Iowa State University Extension programs are available to all without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, or disability.

120 S MAIN ST., PO BOX 357, ELKADER, IA 52043| 563-245-1451 | OFFICE HOURS 8 am –12 noon and 1-5 pm LEARN MORE AT WWW.EXTENSION.IASTATE.EDU/4H/CLAYTON

1

WHAT’S INSIDE:

Thank You, Volunteers!

Dear Friends,

April 15-21 is National Volunteer Week. Volunteers are the heart of the

4-H program and we are truly blessed here in Clayton County. Thank

you for all you do!

The 4-H Omelet Brunch & Silent Auction was successful again this year.

We served 785 people. If you have ticket money, please turn it in to the

Extension Office immediately. A special thank you to those who donated

and/or purchased items in the silent auction. We had 86 items donated

for the auction by clubs, members, families and 4-H alumni that raised

$3591. A new record!!

Be sure to check out the webpage & Facebook for photos of the brunch

and other 4-H events.

Have a wonderful SPRING!

Tammy Muller

CLOVER CONNECTION APRIL 2012

TAMMY MULLER CLAYTON COUNTY EXTENSION County Youth Coordinator tamuller@iastate.edu 563-245-1451

CLAYTON COUNTY EXTENSION

Food & Fitness Page 2 State Conference Page 2 Swine Weigh-In Page 3 Sheep & Goat Weigh-In Page 3 Livestock Id Forms Page 3 Broiler Class Page 4 FSQA Page 4 Leaders Corner Page 5 Clover Kid News Page 5 Calendar of Events Page 6 Share-A-Heifer Page 6 Livestock Judging Page 6 Area Camps Page 6 4-H’ers for 4-H Campaign Page 6 Shooting Sports Page 6 Foundation News Page 7 Communications Page 8

4-H Online Livestock ID Page 7

MISSION STATEMENT 4-H EMPOWERS YOUTH TO REACH THEIR FULL POTENTIAL WORKING

2

FOOD & FITNESS

Region 4 Food & Fitness 4-H’ers Attend Workshop

Several NE Iowa Food & Fitness 4-H School-Based

Teams participated in the “Students Taking Charge”

workshop in Ankeny, IA on March 2nd. The workshop

focus was healthy school environments with oppor-

tunity for youth to attend several different break-out

sessions.

Iowa State University Extension & Outreach, 4-H,

Team Nutrition, Midwest Dairy, I-Step, SIYAC and the

Walmart Foundation made the day possible as work-

shop partners. Youth from across the state were in-

volved. Youth learned through experiential breakout

sessions with topics on school gardens, Food & Fit-

ness Craze, Eat This, Not That, Dig In! Know your

Farmer, Your Health and the Law, Partnering with

Master Gardeners and got active with pilates

Participating schools in Region 4 included Cresco,

Decorah, Elkader, Maynard, Riceville and Starmont.

Representing Central of Elkader High School were

Kinsey Juergens, Renee Gibney, Janelle Gibney and

Natalie Fitzgerald. FFI 4-H Coach, Trevor Arnold, also

participated in the workshop.

Northeast Iowa is a unique place where all residents

and guests experience, celebrate and promote healthy

locally grown foo with abundant opportunities for phys-

ical activity and play EVERY DAY. Healthier people

make stronger families and vibrant communities. For

more information go to www.iowafoodandfitness.org.

STATE CONFERENCE

The date has been set for the 2012 Iowa 4-H Youth Conference, Animal Science Round-Up, CSI: Crops, and Wild Outdoors - Shooting Sports. From June 26-28, over 1,000 youth from across the state are ex-pected to attend this annual event held at Iowa State University. This year’s theme is “Brighten Your World.” Conference participants will be involved in many activities including workshops, motivational speakers, com-munity service projects, dances, and many other fun activities. Animal Science Round-Up participants will be involved in workshops with beef, dairy, sheep, horse, and swine as well as many of the activities with confer-ence. CSI: Crops participants will use the latest electronic devices and tools to solve insect disease, weed, and plant growth problems as well as participate in many other conference activities. Wild Outdoors - Shoot-ing Sports participants will get hands-on experience in archery, orienteering, outdoor survival, wildlife, and hunting scenarios. Go to www.extension.iastate.edu/4h/StateConference for more information.

The Clayton County Extension 4-H & Youth Committee will reimburse 4-H members $25 of the registration fee plus pay for the bus transportation.

State Conference is June 26-28

OUR VISION A WORLD IN WHICH YOUTH AND ADULTS LEARN, GROW, AND WORK TOGETHER AS CATALYSTS FOR POSTIVE CHANGE

3

SWINE

SHEEP

NON-DERBY SWINE

DERBY SWINE WEIGH-IN IS APRIL 7

The Derby Swine Weigh-In will be Saturday, April 7 at the Elkader School Garage in Elkader

from 8:30—11:30 am. All pigs must be farrowed after January 1, 2012 and not weigh more

than 50 pounds at the time of the weigh-in. There is no minimum weight. Each 4-H & FFA

member is allowed to weigh and identify a total of twelve pigs. The ear tag cost will be

$1.50 per tag and is to be paid at the time of the weigh-in.

Market Sheep & Goat Weigh-In is May 5

The Market Sheep & Goat Weigh-In will be Saturday, May 5 at the Clayton County Fair-

grounds at National from 9:00 –11:30 am. This will also be a site to qualify for the Iowa State Fair. State fair ani-

mals will have retinal imaging done . Each 4-H & FFA member is allowed to weigh and identify a total of fifteen

lambs. The ear tag cost will be $1.50 per tag and is to be paid at the time of the weigh-in. All market lambs and

goats must be weighed at this site to be eligible to exhibit at the Clayton County Fair.

Non-Derby Swine Ear Tags

Non-derby swine exhibitors should stop by the Extension Office to pick up tags and an id form. Ear tags are

$1.50 per tag. 4-H Leaders and FFA Advisors will again this year be required to verify that all non-derby swine

have been properly identified and that ALL swine ear tags are in place before May 15. A verification form along

with the non-derby swine identification form MUST be turned into the Extension Office by May 15 for those

members to be eligible to exhibit at this year’s county fair.

Livestock Identification Forms are due May 15

Horses, Dogs, Dairy Goats, Bucket Bottle Calves, Breeding Beef, Dairy Cattle, Rabbits and Breeding sheep must

be identified by May 15. You may identify your projects online (iowa.4honline.com) or fill out a paper form. Club

leaders have paper id forms. FFA members must do paper id forms. If you doing the paper form we would like

them returned to the Extension Office by May 1. The online process must be completed by May 15.

Pets, Other Animals, and Poultry do not require an ID form. Market beef, market sheep, meat goats and derby

swine were or will be completed at their respective weigh-in dates. May 15 is a state deadline and we cannot

accept any late identification sheets.

LIVESTOCK ID FORMS

4-H PLEDGE

I PLEDGE MY HEAD TO CLEARER THINKING, MY HEART TO GREATER LOYALTY, MY HANDS TO LARGER SERVICE,

AND MY HEALTH TO BETTER LIVING, FOR MY CLUB, MY COMMUNITY, MY COUNTRY, AND MY WORLD.

4

SPECIAL BROILER CLASS

FSQA

Special Broiler Class Intent Form due May 1 The deadline to order birds for the Special Broiler Project Class is May 1. Order forms are available at the Ex-tension Office and are also posted on our webpage. http://www.extension.iastate.edu/clayton/kidsteens.htm on the right hand side of the page- Special Broiler Project Class.

The broiler project is an opportunity for a 4-H or FFA member to gain valuable experience in raising chicks to broiler-weight through partnership with a local sponsor. The sponsor will buy the chicks and the 4-H/FFA member raises the chicks and presents the best five birds to the sponsor as payment for the opportunity. 4-H/FFA member is responsible for whatever is necessary to raise the chicks to healthy broiler weight and processing of the birds.

Food Safety and Quality Assurance (FSQA) training is required by all youth in 4th, 5th, and 6th grade plan-ning to exhibit livestock at the State and County Fairs. This training is also open to youth in grades 7-12 who choose not to take the test. All youth exhibiting beef, bucket bottle calves, sheep, swine, dairy, poul-try, rabbit or goats at the 2012 Clayton County Fair or Iowa State Fair must be Food Safety and Quality As-surance (FSQA) certified.

How do I certify for FSQA?

Youth in grades 4th – 6th must attend a certification workshop every year to be FSQA certified.

Youth in grades 7th – 9th can either attend a workshop every year OR take an Intermediate FSQA Test which is good until they reach 10th grade.

Youth in grades 10th – 12th can either attend a workshop every year, OR take a Senior FSQA Test which is good until they turn 20.

When and where do I certify for FSQA?

Thursday, April 26, 7:00 pm, Extension Office, Elkader- Space is limited please register by April 20

Thursday, May 17, 7:00 pm, Extension Office, Elkader-Space is limited, please register by May 11

Wednesday, June 20, 7:00 pm, Extension Office, Elkader –Space is limited, please register by June 15

What if I want to Test out?

Youth choosing to test out may do so by setting up a test time at the Extension Office 245-1451 at least one day ahead

Testing will also be offered on Tuesday, May 22 from 5-6:30 pm.

To study for the test you may pick up a manual at the Extension Office

Food Safety and Quality Assurance

WANT TO KNOW MORE? FIND US AT: EXTENSION.IASTATE.EDU/4H/CLAYTON

5

Leader’s Corner Check out the Iowa 4-H Volunteer website:

www.extension.iastate.edu/4H/volunteers/

CLOVER KIDS

LEADER TRAININGS

Clover Kid News

www.extension.iastate.edu/4h/Clover

May 4-H Leader Meeting

The next Clayton County 4-H Leader meeting will

be Wednesday, May 30 at 7:30 pm at the Freedom

Bank Community Room in Elkader. ALL leaders are

encouraged to attend.

Required Leader Training – Fall 2011 Module:

If you did not attend the fall leaders meeting, you can now complete the training online. The Fall 2011 volun-teer training “Cooking Up a Healthy 4-H Program” is available on-line at the state 4-H online training site. Click on http://www.extension.iastate.edu/4hvolunteers/ and log in. Under “My Courses” in the left navigation box click on 4-H Volunteer Essential Elements to access the newest training. There is not a quiz with this course but volun-teers do need to fill out the evaluation form and email or bring it to the county Extension office to receive credit for taking the course.

Risk Management:

Please inform the Extension Office of any club

events that are not in your yearly program.

Recycling Teaches Responsibility

Recycling is a big part of our lives today. Every American throws away 4 pounds of trash every day. Only 35% of trash is recycled and the other 65% goes to the landfill. Which means over 210 million tons of trash makes its way into our landfills in the US every year. What can Clover Kids and their parents do to help save the environment? Find out if your county has a recycling program. Find out where recyclables can be taken; is there curb service, what kind of things can be recycled?

Clover Kids are at the ideal age where they want to be help-ful. They can

Pick up newspapers and place in paper bags

Sort paper board and corrugated card-board

Separate plastics by numbers (each plastic has a number inside of the recycle triangle)

Separate aluminum and steel cans

Sort glass by color

The Month of APRIL is:

Keep America Beautiful Month

National Child Abuse Prevention Month

National Frog Month

National Garden Month

National Humor Month

National Mathematics Education Month

National Poetry Month

National Kite Month

Clover Kids Meeting Agenda Website

www.extension.iastate.edu/4h/Clover/ckagendas.htm

Are you a Clover Kids volunteer trying to figure

out what you will do at the next Clover Kids

meeting? Iowa 4-H Clover Kids has developmen-

tally appropriate lesson plans for you to use.

WANT TO KNOW MORE? FIND US AT: EXTENSION.IASTATE.EDU/4H/CLAYTON

6

APRIL 2012

Calendar of Events April

March 31-April 6 4-H Citizenship Trip to Washington DC

6 HOLIDAY, Extension Office Closed

7 Derby Swine Weigh-In, 8:30-11:30 am, Elkader School

15 Shooting Sports, 1:00 pm, Osborne

26 FSQA Training, 7-9 pm, Extension Office, Elkader

29 4H County Council Meeting, 7:30 pm, Extension Office, Elkader

This & That

Shooting Sports

Clayton County 4-H Shooting Sports will kick off the season on Sunday, April 15 at 1:00 pm at the Osborne Pond Park.

SESS

AREA CAMPS

June 4-H Camps

It’s time to think about area 4-H camps at Pinebluff 4-H Camp near Decorah. Campers will be Unraveling the 4-H Mystery while exploring the campgrounds, enjoying fun activities, and meeting other 4-H’ers! Junior Camp for 4th – 6th graders ($65) will be held June 7 – 8 or June 13 – 14. Intermediate Camp for 7th – 8th graders ($70) will be held June 11 – 12. Registration forms are available at the Extension Office or on

our webpage. Deadline is April 16.

* The Clayton County Extension 4-H & Youth Committee will reimburse 4-H members $25 of their registration fee for area 4-H camp.

Share-A-Heifer Forms due May 15

If you wish to exhibit a share-a-heifer that is a registered

beef heifer or Holstein dairy calf at the Clayton County

Fair, you must complete this form along with your Live-

stock Id (4-H 106) and turn into the Extension Office by

May 15. Forms are available at the Extension Office or

on our web page.

4-H Enrollments

As of March 20 we have 418 4-H members and 66 Clover Kids en-rolled in the Clayton County 4-H program.

Last year we had 448 members. Our 3% increase goal is 462 members.

SHARE-A-HEIFER

LIVESTOCK JUDGING

Livestock Judging Contest

The 2012 ISU Spring Youth Livestock Judging Contest will be Saturday, April 28 in Ames. The contest will consist of 8 classes of cattle, sheep, and hogs and three sets of oral reasons. Contact Matt Gaul if interested.

4-H’ERS FOR 4-H

Every year the State 4-H Council spon-sors the Iowa 4-H’ers for 4-H Campaign, which raises money to fund projects that benefit 4-H members throughout the state. 4-H club in Iowa are asked to do-nate a minimum of $2.50 per member to the campaign. Checks should be written to the Iowa 4-H Foundation and turned into the Extension Office by May 15.

4-H PLEDGE

I PLEDGE MY HEAD TO CLEARER THINKING, MY HEART TO GREATER LOYALTY, MY HANDS TO LARGER SERVICE,

AND MY HEALTH TO BETTER LIVING, FOR MY CLUB, MY COMMUNITY, MY COUNTRY, AND MY WORLD.

7

FOUNDATION FUN NIGHT

Nathanial Gaul is asked to pick a card by

comedian juggler Jason Huneke at the

Clayton County 4-H Foundation Fun Night.

Comedian juggler Jason Huneke entertained

at the Foundation Fun Night on March 24 at

Lakeside Ballroom in Guttenberg.

2 Person Best Shot Golf Tournament

Sponsored by the Clayton County 4-H Foundation Board

Saturday, June 9

Elkader Golf Course

Afternoon (1:30 pm) & evening (5:30 pm) flights

$30/person includes pork loin dinner at 4:00 pm

Contact the Clayton County Extension

Office for registration Information

Fundraiser for the

Clayton County 4-H Endowment Fund

Clayton County 4-H Foundation

GOLF OUTING

CLAYTON COUNTY 4-H FOUNDATION BOARD

Vernon & Joyce Cherne – Guttenberg Matt & Penni Gaul – Strawberry Point

Trent & Leslie Henkes – Luana Dan & Peggy Lane - Elkader

Tammy Muller – Monona Greg & Deb Schulte - Edgewood

FOUNDATION BOARD

Foundations objectives: To generate funds and increase the principal of

the Clayton County 4-H Endowment Fund

To oversee the income, principal and interest of the fund

To provide support for all Extension youth and 4-H educational activities and opportunities

WANT TO KNOW MORE? FIND US AT: EXTENSION.IASTATE.EDU/4H/CLAYTON

8

LOCK-IN

COMMUNCIATIONS

Lock –In

Thank you to everyone who participated in the

annual 4-H Lock-In. 83 youth and 15 County

council members enjoyed an evening of swim-

ming, basketball, games, food and fun!

SPECIAL THANKS to the adults who helped—

Nate Weber, Julie Bergan, Peggy Lane, Lynn

Moser, Paula Casper, Kim Connor, Linda

Zuercher and Tammy Muller.

4-H Communications Programs We exchange messages in many different ways every day of our lives. We can communicate with words (verbally) without words (nonverbally), and by listening, writing and teaching. In 4-H, you can strengthen your communication skills by giving presentations and working exhibits, writing newspaper articles, giving reports to your club, talking on the radio, entering a poster contest, keeping records, talking to a judge about your exhibit, and even by participating in a 4-H meeting. There are many ways to practice your communication skills at the county level too.

4-H Educational Presentations Every Clayton County 4-H'er has the opportunity and the responsibility of giving an Educational Presentation to their 4-H club each year. Once you have shared your Educational Presentation with your 4-H club, why not enter the county contest at fair! An Educational Presentation includes: Catchy Title, Introduction, Body and Conclusion.

4-H Working Exhibits In a Working Exhibit, YOU are the teacher. You get to show and tell other people how to do something infor-mally. The audience is walking by and it is your job to get them to stop. People at your display will want to be involved in hands-on activity.

4-H Extemporaneous Speaking This contest is for senior 4-H'ers in grades 9 - 12. Participants will select one of three 4-H related topics and have 30 minutes to prepare a four to six minute speech.

The 2012 Communications Day judging will be Wednesday, July 18.

WANT TO KNOW MORE? FIND US AT: EXTENSION.IASTATE.EDU/4H/CLAYTON

9

Enter Livestock ID’s Online is easy! Here’s how:

Log in to 4-H Online iowa.4honline.com. Enter family email address and password. This will take you to the Member List which includes all of your family members enrolled in 4H: members, leaders, volunteers. Click “Edit” to the right of the member listed. You will then be sent to that member’s Personal Information Screen. On this screen, there will be a 4th dot that will say Animals. Click on the word Animals to go to your Animal ID screen

You will then see a drop down box and any previously entered animals listed in a manner similar to the pic-

ture. Select the animal you want to enter and click the add button (hidden in photo by drop down).

Note: Youth will not be able to enter

Market weigh-in animals (beef, sheep,

& swine). Please refer to the Livestock

Verification Help sheet for more infor-

mation on this process.

This will take you to the corresponding entry screen for your animal as depicted below and on the following

page. Note that in some selections will activate extra entry fields [Example: selecting Registered will in

some cases show a Breed drop down box.]

Enter the information requested and click the save button.

All animal ID’s must be submitted no later than May 15th

, 11:59 p.m.

There are help sheets posted on the webpage: www.extension.iastate.edu/4h/enrollment/help.htm

Questions? Contact the Extension Office 563-245-1451.