The 4-H Youth Development Program has a long and proud history in California's agricultural communities. The 4-H program, administered by the University of California Cooperative Extension, helps youth develop into capable and successful adults by engaging them in agricultural, science, leadership, and civic education.
Animal science projects are a hallmark of the 4-H program and thousands of young people – from rural, suburban, and urban areas – enroll in these 4-H projects annually. In these projects, a primary focus is on the rearing, caring, showing, and marketing of animals, with some projects centered on breeding. Animal science projects offer youth an array of learning experiences providing opportunities for improved scientific and agricultural literacy and contribute to positive youth development. More specifically, youth learn skills such as leadership, public speaking, goal setting, responsibility, and caring that provide the foundation for successful, healthy development. These experiences help prepare the next generation of farmers, ranchers, foresters, veterinarians, and agricultural scientists.
Reducing the risk of disease spread
While 4-H promotes agricultural education, the raising and showing of animals poses bio-security risks, and youth need to cultivate an appreciation for and develop the skills necessary to help reduce the risk of disease spread to animals and humans. Youth animal science projects include a variety of species, including poultry, ruminants, and swine that are often raised in backyard flocks or herds or on local farms. Additionally, these 4-H youth often travel with their animals multiple times to present at club meetings fairs, shows, and exhibitions, and these trips can be at the local, regional, state, and national levels. Because backyard flocks and herds serve as potential vectors of disease, these public venues represent significant biosecurity risks, including: mixing of animals from multiple premises; lack of or insufficient quarantine procedures; and inadequate sanitation practices. Exposure of disease to animals at fairs, shows, or exhibitions, either accidentally or intentionally, could be catastrophic to U.S. agriculture, both financially and through the loss of animal life. Developing good bio-security practices among youth who raise and show animals can help mitigate potential animal disease outbreaks and is essential to the long-term safety and security of animal agriculture in California.
Animal welfare
The study of animal welfare is a rapidly growing field that engages scientists and veterinarians in research that seeks to provide better understanding of the needs and experiences of animals and strives to find a balance between these and the practices of modern animal use. Animal welfare is a social and cultural issue that is increasingly being incorporated into the legal and political landscapes. Due to the complex nature of the subject of animal welfare, it is necessary to approach this issue in a partnership between the University of California, 4-H, the agricultural industry, and local farmers and ranchers to educate and support youth and 4-H volunteers in a sustained fashion. Furthermore, it is essential that 4-H youth have the opportunities to engage in educational experiences that provide them an understanding of foundational animal welfare concepts, help them develop the skills necessary to make cogent assessments of their project animal's well-being, and are grounded in authentic practice.
4-H Curricula
The University of California Cooperative Extension is leading the way in supporting youth and educators to take responsibility for proper care and treatment of their animals and support good bio-security practices. Through new research-based curricula, 4-H supports proper management practices for the care and treatment animals. New curricula utilize hands-on experiential learning where youth have a concrete hands-on experience; a reflection phase to share, process, and generalize from the experience; and application of learning in new and authentic situations. Curricula currently available include: Bio-Security at http://ucanr.edu/bio; Pre-Harvest Food Safety in 4-H Animal Science at http://ucanr.edu/harvest; Veterinary Science at http://ucanr.edu/vet; and Animal Welfare at https://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/Details.aspx?itemNo=8644.
Adapted from the original article published in the Sonoma-Marin Farm News, August 2016.