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Orangeburg 4-H Collaborations Support Agriculture Literacy
| Name | Leigh Joyner | | Situation | Over the past several years, 4-H in Orangeburg County has witnessed a decrease in number of members enrolling in traditional agriculture-related (plant and animal) projects. This trend seems to correspond with the decrease in the number of traditional family farms. Members of the Orangeburg County Extension Advisory Council expressed concern about the future of agriculture and what they say they have witnessed as a lack of
"agriculture literacy" by youth. Advisory Council members challenged me to develop ways to teach agricultural concepts to Orangeburg County youth. | | Response | Working from an idea from my coworker, Shannon Herndon, in 2002 Orangeburg County 4-H developed a seed art contest. Objectives of this project are that youth: 1) obtain and learn to identify seeds from South Carolina's major agronomic crops; 2) learn the names of South Carolina's major agronomic crops; 3) begin to understand the relationship between seed, crop and consumers.
General rules are that youth are to follow certain size and theme-related guidelines and use seeds and any other natural materials to design a picture. More specifically, the majority of the materials used has to be seeds from South Carolina's major agronomic crops. Seeds must be untreated and identified on an attached label. By creating artwork, participants must manipulate seeds, study them and make decisions about
them based on their size, color and other attributes. | | Impact | In 2002, the Seed Art Contest started as a 4-H activity. Artwork done by 4-H members(only) was displayed in the 4-H booth at the County Fair. It attracted the attention of Fair officials who requested that the Contest be expanded to be a part of the Fair's Vegetable Crop Exhibit. In 2003, contest rules, guidelines, registration information began being published in the County Fair book. The Orangeburg County Fair financed premium monies for entries. In 2004, a corporate sponsor, Mixon Seed Company
contacted 4-H about donating $200 to sponsor the contest. They also donate untreated seed. Currently, the Orangeburg County Fair, 4-H and Mixon Seed partner to coordinate the contest. Because the Fair manages registrations and premium monies, I do not have an accurate count on numbers of participants. Growth in >the number of entries is evidenced because we continue to address additional exhibit space requirements by: acquiring additional display space in adjacent booths, making changes in
size of individual entries and by considering preliminary judging to
cull the best entries. The number of youth in Orangeburg County who are learning to identify seeds from South Carolina's agronomic crops is increasing. |
Last update9/2/2008
This website is maintained by Amy West.
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