HAMILTON, Ohio – About 150 kids participated in Farmer Town USA, a new 4-H program at the Butler County Fair. The goal, said Erin Simpson-Sloan, Butler County Extension 4-H Youth Development program assistant, was to educate younger kids about different farm commodities so they understand where food, clothing, and other everyday things come from.

It started when the Clover Leaders, older 4-H kids who work with the Cloverbuds (4-H groups for kids ages 5-8), found some things made from wool, soybeans, and corn in the corner of the 4-H office. They came up with an idea to use all those things. They called it Farmer Town USA and put it into action at the county fair.

Cloverbuds, and any other interested kids from about ages 5-8, rode “tractors” (trikes) to different commodity stations, Simpson-Sloan said. They got to feel some wool and “shear” a sheep, really just “shearing” shaving cream from a sheep poster. They cracked corn, fed a pretend pig and if it was something pigs don’t eat, the “pig” (someone hiding in the box behind the pig) threw it back. They saw what products were made from different commodities.

“We want the Cloverbuds to learn about where things come from, that cotton, for example, is used to make T-shirts,” said Tifani Smallwood, Butler County Fair Special Interest Queen and a Clover Leader. “We want kids to know what they’re wearing, what they’re eating, what they’re using, where it comes from. One little girl thought pork came from guinea pigs. We want to explain to them what all goes together and why.”

At each commodity station the kids did a project and received information and fun facts to take home, Simpson-Sloan said. The Clover Leaders assisted them and many of the fair’s eight fair queens helped.

“We talked about dairy and how some of the fat is used for different hair products,” said Addison Sloan, another Clover Leader. “That sheep’s wool is used for wool coats, and cotton for different clothing products. Oil can be made from corn and it can also be in gas.”

Smallwood manned the photo booth, a tractor cutout that her dad, Tom Smallwood, made. The kids could pose behind the tractor and have their photo taken.

“We wanted the kids to not only learn from the activity that they were doing but also have photos of what they’ve done that will last a lifetime,” Smallwood said.

“We want kids to start young in 4-H, and get them used to what they could be doing,” she explained. “It will be open also to the public because we want to educate them as well. They can take part in 4-H. That’s what we want people to take away. There is a place for everybody; you don’t have to show an animal.”