Our Impact
Making A Difference in Our County
University of Georgia Cooperative Extension is working hard for its constituents. The following are examples of Extension’s impact in the county over the past year.
Agriculture and Natural Resources
The mission of Cooperative Extension is to translate science of everyday living for farmers, families, and communities to foster a healthy and prosperous Georgia. As agriculture is our state’s top industry, we aspire to touch the lives of all Georgians from career farmers to urbans gardeners. All 成人影院 Extension offices offer soil and water testing. Soil tests provide recommendations for optimum plant growing conditions and water tests troubleshoot well water concerns. Extension offices also process insect, disease, and plant issues for clientele. Although Screven County has not had an Agriculture & Natural Resources (ANR) Agent in the county Extension office, we strive to continue to offer our farmers the best service through partnerships with agents and specialist in surrounding counties.
4-H Youth Development
Screven Establishes Southeast Youth Involvement in 4-H Equine Programs and Educational Opportunities
The Screven County 4-H Horse Club and Equine Competition Teams provide youth with a passion for horses the opportunity to participate in programming designed to improve sportsmanship, horsemanship, character, discipline, and responsibility. All programs are offered to youth of multiple age groups (4th-12th grade) and challenge them to step into the shoes of a horseman, no matter their level of experience. During the 2023-2024 program year, 36 youth from Screven, Effingham, and Jenkins counties participated in the activities, events, and competitions offered through Screven County 4-H. The ultimate goal of the programs being to provide students with the opportunity to learn and consider the reality and responsibilities of owning and caring for horses and explore potential career opportunities in the field.
Screven County 4-H was approached by a parent who was interested in learning more about 4-H equine opportunities. The parent had two youth with extensive riding experience but were missing the critical educational component. With the many different levels of equine experience in Screven and surrounding counties, and no 4-H Horse Clubs in the area, the club was established for youth aged 4th-12th grade and offered to 4-H’ers in surrounding counties. The Horse Club was broken into two components: General Horse Club and Equine Competition Teams.
The General Screven County 4-H Horse Club held monthly meetings at the 4-H Office, local Ag Center, or local barns to teach youth safety procedures, colors/markings, breeds, tack, diseases/parasites, and invited guest speakers who were industry professionals. Enrollment in the General Horse Club also opened the door for more zealous students to dive deeper into learning about the reality and responsibilities of owning and caring for horses through attending clinics, demonstrations, facilities, and events all over the state. General Horse Club members were also eligible to compete on the Screven 4-H Equine Competition Teams.
The Screven County 4-H Equine Competition Teams consisted of Horse Quiz Bowl, Horse Judging, Hippology, and the State Horse Show. Horse Quiz Bowl Team members had the opportunity to specialize in a topic of their choice from Horse Smarts in an effort to create a well-rounded team for a Jeopardy-style competition, where questions were solely about horses. Topics varied from colors, markings, breeds, gaits, nutrition, management, emergency preparedness, anatomy/physiology, diseases, reproduction, and more. Horse Judging Team members learned to evaluate balance, structural correctness, muscling, and breed characteristics to rank horses from most to least desirable in halter, confirmation, and performance classes. Hippology Team members had the opportunity to combine the knowledge and skills learned from Horse Quiz Bowl and Horse Judging to be tested on their knowledge of equine science and management that covered a variety of topics including history, diseases, parasites, reproduction, the horse industry, breeds, genetics, colors, tack, and more.
A total of 36 youth from Screven, Effingham, and Jenkins counties participated in either the General Horse Club or Equine Competition Teams in the 2023-2024 program year. An intent to participate form collected information on the background, experience, and interests of students registering for Horse Club. Of the students in Horse Club, 33% of students indicated participation would be the first time they had ever interacted with a horse. Eight Horse Club Members (24%) competed at District Project Achievement for the first time. Nineteen Horse Club Members (57.6%) participated in other 4-H activities and events outside of Horse Club. Twelve General Horse Club members (36.4%) also competed on one or more of the Equine Competition Teams. Of the 36 members that participated in the 2023-2024 program year, 92% have already re-enrolled for the 2024-2025 program year.?
The Horse Quiz Bowl Team placed 6th at their state contest. The Horse Judging Team placed 4th at their state contest with two members also being awarded 2nd and 5th High Individual. State Horse Show exhibitors placed 5th in Ranch Rail, 5th in Ground Handling, 6th in Showmanship, 8th in Walk Trot, and 10th in Walk Trot Pleasure. The State Horse Show Educational Contest Exhibitors received two 1st placings, two 4th placings, one 5th placing, two 6th placings, and one 10th placing.
Family and Consumer Sciences
Although Screven County does not have a Family and Consumer Sciences (FACS) agent based in the county Extension office, existing staff seek to offer support to the members of our local community with their questions and concerns. Most frequently asked questions span from areas of food safety, food preservation, dealing with mold and mildew, healthy meal planning, nutrition, family budgeting, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) resources and more. These issues and many others can be answered through a wide variety of free 成人影院 Extension publications available at the county office and online. There is also the potential to organize phone conferences with FACS agents from surrounding counties. Neighboring FACS agents often conduct programming that our county residents are welcome to attend. Our office strives to provide the most up-to-date information regarding relevant programming in surrounding counties and aid in navigating the plethora of information available through Extension.