Jefferson County 4-H

The 2026 Jefferson County Fair dates are July 8-12, 2026. The theme is "There's No Place Like Fair".

State fair static exhibits and County Fair Awards are available to pick-up at the Extension Office. We need to clear out our meeting room, so items need to be picked up ASAP!

• Sage Holtmeier
• Izzy Ausk

Please sign up today! We are in the process of setting up a new way to communicate and send notifications with our 4-H families and leaders. Please sign-up for the Sports You app online or download the app. There is a QR code below with the access code or you can look at the PDF attached to the newsletter to sign up. Please contact us if you need assistance! We are excited to try this new way to contact you all directly to your phone!

It’s time to get enrolled in 4-H for the 2026 4-H year! To enroll, visit: https://v2.4honline.com/. For returning families, please do not create a new account; rather use your log-in credentials for 4honline used in previous years. Instructions can be found here: https://4h.unl.edu/enroll/returning-member. Enrollment instructions for new families can be found here: https://4h.unl.edu/enroll/returning-member

We will be electing new members to the 4-H Council and are looking for interested adults and youth. The council is composed of 6 adults and 6 youth members. Adult members serve a 3-year term, while youth members serve a 1-year term and can serve 3 terms. We would like to invite anyone who’s interested in serving on 4-H Council to contact the office. Youth members need to be at least 13 years old by January 1, 2026.

Please contact us by Friday, January 30th at 5 pm to be considered.

The 2026 Special Garden Project will focus on the Alumia Vanilla Cream Marigold. This marigold produces creamy, yellow flowers on compact plants. This variety not only has a unique color, but it also has a very long bloom time. Contact the office by February 13th to order your seeds. They will be $.50/youth.

The 2026 Special Agronomy Project will focus on two varieties of popcorn. The first is an heirloom variety that was discovered and developed by a farmer in eastern Nebraska, called Nebraska Red. The second is a commercial variety, Robust 997. Be sure not to plant sweet corn in your garden with these to prevent cross pollination. Contact the office by February 13th to order your seeds. They will be $1.00/youth.

We will be holding a training on Monday, April 6, 2026 at 11 am at the Extension Office in Fairbury. Youth must pre-register at yqcaprogram.org in order to attend so we can ensure adequate spacing for all participants. When you get registered, make sure to take the pretest before attending the training. Contact the office with any questions and we can send you the instructions for how to get all of these steps done.

All market beef will be weighed in on Sunday, March 8th from 1-2 pm at Fairbury Livestock. It is not required to weigh-in to show at the county fair. However, to be eligible for the Rate of Gain contest and the Combined Market Beef Contest, they must be weighed-in on this day. Please contact the office with any questions and we will put you in contact with the beef superintendents directly.

Join Nebraska 4-H as we go on-site to learn more about science, agriculture, technology, and more! Virtual Field Trips offer facility tours, educational experiences, and additional resources for teachers. Virtual Field Trips are perfect for youth in 7th-12th grades. Each session will be recorded and made available for on-demand viewing. Youth do not need to be 4-H members to participate.

There are also numerous field trips that have been archived to view at your convenience. Check them out. See the link below to view of all the tours available.

https://4h.unl.edu/virtual-field-trips

We are looking for ideas for workshops in 2025-2026. We would like to hear ideas of what you would be willing to attend. We would also like to hear from you regarding what times would work best for most people, after school, 1⁄2 days when school is out, etc. Please contact the Extension Office 402-729-3487 and let us know what YOU are interested in.

Just as a reminder, check out our Facebook page! The page name is "Jefferson County Extension & 4-H Youth Development". Along with our newsletter, we will be using this page to update our members about upcoming events, activities, and deadlines. We also hope to use this page to provide information about community outreach opportunities, scholarships, and research that is important to our followers. The staff will do our best to keep this updated and inform you all of what is going on at the office, Jefferson County, and in Nebraska.

January

1 - Office Closed for New Year's Day

19 - Office Closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day

February

13 - Special Garden & Agronomy Project Orders Due

March

8 - Market Beef Weigh Day, Fairbury Livestock

April

1 - Diamond Clover Applications due

6 - YQCA Training, Extension Office

6 - 4-H Public Speaking Contest, Grace Lutheran Church

Email: darci.pesek@unl.edu
Website: jefferson.unl.edu
Location: 517 F Street, Fairbury, NE, United States
Phone: 402-729-3487
Facebook: www.facebook.com/jeffersoncountyext

Nebraska Extension is a Division of the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln cooperating with the Counties and the United Sates Department of Agriculture.

Nebraska Extension educational programs abide with the nondiscrimination policies of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and the United States Department of Agriculture.

©2025