during fair time in the 2012 fair season. We're calling the project "Fairground Farms and Farmyard Festivals; Showcasing California Specialty Crops."
Each workshop will be a little different, because each of the fairs has it's own unique history and community. We'll hear fair officials sharing with farmers some of their methods for safely entertaining and feeding thousands of people. We'll have presentations by farmers currently involved with local fairs or local agritourism, interactive discussions on potential collaborations between specialty crop growers, agritourism operators and fairs, and guided tours of the fair facilities.
The next workshop and tour will be Thursday July 26 at the Amador County Fair in Plymouth, hosted by Fair CEO Troy Bowers. At this event we will hear from Mountain Mandarin Festival organizer and cookbook author Joanne Neft, as well as from representatives of Farms of Amador, Amador County Grape Growers, and MotherLode Harvest, who all participate in the Amador Fair. Following Amador, we visit Ventura, Napa, Yolo, Santa Cruz and Fresno.
Registration for all of the workshops is now open. We welcome farmers and fair leaders from surrounding counties to each fair workshop, as well as county agricultural commissioners, Farm Bureau leaders, tourism professionals, farm advisors and educators, fair and festival vendors and entertainers and agritourism operators interested in new partnerships.
Let's talk!
The workshop schedule:
Thursday, July 26 - Amador County Fair, Plymouth
Thursday, August 2 - Ventura County Fair, Ventura
Thursday, August 9 - Napa Town & Country Fair, Napa
Thursday, August 16 - Yolo County Fair, Woodland
Thursday, September 13 - Santa Cruz County Fair, Watsonville
Thursday, October 4 - Big Fresno Fair, Fresno
For registration and more information about the events is online or call Penny Leff at (530) 752-7779
See you at the fair!