Saturday, November 22nd, at the Duplin Livestock Facility in Kenansville, 4-Hers from Duplin and Pender counties will wrap up their 8-week Dairy Heifer Projects at the 2nd annual Sandhills Junior Dairy Show.  These 4-Hers have had the unique experience of having a calf of their own to train and prepare for this show, thanks to the hard work of Extension Agents in these counties and the generosity of the Koopman family who runs Kooba Dairy in Roseboro.  The Koopmans believe in the value of this hands-on learning experience and have been loaning us calves for these projects since 2022.

This program, now offered in 24 counties, started back in 2005 when we convinced parents and teachers at a Montessori school in Durham County to offer this project to their entire kindergarten class.  Since then, we have been pairing non-farm kids with dairy heifers across the state to create a 4-H livestock experience for kids who would not have the opportunity otherwise.  Read more about the 4-H Dairy Heifer Program