EAST LANSING, Mich. – 4-H clubs have long been a mainstay for youth in the agricultural community, but now 4-H leaders want to emphasize that 4-H is about a whole range of activities for all kinds of kids.

“4-H is the largest youth development program in the country and it’s the largest youth development program in Michigan,” said Jacob DeDecker, state leader for Michigan 4-H Youth Development. “Even if it isn’t about agriculture, we’re still about developing youth, so that they can become productive adults.”

According to DeDecker, 4-H has many programs for young people, such as science, technology, engineering and math, the so-called STEM fields; civic engagement, entrepreneurship, leadership, environmental sciences, life skills, robotics, and, importantly, confidence building.

“Our agriculture programs are really strong throughout the state of Michigan,” DeDecker added. “Our leadership program is really strong as well.”

DeDecker noted that while 4-H is associated with county fairs, there are 4-H run fairs as well. In 2020, all 4-H activities were shut down and “it did put a strain on different relationships.”

While the Oakland County Fair has a good relationship with 4-H – DeDecker heads up the 4-H effort in Oakland County – some fairs have had a difficult time getting back to normal post-pandemic. DeDecker noted that 4-H in Michigan has already had a number of face-to-face activities this year and there have been no masking or other COVID-related requirements. For the most part there were no COVID-related restrictions last year, either, except masks were required in some indoor venues. “During the summer months most 4-H activities are conducted outdoors,” DeDecker said. No COVID-related restrictions or requirements are planned for the remainder of the year.

“We’re really excited to engage in face-to-face programming and fairs continue to be a great partner with 4-H in advancing youth development,” DeDecker explained. “The support that the community showed last year was amazing. I think we’re going to see that again this year; I really think that’s going to continue.”

One silver lining to the pandemic has been the acceleration of online auctions. According to DeDecker, these auctions are continuing this year right alongside face-to-face auctions. “There are still going to be about 10 online auctions this year,” DeDecker said. “People can bid on animals and it doesn’t matter where they are, so it really adds value to the auctions, even though it doesn’t replace the face-to-face auctions.”

Erin Ross heads up 4-H activities in the entire Upper Peninsula (U.P.) of Michigan. Some of her comments echoed those of DeDecker. “One of the things that’s great about 4-H is that it’s flexible,” she said. “Programming depends on what people are interested in in the community and on what people are interested in teaching as well. We had a very successful market livestock program in Gogebic County last year.”

Gogebic County is on the western edge of the U.P. on the Wisconsin border. One unusual activity that students have been doing recently is called “photo voice.” Youth submit photos to tell their own stories, Ross explained. The presentation of photos varies: it can be presented as a collage, as a slideshow, or in other ways. “It just depends on what the student wants,” Ross said. “It’s all about social awareness and change.”

Livestock sales from 4-H students went very well in Gogebic County last year, Ross added. Even in 2020, students were able to sell their livestock via online auctions. In one instance, Ross said one pen of turkeys – two turkeys – sold for $31.50 a pound. Two turkeys can weigh 80 plus pounds. “We had amazing prices for animals last year,” she said. “We have mostly small businesses that are doing the buying. I just do want to stress that we could not do this without community support. We couldn’t have livestock auctions without community support and that’s really true for all our programs.”

4-H serves an estimated 200,000 young people ages 5 to 19 years of age each year in Michigan.