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County’s 4-H program alive and well; farm debt mediations are up
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By Charlie Warner
Argus News Editor
The 4-H program in Houston County is alive and well and involved approximately 2,000 youth in 2009. County 4-H Coordinator Kelly Wilkins and Fillmore/Houston Extension Educator Jerry Tesmer made a presentation at the Nov. 17 county board meeting reviewing the activities of the 4-H and Extension programs.
Wilkins reported the county has 17 4-H clubs with 360 “traditional” members and 119 adult volunteers. Last year there were 355 “traditional” members in 4-H.
There were 309 4-H members who participated at the Houston County Fair and were involved in 3,696 livestock and non-stock projects that were judged at the fair. That number was also up from last year, as there were 3,445 4-H entries for judging in the livestock and non-livestock classes.
Adventurer, after school and community ed programs that 4-H is involved in, as well as the “independent” members brings the total involvement number up to the 2,000-youth range.
Houston County 4-H members participated on the state level as well. Wilkins noted there were 70 youth who were livestock and non-livestock exhibitors at the state fair, along with a dozen more who competed at the dog show, horse show and shooting sports competitions.
Wilkins listed over 30 different meetings, judging events, training programs and contests that involved hundreds of area youth. The farm safety day camp, which is co-sponored with Fillmore County, involved over 400 kids from Houston County. Nearly 100 kids attended youth day camps and 120 attended the regional camp. The Share the Fun competition is another popular event. There were over 100 4-Hers who participated in the event in 2009.
“The 4-H program has changed quite a bit from back when I was in it,” Commissioner Dave Corcoran said. “It’s just not for farm kids anymore. The number of kids you have involved in the various programs is really something.”
Tesmer pointed out the federal government will be increasing the funding for the nation-wide Extension program for the first time in 19 years.
“I really don’t know how much of that will trickle down to our area,” Tesmer said. “But at least it wasn’t cut.”
Debt mediation on the rise
With the very tough economic times, Tesmer warned that the number of farmers and lenders using debt mediation is expected to drastically increase in 2010.
“Back in 1988 when we had that major farm crisis, I spent about 50 percent of my time dealing with debt mediation,” Tesmer said.
According to a report provided by Tesmer, an increasing number of farmers and lenders are using mediation to resolve farm debt issues.
“Every measure of activity in the program showed sizeable increases during the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2009, said Richard Senese, Extension Associate Dean for Community Vitality and Public Engagement.
“For the 12 months prior to Oct. 1, 2009, there was a 55 percent increase in the number of notices filed by lenders for loans eligible for mediation, totaling 3,107 notices,” the report continued. “These notices resulted in 1,192 requests for mediation. That is a dramatic 86 percent increase over the previous year. The total amount of debt involved in mediation was $322 million, more than double the amount in 2008.”
The report showed 422 notices that led farmers and lenders to reach agreement about a debt. An additional 533 notices between lenders and farmers are currently in mediation in hopes of reaching an agreement.
You can contact Charlie Warner at
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