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.

We are still looking for volunteers to be a part of 4-H Council. It is a great experience for youth and adults to get involved.

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 March 6th to order your seeds. They will be $1.00/youth.

The Nebraska 4-H Diamond Clover program encourages 4-H youth to engage in a variety of programs, projects, and activities that will enable youth to acquire skills and abilities that will prepare them for success in the future.

The program consists of six levels that require a young person to plan and report a broad range of age-appropriate accomplishments. For each level, the Nebraska 4-H Diamond Clover program provides a list of accomplishments from which 4-H youth choose their goals. The accomplishments increase in quantity and difficulty for each level. At the beginning of the 4-H year, participants plan what to accomplish and at the end of the 4-H year, they report on their completed accomplishments. Successful completion of a level's Plan & Report form results in a 4-H youth earning that level of the Diamond Clover program.

Diamond Clover Forms can be downloaded at https://4h.unl.edu/statewide-events-opportunities/awards-recognition/diamond-clover/. Forms are due to the Extension Office April 1, 2026.

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.

We have a local person that has a rabbit they would be willing to rehome to a 4-H youth that would be interested in a rabbit project for the fair. Please contact Laura Winters at 402-729-7266 for more information.

The Nebraska 4-H Livestock Achievement Program is back for its fifth year, recognizing youth who go above and beyond in their livestock projects! This program promotes learning in selection, production, leadership, and exhibition across all livestock species.

🔹 Open to enrolled 4-H livestock youth
🔹 Species include beef, sheep, swine, meat goat, dairy, rabbit, poultry.
🔹 Three achievement levels: Junior, Intermediate, Senior

🗓 Apply by June 15
🗂 Plans & Reports due August 1
🏆 Members of Excellence will be recognized at the Nebraska State Fair Grand Drive.

👉 Learn more & apply here: https://go.unl.edu/lap

Apply now to attend one of the biggest youth agriculture outreach events in the state—the Nebraska Agricultural Youth Institute (NAYI). NAYI brings together high school juniors and seniors to learn more about Nebraska agriculture, network with agriculture leaders and discover the many careers available in agriculture. The Nebraska Department of Agriculture (NDA) helps sponsor and coordinate NAYI every year.

The 55th annual Nebraska Agricultural Youth Institute (NAYI) will be held July 6-10, 2026, on UNL’s East Campus. Applications are now available to students who are currently high school juniors and seniors on our website at: www.nda.nebraska.gov/nayi

Applications will be due on April 15th.

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.

March

6 - Special Agronomy Project Orders Due

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

June

15 - Fair Entry Deadline

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.

©2026