Renville County Clover Update

Congratulations to Ashle and Trent Benson on the arrival of their son, Lucas, who was born on March 23! Everyone is doing well.

Ashle will be on FMLA until mid-June. In the interim, please contact Theresa at the Extension office or Kate Holland, 4-H Interim Coordinator (kharring@umn.edu) with 4-H needs.

April 19: Food Revue

May 7: Ambassadors (6:00 PM) & Leader's Council (6:30 PM)

May 15: Animal ID Deadline & Reenrollment Deadline

May 25: FairEntry opens

May 25: Office Closed in observance of Memorial Day

June 5: Last day to register for the Broiler Project

June 15ish: Initial Broiler Project meeting

June 23ish: Broiler Project chick pick up

June 19: Office Closed in observance of Juneteenth

Food Revue will take place on Sunday, April 19, from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Renville County Government Center, Rooms 116/117, Olivia. Choose a recipe from a cookbook or a family favorite. Then prepare a table setting, menu, and a centerpiece to go with your recipe. You will be able to exhibit your setting at the County Fair. 6th grade and older are eligible for a state fair trip. Register by April 10 in 4-H Online.

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Join the Renville County Master Gardeners in Bird Island or Fairfax to learn about growing your own garden, prepare healthy snacks, learn about how the sun and the rain and soil affects our gardens, and, of course, no garden is complete without learning about bugs.

The Bird Island program will start April 21 and run through August. The Fairfax program will start May 21 and run through August. Each group will meet once per week, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.

Space is limited

Contact Theresa at the Extension office to register today!

320-523-3713 or bockx097@umn.edu

The program is to give interested youth the opportunity to learn about agriculture, responsibility for the care of an animal, grow self-confidence, and a chance to make new friends. Our goal is to make this opportunity affordable and available to any interested youth to grow our market project areas as well as our youths knowledge in the respective species industries.

Please review the species documents that you are interested in participating in, before you complete this form. Once the interest form closes, we will have a meeting to discuss the programs in detail, sign the care agreement contracts and submit the deposits.

*Please note: these deposits will not be refunded if we have received the animals and you decide to back out of the program. As long as all requirements of the program are met, the fee will be put towards the bill at the end.

Important Dates

• Deadline to register for the Poultry Market Livestock Program is June 5!
• Orientation meeting: Tentatively week of June 15 - 6:00 PM - in-person
• Chick pick up: Tentative date of June 23
• County Fair ready meeting: TBD (most likely late June/early July)
• Livestock Entry day: Tuesday, August 11
• Poultry Show: Thursday, August 13

If you have any questions contact the office at 320-523-3713 or the Extension office at mnext-renville@umn.edu. We look forward to having you participate in this program!

Karen Roker will again offer her table runner and pillowcase sewing classes.

Table Runner class times:

Monday, June 1 or Thursday, June 4, at 9 a.m. or 1 p.m. each day (4 youth per session)

Pillowcase class times:

Monday, June 1 or Thursday, June 4 at 10 a.m. or 2 p.m. each day (4 youth per session)

Each class has a limit of four youth per session. Register by calling the Extension office(320) 523-3713 or in 4-H Online.

4-H'ers have two opportunities to learn about quilting this summer:

Quilting 1 is for new quilters and is going to be held Monday, June 8, 15 and 22, 2026, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. and has 1 session.

Quilting 2 is for youth who have some experience quilting and is going to have 3 separate sessions: All sessions will be Monday, June 8, 15 and 22, 2026

• Session 1 is from 3 to 4:30 p.m.
• Session 2 is from 5 to 6:30 p.m.
• Session 3 is from 7 to 8:30 p.m.

Register by calling the Extension office or in 4-H Online. Space is limited.

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Planning to exhibit animals this year? Be sure to complete the Animal ID process by May 15 at 11:59 PM. It is important that all exhibitors review the animal ID information for their species (z.umn.edu/mn4hanimalid) and complete this process as soon as possible.

Ear tags can be picked up from the Extension office during business hours. Please call ahead to ensure someone will be available to get you tags.

Thank you to everyone who made the Livestock Level-Up event a success!

Youth had the opportunity to learn from our County Ambassadors and see live demonstrations on washing, preparing, and showmanship of beef, swine, and poultry. They also heard from great speakers who took the time to educate them on proper feed and nutrition.

Mark your calendars! The Regional 4-H Camp in Morris is scheduled for June 23-25, at the University of Minnesota Morris. This exciting opportunity is open to youth in grades 3-6, offering a memorable camp experience filled with educational tracks, small group activities, recreation and more!

In this event, campers will stay in dorms, eat from the campus dining hall, and experience what it is like to be on a college campus.

Participants will choose their own adventure from 7 tracks, including Jr Farmhands, Young Artists, Jr Performers, and Excavators.

Visit the Extension website for more information and to register.

Ready to launch your future? Join Major General (Retired) Timothy A. Sejba on May 4 as he shares how his journey—from a University of Minnesota, Duluth student to a top leader in the U.S. Space Forcer, took him to the forefront of space operations. Discover how curiosity, STEM, and leadership can take you beyond ready!

Registration deadline: May 1.

Learn more and register.

Minnesota 4-H is offering hands-on, in-person plant science experiences for youth this summer - and you're invited! These programs immerse youth in real-world agriculture, agronomy, and plant science through fun, engaging activities designed for all experience levels.

Crop scouting opportunities are for all youth grades 3+. Learn more at z.umn.edu/4HAgAdventures.

Do you want to enhance your livestock evaluation and selection skills? Do you want to become better with oral reasons? If you answered yes to either of these questions, then the Minnesota 4-H Livestock Judging Camp is for you!

Presented by the University of Minnesota Livestock Judging Team and Coach Kyle Rozeboom, this in-depth judging clinic will teach you the fundamentals of livestock judging and evaluation, provide instruction with oral reasons and help you become more confident in livestock judging.

Learn more and register.

If you have not re-enrolled in Renville County 4-H, please do so by May 15, 2025.

You can reenroll by visiting 4HOnline.com or calling the Extension office (320-523-3713).

If you are not reenrolled by 11:59 PM on May 15, all County Fair projects will be capped at a blue, and will not be State Fair eligible.

Please see the Renville County Consequences and Exemptions table linked below.

If you have any questions feel free to reach out to the Extension office!

Entomology is the study of insects. There are more insects on earth than there are people. Butterflies, dragonflies, bees, cockroaches, bed bugs and flies are just a few. Insects play a big part in our earth's ecosystem and food supply.

What can you do?

In the entomology project, you can:

• Study a species of insect.
• Explore diseases transmitted by insects.
• Learn about threats to insect survival.
• Investigate the benefits of insects - like pollinators.

These are just some of the many ways you can participate in this project.

Please see below the agenda template for April & May. These are still a work in progress and will get more specific as the months go on. If you have any suggestions, please let Ashle know!

Please make a copy of this document by:

1. Clicking the file on the top left-hand corner of the screen.
2. Find "Make a copy" (should be the third one from the top) and click on it.
3. Name your document and save it into the folder you wish to save it to.

If you have any issues, please let Ashle know!

Minnesota 4-H has an awesome Volunteer Resource Center for 4-H volunteers. Take a second and check it out.

Under the "Lead a Club" picture, you will find a lot of resources to help you plan your club meetings and fun activities.

Click on the link below:

Club Leader Toolkit