WASHINGTON COURT HOUSE, Ohio — On March 24, the Miami Trace FFA Alumni will be holding their annual steak fry. The steak fry will be held at Miami Trace high school between the hours of 5-7:30 p.m. The alumni will be serving 12-ounce steaks with a baked potato, green beans and homemade desserts. Tickets are $12 a piece and can be purchased from Miami Trace students or by calling the Miami Trace Ag department at 740-333-4760. Take out is available and all proceeds will benefit the Miami Trace FFA Alumni Boosters.

REYNOLDSBURG, Ohio — June 1 is the deadline to enter the seventh national Jersey youth presentation competition, TalkJersey.

All AJCA junior or lifetime members, ages 7 through 20 as of Jan. 1, 2012, are eligible to enter one of two divisions: the live public speaking contest or the recorded presentation division. Cash awards sponsored by ABS Global Inc., DeForest, Wis., and prizes offered by the American Jersey Cattle Assoc. will be presented in all divisions. 

Judging will begin at 3 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon, June 27 during the annual meetings of the American Jersey Cattle Assoc. and National All-Jersey Inc. at the North Conway Grand Hotel, North Conway, N.H.

The top-ranked contestant in each category will present his/her winning speech in a showcase awards ceremony on June 30 at the Fryeburg (Maine) Fairgrounds, prior to the start of the 55th National Heifer Sale.

Demonstrations or speeches are to focus on any phase of the Registered Jersey™ business, including current affairs and dairy industry trends. Judges will evaluate the speaker’s personal interest in the topic, as well as its appropriateness for a general dairy audience.

Participants will be divided into groups by their age on January 1, 2012 as follows: Division I, 7 to 10 years; Division II, 11 to 13 years; Division III, 14 to 16; and Division IV, 17 to 20 years.

Division I contestants present demonstrations between four (4) and six (6) minutes in length. Posters may be used in addition to demonstration materials.

Participants in Divisions II, III and IV present speeches between five (5) and seven (7) minutes in length. Visual aids are not allowed. Speaker notes are permitted. No more than four (4) 4” x 6” notecards may be used. Judges will ask questions after each presentation is completed. Judging will be open for viewing by interested parties.

Contestants will be scored on the basis of 50 points, as follows: topic selection and content, 15 points; organization of speech, 10 points; vocal presentation, 10 points; presentation and effectiveness, 10 points; and response to questions, 5 points. One (1) point will be subtracted from the total point score for each 30 seconds over or under the required speaking time.

Entries may also be made in the category of narrated video or narrated PowerPoint presentations. This presentation must be the contestant’s own work and have been created between Sept. 1, 2011 and June 1, 2012.

The topic must be a subject directly related to Registered Jerseys. Entries must be at least four minutes in length, and feature the contestant as the only speaker. No costumes may be used, and no interviews with other persons are allowed. Musical tracks or background music cannot be used in these presentations.

Entries will be judged in three groups by contestant age on January 1, 2012: Division I, ages 7 to 12 years; Division II, ages 13 to 16; and Division III, age 17 and older.

The finished presentation must be saved in PC format and recorded for playback on either a CD/DVD or USB flashdrive/thumbdrive. Entries must be received in the AJCA office on or before Friday, June 8. 

Enter online at www.usjersey.com/forms/talkjersey_entryform.htm. Applications may also be requested from the AJCA Development Department by calling 614-322-4456.

URBANDALE, Iowa — 2012 marks the 25th anniversary of Farm Safety 4 Just Kids (FS4JK). The organization has promoted farm safety to more than 6 million people through local programs and education since 1987.

Over the past 25 years, FS4JK has established a network of more than 120 chapters across the United States and Canada that offer farm safety presentations on a local level. In that time, 35,600 volunteers donated 280,000 hours of their time to help promote safety on the farm.

Marilyn Adams founded the non-profit organization in 1987 after the death of her 11-year-old son in a gravity flow grain wagon accident. Its mission is to promote a safe farm environment to prevent health hazards, injuries and fatalities to children and youth. What started as a tribute to her son has touched nearly 6 million people so far.

“I didn’t really know what to expect when I started FS4JK,” said Adams, FS4JK founder. “The organization has grown and evolved so much in the past 25 years. It’s exciting to think about what lies ahead for the farm safety movement.”

FS4JK focuses on prevention through education. The organization has created a spectrum of nearly 100 educational resources on a variety of farm safety related topics. All resources are available to the public via an online catalog.

“Our goal is to teach the next generation of farmers to be safe,” said Shari Burgus, education director. “The entire industry depends on it.”

Education is paying off. According to the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, from 1998 to 2009 the rate of all farm youth injuries has decreased by 59 percent. FS4JK was specifically mentioned as a contributing factor to the decline. Additional influences included other organizations, governmental agencies, educational institutions and private corporations.

Corporate sponsors and individual donors fund FS4JK. Current projects include overhauling the current ATV safety packet, plus working with the University of Nebraska Medical Center and the Central States Center for Agricultural Safety and Health to research how safety needs are impacted in the changing demographics of agriculture as small, part-time farms are on the rise. For more information on farm safety, or to learn how to start a chapter, visit www.fs4jk.org