4-H-4-U-2

Transcript:

Announcer: This is 4-H-4-U-2, a podcast from the Mississippi State University Extension Service promoting 4-H programs and positive youth development. Here now, your hosts, Dr. John Long and Cobie Rutherford.

John Long: Welcome to 4-H-4-U-2, the podcast about everything Mississippi 4-H and just 4-H in general. I'm your host, John Long.

Cobie Rutherford: And I'm Cobie Rutherford.

John Long: Cobie, how are we doing today?

Cobie Rutherford: It's a great day here in Mississippi.

John Long: Yes. It's been a while since we've actually done a podcast, and I guess we're going to call this our end of the year podcast.

Cobie Rutherford: Season finale.

John Long: Season finale. And get ready for next year title.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah, that's right.

John Long: So, since we said season finale, do you have a favorite season finale of any show or whatever that you've ever did.

Cobie Rutherford: I like those season finales that end in a cliffhanger. You're like what happens next? And you just can't wait until the next season comes on and then you forget to set your DVR and miss it. Usually better.

John Long: And then somebody says, "Did you see that?"

Cobie Rutherford: The spoilers.

John Long: "No, I didn't."

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah, totally missed it. But yeah, I like those. I like series finales that end on a good note, I hate not having closure on something. I hate not knowing what happens next with the characters. I want to know what happens at the end.

John Long: Yeah, and if they just try to kind of wing it and say, "Oh, this is the final episode, even for the series." And you feel lackluster, like you don't have that closure, and the course of the folks that do try to do a series finale. A lot of times, they can't do it right. And just disappointing, I guess you could say.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah, totally agree there. The one series that just really left things bad to me was the New Dallas. When Dallas came out a few years ago on TNT and they had the new cast, but they still had the old group with Patrick Duffy and Larry Hagman and all of those folks. And that series just ended and I guess funding got cut or the program got cut and now I just really thought that was terrible because we don't know what happened to all those characters.

John Long: Now. And I tell you what, since we got on a series finale, I would say that my favorite series finale was Mash.

Cobie Rutherford: Really?

John Long: Yeah. Oh yeah. I remember that very well. You know, it was just like this, it was a big white off of the whole deal, and they ramped it up perfect. It was just perfect.

Cobie Rutherford: Well, speaking of wrapping things up, I think our office is kind of in that phase, right?

John Long: Yeah, segue way into what we're going to be talking about.

Cobie Rutherford: Getting right into the next spring's activities, I've caught myself all week trying to tie up loose ends from the fair, and we just got out from a great conference.

John Long: Yep. We sure did.

Cobie Rutherford: And if nothing else, that kind of sets the stage for our planning next year.

John Long: When Coach Shaffer, he was, wasn't he just inspiring? I love it. I loved hearing him, just great.

Cobie Rutherford: That was really good to me as well. I knew that he is such a leader on the court, but when they gave started giving his personal examples from his home life and especially the things about coaching his own daughter and how he-

John Long: Being a servant later.

Cobie Rutherford: Oh yeah, that was really good. And what also inspired me, when you talked about the young lady, is what he looks for in talent. He looks for the people that work hard, that are willing to improve and that are coachable and gosh, from a 4-H faculty standpoint, that hit me. Because, if we're not teaching our 4-H'ers to be coachable adults, what are we doing? Right?

John Long: I went to a parenting conference this past Sunday and it was on, they ask who it had elementary aged kids. And I raised my hand and says, of course everybody, there was a lot of people there, and they said, you're coaching teenagers right now. You may not think of it, but you are. And I thought that was impressive. So I guess that goes right along with 4-H, we start from the beginning, and we just keep developing that young person and then we hope that, once they get through that. We have done some, we get on the beginning and hopefully they'll stick with it. But yeah, annual conference was really good. I enjoyed it, but I guess, it's amazing because we look at the calendar, and you think how we started way back in January and with planning, and all of a sudden we come along and now this episode is actually being recorded in November and we're already starting to talk about next year and even on into the year for next year.

John Long: So, I know you've been working on the calendar zone too, so.

Cobie Rutherford: Oh yeah. That's hopefully, I'm ready to put that project to bed. It seems like you start looking at the 2020 calendar, and you start having all the events planned, and you're like, "This will be here tomorrow."

John Long: Yeah, that's right. This is it.

Cobie Rutherford: It seems like, and you get only into putting dates on the calendar and gosh, we just finished that activity. Just keep on living. But I have now completed a whole year in the state for each office.

John Long: Yeah. How does that feel?

Cobie Rutherford: It feels like-

John Long: A full year.

Cobie Rutherford: ... I've accomplished something. Yeah, a full year. Started October 1 of, right now, September 1 the last year. So, it's been a little bit over a year now. But I went through every event the state for each office has something to do with, and I learned a lot this year. Learned a lot about myself, learned a lot about what these 4-H'ers teachers need and gosh, 4-H has changed a lot since I was a 4-H'er.

John Long: Damn, it has. We've had some really good guests I think too, since we started, when did we start the podcast? That's a good question right there.

Cobie Rutherford: Ooh, trivia. Well, we've done 30 episodes. This is number 30. Probably this summer. Well, I know it's in the spring.

John Long: Spring, yeah. It hadn't been.

Cobie Rutherford: Because we did some co-op episodes, and we've had a lot of specialists in here talking about their things.

John Long: Really good guests.

Cobie Rutherford: Yes.

John Long: We've had some great guests.

Cobie Rutherford: Moving forward for next year. I think you and I have talked about what our hopes are, but I'd like to get any more agents.

John Long: Yeah. I think that will be great.

Cobie Rutherford: Talk about some folks in the county, talk to more youth. I think our audience would like to hear more perspectives from the young 4-H'ers.

John Long: We're going to hold Tammy Parker to our agreement. She's going to come in too and talk about volunteerism.

Cobie Rutherford: Yes.

John Long: I think that'd be really good.

Cobie Rutherford: I think that would be as well.

John Long: You get a volunteer and would be great.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah. Well you know we had Courtney?

John Long: Yeah, we did. Yeah.

Cobie Rutherford: And she did a good job, but she's kind of a different volunteer since she's got two different perspectives.

John Long: She kind of wears two different hats, so you know, as far as the Clover is concerned. Right?

Cobie Rutherford: Right. And so she has the staff hat and then the volunteer hat as well.

John Long: That's right.

Cobie Rutherford: Of all the things we did this year, my favorite I think was a going through record books.

John Long: I'd never done, I don't know if I said this, I'd never done that before.

Cobie Rutherford: Really?

John Long: Yeah, it was pretty neat. I enjoyed that too.

Cobie Rutherford: See if what, and that's something that I always did as a 4-H'er, but I never really knew what the process was, or I don't even know that the Irish left at the county office.

John Long: I'd always heard of record book, but I didn't know what was in it. It's kind of had an idea.

Cobie Rutherford: They document for those of you who don't know if they document for their project area for an entire year and document every single thing they do, that is in relationship to their project. So, for instance, a child that has a livestock project, might put that they purchased their livestock and may and that, that they fed them X amount of pounds of feed that was worth X amount of dollars throughout the month of may. And then document that every single month until Dixie Nationals when they sell that animal. But then, what I didn't realize is that 4-Hers are also doing that for things like gardening or-

John Long: Safety.

Cobie Rutherford: ... leadership, safety, citizenship, where they give back to their communities. And there's just some really good stories in those record boats.

John Long: So Cobie, what's the power of the record book? What is that teachable moment that the record book provides?

Cobie Rutherford: Well, I think first of all, the record books going to teach them some accountability. I think when you start learn by doing is what we try to preach in 4-H. But when they go back, and they start building up on the record books, they can really see how far they've come.

John Long: Right.

Cobie Rutherford: Oh, what do you think?

John Long: Well, I always, I guess part of me thinks of it is from a standpoint of like, I know it sounds kind of redundant I guess, but record keeping ability. A lot of people don't have that skill of keeping up with day to day activities like that and making a record of it and hence the name record book. I know. But still that's an art within itself, I think. You know what I mean?

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah, totally.

John Long: Because I know that like for instance, with my child, I gave her record book and it was kind of like, "Okay you have to get on it. Daddy's not going to do it for you." So you have to be, like you said, accountable, you have to be responsible enough to say, all right, well this is something that's worthy of going into the record book and I need to start logging this stuff in. So I think that's real. Well, and another thing too is though is the ability to be able to showcase or, I don't want to say sell yourself, but to really say, "Hey this is who I am. This is what I'm doing."

Cobie Rutherford: Self promote.

John Long: Self promote. And that's very important. You knew go put in a job resume together, and you've got to sell yourself to that employer or a potential employer. And I think that's a great preparation tool for them.

Cobie Rutherford: Well, and I think about these youth that start their record books when they're, I'll just say ninth grade and I realize a lot of 4-H'ers start way before, but if you start by the time you're ninth grade, and you can just document your high school activities and then you got to apply for scholarship, and you can say, I've spent 290 hours doing community service or towards a certain project here where there's health fitness or whatever. I think scholarship committees would really think, "Wow, that's pretty mind blowing. That would set those applications apart from everybody else's."

John Long: Yeah, I was going to say it makes them stand out for sure. I tell you. And of course they have club record books too. Why don't you explain that one? So that, well-

Cobie Rutherford: The club record books-

John Long: ... since we're on the topic of record books, we might as well.

Cobie Rutherford: And we just finished with those, judging those, we call them bender club bows basically-

John Long: Bender club. That is also my first time see the banner club.

Cobie Rutherford: So they is basically a club secretary puts together their whole clubs activities for the year. So the club is consisting of several different children. I think some of them went up to 60 or 70 kids on the row, but basically they put together what the club did as a unit and when they met they recorded their meetings and their minutes and who attended. And then they talked about their community service and whatever they did that was philanthropic, really cool. And you know AT&T sponsors had really good legislative appreciation day for us and we recognize those bender club winners at that reception.

John Long: Right, right. Well we were talking about that the other day,

Cobie Rutherford: That's always neat and now, I guess since post-election we'll get to meet all those new legislatures and I'll get to see who's down there representing us in Jackson.

John Long: Yeah that's right, that's exactly right.

Cobie Rutherford: It's always exciting.

John Long: Oh, absolutely.

Cobie Rutherford: See some new faces and we-

John Long: I'm trying to think about working backwards. We have a lot of events during the summer who has the state fair not too long ago and then all the events that we had during the summer that, I've always, and I've said this before, I think my favorite, well, other than 4-H S.A.F.E.T.Y., My favorite thing is the road trip. I love going on the project achievement day, road trips. I think that's so much fun to get out and see the younger kids, which sometimes we kind of lose touch with that because we don't get to interact with the young people all that much, from our standpoint anyway.

John Long: But a lot of those activities are just wonderful because it goes back again to what we were saying about record books. You get to showcase what you're doing and you get to actually see it. Whether it be a Logo build or a insect collection. And that's a shameless plug for entomology cause you need to get out there and do that. But just various things and it's so varied. That's the most wonderful thing I think about 4-H is the fact of being able to pick a project that you're passionate about or maybe you that you don't even know much about but want to learn more about that is what 4-H offers and that is, it's just amazing.

Cobie Rutherford: Right? And I think about all those "gee whiz" things that you can pick up on and for example, in 4-H, we have a leaf collection and 4-H'ers can turn in leaf collections at state fair. And I mean how many young people can go out and say, "Oh that's an American Chestnut, eyes on those leaves." Or, "That's a white Oak or water out. Tell the difference. Our 4-H'ers who participate in those projects can do that.

John Long: I guarantee they can. I guarantee unless-

Cobie Rutherford: That's a lost art.

John Long: Yes it is and you know, as I say, as one of the first things that you need to really learn about habitat and as far as wildlife's concerned, you need to know the different trees cause you know, need to know what to eat.

Cobie Rutherford: What type of fruit I guess, yeah.

John Long: Right. Yeah. I read that the other day.

Cobie Rutherford: It's time for fruits and nuts.

John Long: Yeah and shameless plug for hunting because it's getting that time of year so.

Cobie Rutherford: Man, I bet you can't wait.

John Long: Ah, I can't, I'm not good. I'm about to die. It's just right there on the edge.

Cobie Rutherford: I've seen so many into here this year. And as these days are getting cooler, they're out everywhere.

John Long: Did I tell you I got a text from a deputy sheriff out there by my house. He'd said he said big buck just across the road by your house.

Cobie Rutherford: How funny.

John Long: I got to tackled that I haven't seen it yet, but I used to on it, so I believe it.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah, we're good too.

John Long: So maybe he'll slip up. You never can tell.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah. Maybe it'll your little boy's first buck.

John Long: Oh, I know.

Cobie Rutherford: That'd be kind of cool?

John Long: Yeah, it would be. I'm taking my daughter, she started shooting, so, I'm going to take her this weekend. So. Yep.

Cobie Rutherford: Good.

John Long: Always good to get out and get those young people outside.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah. You know you talked about the PAD road trip. That was fun.

John Long: Sorry I got off on them hunting. Not that I am on it.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah, that it was that time of year.

John Long: Yeah. Don't start because with Thanksgiving coming around and I'll start telling about turkeys.

Cobie Rutherford: I'm going to be gobbling here, I enjoyed the cookout, marshmallow. Put it on your calendar next year. Just go ahead and Mark out the, I was National-

John Long: National Shooting Sports.

Cobie Rutherford: National Shooting Sports. Well, I'll claim that into myself then but man.

John Long: When is that, when is it? That's probably the same time every year, right?

Cobie Rutherford: Last week in July. Well-

John Long: In July.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah, I think so.

John Long: Well, I don't know where I was then.

Cobie Rutherford: But yeah, it was that the week after co-op.

John Long: The week after co-op?

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah, that's it.

John Long: Oh, I was getting ready for the invitational.

Cobie Rutherford: Oh, that's right.

John Long: The state invitational.

Cobie Rutherford: So yeah, so that was the most fun. We've got to figure out some locations for that this year. But I'm totally looking forward to that. I'm not relinquishing those duties.

John Long: And I wouldn't either. I love it. Well maybe we just need to swap.

Cobie Rutherford: No, or just tag team.

John Long: Oh yeah, that's right.

Cobie Rutherford: I'll take beef. You can have pork.

John Long: There you go. Oh my goodness.

Cobie Rutherford: Or poultry.

John Long: Yes. I cooked some pork last night.

Cobie Rutherford: All of the above. It's fantastic.

John Long: So wonderful.

Cobie Rutherford: Congress was fun too. I will always go back and think, well that was fun. This was fun. But Congress was exhausting.

John Long: I love the energy of Congress.

Cobie Rutherford: Yes. I mean the days were so long from a staff standpoint, I know they were long for the kids as well and the agents. But you just felt so energized afterwards because I mean it's almost like you were on a high because you knew you had done good that week.

John Long: That's right. That's exactly right.

Cobie Rutherford: You had seen smiling faces, you had seen people achieve, reach their goals and I don't know.

John Long: And problem solving too. When something comes up and you have to think, I mean not think on the flyer, but when you have to come up and say, "Okay, well listen, this didn't work. We're going to make this work this way." Kind of, I liked that aspect of it too. It's a team effort. It's not just one person doing everything so.

Cobie Rutherford: Exactly. And I think back to Congress and the election snafu and getting on and saying, we messed up. That's all we can say we have. We made a mistake on this.

John Long: I'm trying to forget that-

Cobie Rutherford: Attitude. Yeah, Sometimes you remember those things. And that's how we get better.

John Long: That's right, absolutely. So if you've got any comments, acknowledge it.

Cobie Rutherford: 1-800-Cobie Rutherford. File them in the records, in my record book.

John Long: In your record book?

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah.

John Long: That's right. That's what you need to do is make notes and then forget about them. That's what normally I do. But anyway, every time is why we can take an opportunity to learn. So like you said, it makes us better. So not going to be perfect, never is, so right.

Cobie Rutherford: So what about next year? 2020.

John Long: What about next year?

Cobie Rutherford: The start of a new decade.

John Long: Ever since you said that it's made a big impact on me.

Cobie Rutherford: Oh yeah. The other day I said we have two months left in the decade?

John Long: I just didn't think of it like that, 10 years.

Cobie Rutherford: I know.

John Long: Good gracious.

Cobie Rutherford: Well you know I will finish my PhD in the next decade.

John Long: By golly, if it's going to happen.

Cobie Rutherford: It's going to happen and then that'll be three decades of school or let's go across three decades.

John Long: I started school in August of 1978 and I finished my PhD in the, I'm going to get this right. It was the fall of 2006 so whatever that is.

Cobie Rutherford: So you had the seventies eighties nineties and in 2000s. So you had across four. I think I'll be across four because I started school in '90 so I had the '90s, the 2000s, 2010s yeah, it'll be four.

John Long: So now I know how much older you are to me. That's when I graduated from high school.

Cobie Rutherford: It was '90?

John Long: '90. It was a good year.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah, '90 was a good year.

John Long: I'm sorry I interrupted you. You were talking about 2020, let's go back to 2020, the new decade.

Cobie Rutherford: Go and finish the PhD. We're going to, personally we're going to get some cows in Mississippi.

John Long: Yes.

Cobie Rutherford: That's my first goal. Professionally, I think my goal would probably be to keep working to expand 4-H programs. I always think about agriculture and trying to keep agriculture at the forefront of 4-H programs and regardless if the child's involved in FCS or clothing construction or citizenship and leadership, make sure that they know where their food and fiber comes from.

John Long: Right. That's good.

Cobie Rutherford: So I think that's my goal for the decade.

John Long: Keep it up. You got to keep it up.

Cobie Rutherford: What about you?

John Long: Lets say. Personal. I don't know. I think that, I love my family. I think I am going to try to spend more time with them and doing less of maybe other things that I do currently, maybe cut down on some things and do more things with them. Try to get out, maybe travel a little bit more a season. We've got some friends up North and I'd like to go see them. We haven't seen them in a while, so probably do that. And I don't know, I've just family's big thing to me. I just, I love being with my family, so whatever I can do to do more with them I guess. And, and professionally, I don't know. I'm kind of always wanting to think about new things that we can try and do and so I guess it's always on my mind.

John Long: So I guess it is an evolving process, I guess this new things that we can try and, and if it fails, it fails. And if you don't, you know, "Hey, try something else."

Cobie Rutherford: That's right.

John Long: I think that's probably what I'll do is explore more areas like that.

Cobie Rutherford: A good deal. Sounds like a plan. Here's the 2020.

John Long: Here. We don't have anything to clink, but we'll, yeah, that's great, and so with that we need to thank, I'd say what we need to thank a lot of people. First and foremost, I would like to say thank you to art Shirley in the Ag Communications Department. He has been just absolutely the greatest help we can have as

John Long: far as getting us started. It's amazing. 30 episodes has just gone by so quickly and we couldn't have done it without him for sure.

Cobie Rutherford: And for the whole Extension, admin team, the Ag Comm team,-

John Long: Just got behind us.

Cobie Rutherford: ... for providing us with this facility to do this, this room, this technology. Yeah. We're getting into the digital age here, so-

John Long: We need to do like a Facebook live where people can see us.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah, that's-

John Long: ... at the same time.

Cobie Rutherford: ... new year's resolution.

John Long: Oh, put that down. Put that down in your notes.

Cobie Rutherford: That's right.

John Long: And speaking of notes. So we need to thank, we didn't know this until the other day. Ms. Cindy Callahan, she's transcribing our podcast and she said it's quite entertaining.

Cobie Rutherford: So I can't imagine what that looks like.

John Long: We're making an effort, so thank you Cindy. And for all our guests that we had on this year, it was really a lot of fun and thank you Cobie for, like we said, when we found out that we had this opportunity and it kind of like both clicked on us, this is something we wanted to do.

John Long: So thank you and have a great rest of your year. Enjoy the holidays and we'll just start back whenever we get back.

Cobie Rutherford: Yes sir.

John Long: All right, well with that, that's, I'll get this off my tongue. This is 4-H-4-U-2 and we are signing off for 2019 see you in 2020 thanks for listening. Thanks for joining us for 4-H-4-U-2 for more permission, please visit extension.msstate.edu and be sure to subscribe to our podcast. 4-H-4-U-2 is produced by the Mississippi State University Extension Service, Office of Agricultural Communications.

Transcript:

Announcer: This is 4-H-4-U-2, a podcast from the Mississippi State University Extension Service promoting 4-H programs and positive youth development. Hear now your host, Dr. John Long and Cobie Rutherford.

John Long: Welcome back to another addition of 4-H-4-U-2, the podcast that brings you everything 4-H and 4-H related in the state of Mississippi. I'm your host John Long.

Cobie Rutherford:  And I'm Cobie Rutherford.

John Long: Cobie, how's it going?

Cobie Rutherford:  It's going great John.

John Long: That's great. That's just great. The weekend is here and we've got some cool weather on the way so, we are super excited about that. We are also super excited to have our guests here today. Well, it's just a picture perfect day outside and we've got the picture perfect man with us. Mr. Kevin Hudson.

Kevin Hudson:  Glad to be here with you.

John Long: Yeah, whoa, that was good. Yeah. Kevin, since you're here, tell us a little bit about yourself, where are you from and basically how you got to where you are today?

Kevin Hudson:  Well, I grew up in Louisville, Mississippi and still live there today and so it's a short commute to MSU. Glad to be working as a photographer with Extension. Most of my working career has been spent either in photography or video production, so kind of those two fields and I've spent a good bit of time at the university and other places. I'm glad that my path took me to Extension; it's a good place to be.

John Long: When did you first like really realize that photography was going to be your thing? How old were you?

Kevin Hudson:  Well, I don't ... That's hard to say. I mean, I was always interested in photography I guess growing up. We lived next door to my grandparents and my grandmother had an old manual 35 millimeter camera that she would let me take and use. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. They said everything on it with the lever and everything. But she was good about letting me experiment with that and kind of see what it would do. And she was also good about paying for the film developing in those days. You know, you had to pay for that.

John Long: Where'd you have to take yours in to?

Kevin Hudson:  I want to say in the days before the big store that everybody goes to. I think what I remember is sending it off through the mail, through one of the local drug stores.

John Long: Okay. What was the turnaround time on that?

Kevin Hudson:  Oh man, I don't remember. Probably a week or two maybe. I'm just guessing.

John Long: Yeah. Yeah. So you didn't do the dark room thing until...

Kevin Hudson:  I never did.

John Long: And you still don't to this day.

Kevin Hudson:  No.

Cobie Rutherford:  You know, I remember when the little digital cameras first came out. It's like that kind of toss and go's and I thought that was the coolest thing. When some of the big box stores and drug stores start offering 24 hour process, I thought, wow, this is the best thing. How could anything get better in photography and we just had no idea.

John Long: Now, its leaps and bounds.

Cobie Rutherford:  And now the world is crazy. Right.

Kevin Hudson:  It was a big deal even after that to get one hour processing, you know?

Cobie Rutherford:  You know and now, last job I had was with Alabama Cattleman's. And we talked about that a little bit on here before and I was kind of thrown into being the official photographer for the Alabama Cattlemen with no training at all. And you know, people just think that it's an easy task to do and I'll be the first to say; it's hard. You know, trying to get the lighting, all that. Kevin, I don't know how you do it, to be honest with you. I would take a thousand shots and maybe get one good one.

Kevin Hudson:  Well, I would not say that livestock photography is my forte by any stretch and that's difficult Cobie, because you know, at least when you're working with people, you speak the same language and animals often don't cooperate and don't help you out.

John Long: You learn to speak cow.

Kevin Hudson:  Yeah. Even then, they don't always want to cooperate. So, that that's difficult to do.

Cobie Rutherford:  When my boss would always be like, "Every picture you get of me, my mouth is open." I'd be like, well, maybe if you wouldn't talk all the time.

Kevin Hudson:  Yeah. It usually works that way for me when it's pictures of, of our boss. You know, mouth is open and I ended up taking a whole lot more to try to avoid that.

John Long: What's your favorite thing to photograph?

Kevin Hudson:  I enjoy taking pictures; I do a lot of different photography for Extension, but probably what I enjoy the most is the photographs for Extension Matters Magazine. The magazine focuses on individuals around the state who are doing good things, interesting things and they've had some help or some influence from Extension along the way. And so the magazine tells those stories. But those people are always interesting and I enjoy that. It's a lot of environmental portraiture. So you're shooting them in their location, whether it's their farm or their business or home or wherever they are.

Kevin Hudson:  And I know a little bit about the person before I go. Oftentimes, the story is being written at the same time, so I don't have all the facts about them. But, you just get to where they're located and you have to do a location assessment and see what's there, what's going to work for photos and kind of as you're talking to them, you know, you're thinking about what, what can we do, what will work, what's not going to work. And I enjoy that. That's probably my favorite part of the job.

John Long: You do a great job because it's a beautiful publication.

Cobie Rutherford:  You know and you've read those stories and you really don't, if there's not a picture with them, it's hard to make that connection with the person that the story is about. So I think that the strong photographs sometimes tell more of the story than sometimes the verbiage does.

Kevin Hudson:  Well, I think that can be true. Thank you. Yeah.

John Long: How long is that, excuse me. How long has that publication been going on now?

Kevin Hudson:  I think with the issue that will come out beginning next year, I think that's volume six so, we just about have; and the last issue for this year is not out yet, so five years; wrapping up five years production.

John Long: Good.

Cobie Rutherford:  You know, I like those stories and how diverse the Extension audience is. And I think, you know, just if you don't even have time to pick up the whole Extension Matters and read it from front to back, you just flip through and say the portraiture throughout the magazine and see the youth, the adults, the older generation, everyone who's being impacted by Extension; it really tells a neat story.

John Long: And I think that of course, Kevin does all the photography for the project achievement days as well. And of course, we get to work with him during the summer doing those. And you think well, a picture is not, you know, you take a thousand of a young person getting an award. But to that young person, that is so super special and you can see that every time they step up and get their picture made, I'm sure.

Kevin Hudson:  You can. And that's fun. I enjoy the project achievement days. There are photography contest that I run in the morning and in the afternoon. And then after all of those contests are complete, I'll take the awards photos at the end of the day. and I think it was maybe one of the, one of the early project achievement days this year; the 4-H-ers get their awards and then they wait until that specialist, you know, is, is finished giving all the awards for that category and they will take their photos all together.

Kevin Hudson:  So, there's time backstage or wherever we're taking the photos for them to wait on that specialist. And there was one young 4-Her this year who was talking to another one while we're waiting on their specialist. And he was just really excited and I heard him saying, "Oh my gosh, I can't believe it. I knew when she was reading those names, she was going to call my name and she did. And I just knew it was going to be my name and I just can't, I mean, this is like the Grammys!" And I thought, that's great. It's a really big deal for them. And so, it's fun to see that and, and it gives you some appreciation for what they're doing and how much they enjoy it. And that's nice to see. Nice to be, have a small part in that.

Cobie Rutherford:  Now, Kevin, how many, you might have mentioned earlier, how many years have you been that official Extension photographer?

Kevin Hudson:  Well, I don't know that you would call me the official Extension photographer. When I came on, we had actually had two photographers, Cat Lawrence, who went on and is doing great things at the University of North Carolina Charlotte now as a photographer for them and we do have other people who take photos.

John Long: I've even taken photos.

Kevin Hudson:  You have. Yes. And do a good job with it.

John Long: I've taken pictures of Kevin.

Kevin Hudson:  Unfortunately, yeah. But I came to Extension in 2014.

Cobie Rutherford:  Okay. You and I, I think came along about the same time. I started in early 2015.

John Long: Kevin used to work my wife.

Kevin Hudson:  I did. Yeah. Yeah.

John Long: How many years did you work over there?

Kevin Hudson:  I was there two different times, so I'm going to say altogether probably about eight years I would guess.

John Long: Yeah. Cool.

Cobie Rutherford:  So now you're, you're getting to the point in your career where you're seeing some of these children go from 4-Her or into the workforce. So, I bet that's a pretty neat story to kind of watch and photograph and be a part of and have all those memories on your computer. When I was in Alabama Cattleman's, that was always one of my favorite things to do is to watch these children progress through the ranks of being a junior cattlemen member going up into becoming a leader in the adult association. So, it's kind of neat that you'll have that experience firsthand and you're always kind of our go-to person too, for a historical pictures and reference now.

John Long: Oh yeah.

Cobie Rutherford:  So, it's kind of like your, the library, the archive down here.

John Long: Where can we find a picture of dot, dot, dot.

Cobie Rutherford:  Go to gallery.

Kevin Hudson:  We get that sometimes and sometimes, maybe it's a person or an event that we, it certainly predates me. I haven't been here a long time, but a lot of the photos we have do go back a long time. But we do get requests for things that we don't have and sometimes we can direct them to somebody else on campus who may have those photos. Sometimes the library has them, so yeah, different places.

John Long: And you also helped with our Congress too; our state Congress.

Kevin Hudson:  I do, yeah.

John Long: And it's basically the same contest that you do at PAD? Are you doing anything extra on that?

Kevin Hudson:  Well, for a long time, we had an all day photo track, but this past year I think that may have been the last all day track there was. So, this past year or this year that we just finished, this summer we have just the regular photography contest. So a judging contest and a visual presentation contest that take place on two different days.

John Long: What was the photo safari and is that something, was that Dr. Browning did that or is that?

Kevin Hudson:  No, the photo safari is something that still goes on. That happens the spring break week of each year. And that really got started with Cat Lawrence, who was another photographer here. Cat, together with Leflore County agent, Christina Meriwether, got that started.

Kevin Hudson:  And the idea was to take a group of 4-Hers to some place on around the state, let them learn about Mississippi, maybe see a part of the state that they've never been to see some things that they haven't seen before, let them take photos, teach them about their camera. We do require that if you're going to go on the photo safari, you have to have a camera. You can't take pictures with your phone. So, we want to teach you about the settings on your camera; what does what and when to use this and when to use that and that type thing. So, it's a bit of an educational four days that we spend with them, not only on things photography, but things about our state. In this past year, the Safari actually was in the New Orleans area. So, I think this year coming up, we'll be back in Mississippi covering some other places that we have not been to yet.

John Long: Cool.

Cobie Rutherford:  So how does the photography judging contest work? I know there seems like there's an increased interest every year; more and more children sign up for that contest. And it seems like it's really growing.

Kevin Hudson:  It is growing. I mean we have a good number of participants through the project achievement days and then also at Congress for the elder 4-Hers.

Kevin Hudson:  The judging contest is really made up of two parts. In project achievement day, they bring their photos with them, but they bring four photos that they've taken, four printed photos, one portrait, one action photo, one landscape photo and one still life. And those get judged at project achievement day. We try to give them a little constructive criticism, you know, tell them what works about this photo; what might make this photo better. Something that you know, they can go home and try next time. So, that's one part; that's the skills judging part of the judging contest.

Kevin Hudson:  The other part is oral reasons and for that, we'll show them a series of four photographs and we want them to, on their own, look at those photos, evaluate them, rank them from the best photo to the worst photo and then be able to tell me or me and whoever else is judging orally; tell us your reasons for ranking them that way and together that makes up your score for the judging.

Cobie Rutherford:  And then the visual presentation is basically where they just give a presentation on something about a camera or a photograph or a feature of a camera, is that right?

Kevin Hudson:  That's right. It can be a visual presentation related to anything photography. So, when you see visual presentations about photos they've taken, sometimes it's about the history of photography or a particular type of photography; can be about their camera. It can be about pictures taken with a smart phone. So, anything really that's photography related; it's pretty much wide open as far as the visual presentation goes.

John Long: And we talked about the technology side of it too and you just alluded to about going back to the phone. Amazing how that has really changed our ability to take pictures and good quality pictures at that. But, do you see, and I heard this one time, I don't know if you remember this or not and I guess it was when digital cameras were just coming into really popularity, was the fact that with a digital camera you don't have those little nuances that you, that you captured with a good or bad with a film camera to whereas if you take a picture and you don't like it, you can quickly delete it. Do you say that been a hindrance or is technology really, my guess, more pro than it is con when it comes to photography?

Kevin Hudson:  Well I think it's definitely more pro because you, you have the ability to take as many photos as you'd like, see what looks good and what doesn't and you can delete them. It's not costing you anything. Whereas the film days, you had to pay for the film and pay for the developing also.

John Long: So what would you tell a young person that would be interested in getting into photography? How would they get started? What would be some good ideas to do?

Kevin Hudson:  I always advise people who are interested in photography; and a lot of times they have interests in other things that kind of are photography related, my advice is always study art as well because if you understand things like composition and where to place things within the frame; it's the same thing that you see in the art world, whether you're talking about painting or drawing or those kinds of things and that really works together with photography.

Kevin Hudson:  You understand more about an image; it's not just like looking through the holding your phone up and clicking or just pressing the shutter on a camera, but you're intentionally making photos, you understand about composition and why you put this here or why you would put your subject in this spot versus this other spot. You understand lighting, you know. So, my advice is always study art and find photographers or find photos that you like and that's easy enough to do online these days. Find photos that you like and try to figure out how that photographer made that shot. Where were they? Where was the camera? Was it up high? Was it eye level? Was it down low? You know, where was the sun? Where's the light coming from? And just practice those things and learn what you can do with what you have. And you know, the best camera available to use is the one that you have and sometimes that is your cell phone. So, practice with whatever you've got. You can't say that practice makes perfect, but practice always leads to improvement.

Cobie Rutherford:  And you know, and I've heard some people say, well, if it's not a good photo, I can fix it with Photoshop. And that kind of goes back to the art thing too, because really if you can't draw, you really have trouble editing photos. Right?

Kevin Hudson:  Well, yeah, I mean I think that's related. And you know, Photoshop is a great tool. I use it every day and I love it. You can't Photoshop everything though. You know, there are things that are beyond being saved and sometimes we get those from people that you know like, "Can you help me do this or can you make this look this way?" And sometimes we can and sometimes we can't. So, it pays to have some knowledge and experience on the front end to get it as good as you can and don't count on, you know, Photoshop to fix everything for you.

John Long: Perfect example of how you can use Photoshop is when I was getting my engagement pictures made, I realized I had excess hair on my neck and the photographer took that out.

Kevin Hudson:  Yeah, you can do that.

John Long: She said the offending hair had been removed.

Kevin Hudson:  The offending hair.

Cobie Rutherford:  That's funny.

Cobie Rutherford:  You know my pet peeve when it comes to photography is that if I ask someone to send me a picture and then they copy and paste that picture into a word document and send and just obliterate the resolution and the size of it and just make it so pixelated. What's your pet peeve?

Kevin Hudson:  Well, that would be one. When people embed things in Word documents and send them to me. And you know.

John Long: I'm sorry. I think I've done that.

Kevin Hudson:  I don't know if you've done that. I don't, I don't recall that. But you know, just attach the photo to an email. Don't try to embed it into the body of the email. Just send it as an attachment. And with phones these days, you've got the ability to change your settings on your phone so that you're taking a, a really lightweight photo that's great for social media or whatever, something like that may be way under a MB or you can also set your phone to take a heavier duty image. You know, maybe a couple of MB or even four or five, six MB. And what a lot of people don't understand is the difference in resolution that you need when you're printing something versus looking at it on a screen. You don't need a huge photo. It doesn't have to be big at all to look good on a screen, but you can't necessarily print that and it looked good.

Cobie Rutherford:  Yeah. That's one thing I learned at the Alabama Cattleman's was that when I put any picture in print media that it has to be 300 dots per inch. That's the only thing I remember about photos and print media.

Kevin Hudson:  That is the standard that we go by for things that are going out to news outlets or magazines. We want to keep it at 300 DPI.

John Long: Well Kevin, where can youth or 4-Hers learn more about photography? What resources do we have out there?

Kevin Hudson:  Well, I would start with your agent. Certainly there are some things available through a national 4-H that some good resources that are photography related. I would start there also, you know with, I would always say with your parents' permission, you know, you can look online, there's a lot of free education related to photography, so it's possible to learn a lot about photography.

John Long: Oh, that's great.

Cobie Rutherford:  Is it those two sources?

John Long: Well, Cobie where can folks go to learn more about 4-H and 4-H in their area?

Cobie Rutherford:  Well, if you want to learn more about 4-H in your area, you can always visit, like Kevin said, at your local extension office, or you can go to our website at extension.msstate.edu.

John Long: And Kevin, thank you for joining us today. I think it's a great way to wrap up our week and just wish you the best of luck.

Kevin Hudson:  Oh, thank you. I've enjoyed it.

John Long: All right, well thanks a bunch and thank y'all for joining us for 4-H-4-U-2. Thanks for listening.

Announcer: Thanks for joining us for 4-H-4-U-2. For more information, please visit extension.msstate.edu and be sure to subscribe to our podcast. 4-H-4-U-2 is produced by the Mississippi State University Extension Service, Office of Agricultural Communications.

Transcript:

Announcer: This is 4-H-4-U-2, a podcast from the Mississippi State University Extension Service promoting 4-H programs and positive youth development. Here now your host, Dr. John Long and Cobie Rutherford.

John Long: All right, welcome back to another 4-H-4-U-2 podcast. I'm your host John Long.

Cobie Rutherford: And I'm Cobie Rutherford.

John Long: Cobie, it's maroon Friday here on campus and everybody here in our podcast studio is decked out in maroon. You going to the game this weekend?

Cobie Rutherford: I am not actually, we've got some other plans and I think we're just going to keep it chill this week.

John Long: There were no parking slots in the big parking lot.

Cobie Rutherford: Oh really?

John Long: Yes, the maroon army has arrived and hopefully we'll have a good outcome this weekend.

Cobie Rutherford: I think so. I think it'll be a good game for them.

John Long: That's good. That's good. And last week was 4-H day at football.

Cobie Rutherford: It was, we had a pretty good crowd for that. It was so hot though. I feel like it's still summertime here in Mississippi when the calendar says fall, but temperatures definitely don't say that.

John Long: I'll be so glad. We always talk about weather on here because it's so important. We're ready for cool weather to come and we are excited once again to have a super great guest on the show with us today. And that is Miss Courtney Headley. Courtney, how are you doing today?

Courtney Headley: I'm doing well John.

John Long: Good, good, good. Well we're wanting to basically find out a little bit more about you. That's what we're going to be first talking about. Courtney, tell us where you're from and how you got to where you are right now.

Courtney Headley: Well, I am from Starkville, Mississippi. I started with the 4-H Youth Development Department on campus in 2007 and yeah, I'm here. I'm loving it.

John Long: Yeah, but she started out by telling a fib. She's not from Starkville originally... you were born where?

Courtney Headley: I was born in South Carolina, but I was raised here. I am definitely a Jacket alumni.

John Long: Okay, very good. Very good, very good. And you do go on occasion, go back to South Carolina, don't you?

Courtney Headley: Yes.

John Long: That's cool. What part of South Carolina?

Courtney Headley: Walterboro.

John Long: Walterboro. Okay. Maybe can you go through there for anything trampling wise?

Courtney Headley: Mostly the beaches are the best.

John Long: Oh, okay. Very good. Very good.

Courtney Headley: Charleston, yeah.

John Long: Awesome. Awesome.

Cobie Rutherford: Anybody out there that's listening to us, have called the 4-H office, they've always almost talked to Courtney at some point in time, especially if they deal with the volunteer program or any kind of community club type information. And Courtney, you are a volunteer for a 4-H club here in Oktibbeha County.

Courtney Headley: I am.

Cobie Rutherford: And tell us about that club.

Courtney Headley: I have a club that I started once I started working for 4-H. I wanted to see what the other side was like. I started my club and we have been active for over 10 years now.

John Long: Name of club?

Courtney Headley: The name of our club as the Clover Dogs 4-H Club in Oktibbeha County.

John Long: Shout out to the Clover Dogs.

Courtney Headley: Very thriving club. We started first with just some of my own children and church friends and or family and it has just exploded. It has been an amazing experience and I have loved every minute of it.

John Long: How long were, you said you started in '07 in the 4-H office. How long was it before you started your 4-H club?

Courtney Headley: About a year. About a year.

John Long: Okay, so you really did, you really wanted to get involved in it?

Courtney Headley: I did. I did not unfortunately get to grow up with 4-H so when I started seeing all the amazing things that 4-H had to offer, I just had to get another insight of what it was like on the volunteer side and the youth teaching side, education side.

Cobie Rutherford: And as a parent, all your children are involved in 4-H in some facet, right?

Courtney Headley: They are. Finally, we have got my little one old enough that he is a Cloverbud and he knows nothing other than 4-H. When he sees the symbol, that's the first thing he says is, "Hey, that's 4-H Mama."

Cobie Rutherford: And shout out to her oldest daughter Callie, who is the Northeast Region Vice President.

John Long: That's exactly right.

Courtney Headley: Yes, and she is so proud to be representing the Northeast and really has enjoyed and thrived in 4-H and is a big advocate of it.

John Long: That's pretty cool to see her, I know when you started here I hadn't been on, well, you and I both started same year and to see how she's grown up and attained that that's a really cool, she does a great job too, by the way.

Courtney Headley: Thank you. Thank you. We're super proud of her.

Cobie Rutherford: What kind of life skills do you think your own children and the kids that have been your club have picked up as a part of 4-H?

Courtney Headley: Oh goodness. Mainly they have learned public speaking. They have learned to set their self some goals and achieve those goals. And as a volunteer, believing in them and watching them achieve the things that they didn't think was possible. And to see the outcome of that, that is the best part of it is that's the main life skills and taking those things and just another step further and believing in themselves.

John Long: What about, and you said this twice already, seeing the other side. What I guess what did you go into it with? What did you think about going into it? And then what have you thought about it now that you've been doing it for quite a few years now?

Courtney Headley: Well, I just wanted to see the teaching aspect. I wanted to see what really 4-H could do for the kids and the outcome. When we started all of our children were Cloverbuds, and so as they've gotten older we're getting to see the senior side of it and we've got club congress, you've got co-op, you've got national congress and all those opportunities that are just there waiting to be taken. And it's just been a great ride.

John Long: That's awesome. That's awesome.

Cobie Rutherford: And I think when I think about volunteers and I see our 4-H agents working around the state, volunteers are a pivotal part of our extension program. And especially in counties that only have one agent that has to balance community resource development, FCS, that's family consumer sciences basically, agriculture and 4-H. They have to have volunteers or they would not be able to have any kind of 4-H programs of significance, I wouldn't think.

Courtney Headley: Absolutely. I truly believe that our club would not be where it is if it was not for the parents and volunteers that are there with me every time that we meet or they're volunteering because there's no way I could do or have our club as successful as it is without them. They're amazing.

John Long: How many did you start out with? How many young people did you start out with?

Courtney Headley: Probably around 10.

John Long: 10, and now how many?

Courtney Headley: Right now we're sitting at, we have going around 50 but right now we're sitting around 40.

John Long: Wow, that's amazing.

Cobie Rutherford: That is. And you get a lot of support from the agents in Oktibbeha County for your club.

Courtney Headley: Oh, absolutely. They are wonderful. If I have questions, because even though I work for the state office, there are still things that I'm learning constantly and they are always there eager to give any kind of feedback and help and support and I couldn't do it without them.

Cobie Rutherford: That's really cool because there are several different community clubs in Oktibbeha County, right?

Courtney Headley: There are.

Cobie Rutherford: I know I think about the controllers and then there's two of those.

Courtney Headley: Longview Discipleships.

John Long: Sunrise, what is it Sunrise? I thought there was another one too. Sunrise or something.

Cobie Rutherford: I don't know about that.

Courtney Headley: I'm trying to remember Miss Poe's club's name.

John Long: That's the one I'm thinking about I think. There's several in the county.

Cobie Rutherford: And they all kind of have different specialties, right?

Courtney Headley: Absolutely. Many of them do focus on the community aspect of it and do amazing work. In Oktibbeha County was serving our community. Our club, we do community service as well, but we kind of dabble a little bit more on the project side.

John Long: What would you say has been your most popular of those projects?

Courtney Headley: Oh my goodness. Probably robotics. STEM and robotics. It is that generation and these youths are just loving it. Anytime I can put some Legos in front of them or challenge their brain, they just love it.

John Long: It's amazing how they can put that stuff together. I can't even get it to move. I don't know what's the future going to be holding for 4-H 20 years down the road.? Who knows?

Courtney Headley: Exactly. I had Cloverbuds This past meeting that we were going to only do the builds and then we would program the next time that we met and they far surpassed the time. I was like, okay, well let's go ahead and start programming.

John Long: That's important is to be flexible, right?

Courtney Headley: Oh absolutely.

Cobie Rutherford: You've got a wide range of ages in your club all the way from Cloverbuds all the way to the senior 4-Hers. How do you balance that dynamic of all the different ages?

Courtney Headley: With volunteers. Absolutely volunteers. I could not do it without them because the way that we operate is most clubs are generalized, a one project area, but I have such a large variety of youths that yeah, we could do it that way, but there's so many interests that we want to supply that need for them. My different volunteers, we split up and we ask the kids what they're interested in for that year and depending on the project choices of that they have, then we'll assign volunteers and they take that on learning about the project and then teaching them.

John Long: Have you had an instance of where a child comes in and says, "I'm really interested in doing this." And it's like, oh, we don't know anything about that.

Courtney Headley: Oh absolutely. But there's so many resources on the internet, that and curriculum that's out there that it's not difficult. It just takes a parent who is wanting to achieve that. And is as eager as I am to teach the youth.

John Long: Right. And that's what it takes really, doesn't it? It takes that enthusiasm and desire.

Courtney Headley: Absolutely.

Cobie Rutherford: For sure. What kind of fun things do you all do as a club? I know a lot of it's project based. You come together and meet and do state fair exhibits. But do you ever take any trips or do fun things?

Courtney Headley: We have taken some trips. We've been here in Starkville we've done a lot of trips on campus. We've gone to the entomology museum. We have come on campus with the clothing. They have a clothing museum. We've been out to Raspet Flight Center before. Here, fortunately with Mississippi State campus, we have tried to take advantage of those resources.

John Long: There's a diverse opportunities out there for sure. How many volunteers do you have in your club?

Courtney Headley: There is probably about 8 to 10.

John Long: Okay, that's pretty good I would say. How many did you have starting off?

Courtney Headley: Oh, it was just me.

John Long: It's quickly, we need to get some more people in here.

Cobie Rutherford: I think that's something that we're all pretty good at in extension is finding people who are the experts and fields to help us out. And rely on for information. And it's neat to see that trickle all the way down to the county level.

John Long: And I love the fact that volunteers have such a passion for as Courtney said, for teaching young people. That they really take on a lot and a lot of it's out of their own pocket. And in their time, time is very valuable asset that we all just have a limited amount of and volunteers take that time. And I think that's just so important and it's so, it's important to recognize that and recognition of those volunteers just you never can get enough of that for sure.

Courtney Headley: And it's neat to look at your parents too and, and find out what hidden talents that they have and then use those resources. We have one group that we are starting out this year that's going to be neat. It's going to encompass woodworking and small engine that we've never had before.

John Long: Okay so this is one instance I guess.

Courtney Headley: We're excited to see how this is going to pilot and go forth, but yeah, it's going to be really neat.

John Long: That's cool. That's cool.

Cobie Rutherford: Last year we had in our annual report, we included some numbers of volunteers in Mississippi. I'm going to drop some numbers that I think are pretty cool.

John Long: Number drop.

Cobie Rutherford: Yep. Last year we had 5,361 volunteers for 4-H in the state and the average number of hours contributed by each one of those volunteers was 220 hours. Now there's been a lot of research on volunteerism and a lot of folks have put a value on each hour and they have determined the average hourly dollar value of a 4-H volunteer for MSU is not $19.81 cents per hour.

John Long: Wow.

Cobie Rutherford: That would "equivalate," is that a word? Probably not.

John Long: I don't know. We'll make it one today.

Cobie Rutherford: That would "equivalate" to.

John Long: It's Friday. You can say whatever you want to.

Cobie Rutherford: $23.3 million.

John Long: That's amazing.

Cobie Rutherford: From volunteers.

John Long: Absolutely amazing. Just don't, we can't say thank you enough, that's for sure. That is for sure.

Cobie Rutherford: And that probably doesn't even count the impact they are making within the county. That's probably just for their time.

John Long: Right. Right.

Cobie Rutherford: They're doing community service. There's probably an even greater value to that.

John Long: But, one thing you can't put a price on, and this may sound corny, but it's the truth, is the fact of the amount of impact that they're having on that young person, you can never put a dollar value on that for sure.

Cobie Rutherford: That's right.

John Long: Now Courtney, I know for a fact because I was there when you got it, your club has received some recognition and awards and things like that, right?

Courtney Headley: We have, especially with Banner Club.

John Long: And tell us what that is for folks that don't know.

Courtney Headley: Coming up October 1st, is when, or October 15th, one of those days.

John Long: Check your calendar Courtney.

Courtney Headley: Yeah, check your calendar. Is when the Banner Club books, secretary record books are due. Basically that is a record book that your club contribute.

John Long: Collectively contributes. How does it work?

Courtney Headley: Basically, well actually I'm really the only one that does it, but it is a collection of everything that the club has done over the past year.

John Long: Right, right, right. Like a resume basically of what you've accomplished.

Courtney Headley: It's the same as for the youth, but a lot larger version.

John Long: I got you.

Courtney Headley: For your club. You want to showcase all of the activities that they've participated in, all of the ribbons that they've won, all the meetings that you've had. And it's very important to turn that in.

John Long: And you all were awarded that what year? That was few years ago.

Courtney Headley: You had been awarded it I believe three times now.

John Long: Three times, wow.

Courtney Headley: Different awards.

John Long: That's awesome. You usually do that recognition at the legislative day in Jackson. That's an opportunity for, again, for the young people to get out and see the Capitol and visit with people that are representing our area.

Cobie Rutherford: And as far as volunteers go, there are also opportunities for professional development opportunities within 4-H through NVLA and different trainings that that organization puts on for volunteers that I think are pretty valuable.

John Long: Absolutely. Just like I said in there, it's priceless.

Cobie Rutherford: And Courtney, if I'm not mistaken, don't the NVLA recognize volunteers based on years of service and do some awards and kind of monetary things for volunteers that have excelled in their field?

Courtney Headley: They absolutely do. And I can't stress enough how important it is for volunteers to go to these forums, the North and South forum as well as NVLA because a lot of times adults want to be able to help youth, but they don't know what they can offer or how to even get started. And those events are there for these adults to succeed in their clubs.

John Long: Having that information I know can generate other ideas as well too. It's not a, hey, you got to do this for certain for sure.

Courtney Headley: And it's very fun for adults.

John Long: Oh yeah. You got to keep it fun for the older people as well. Just like for the young kids too. Older kids are just young kids at heart in older bodies. Well, all right. Courtney, what do you, what other things have you got coming down the pipe on your end as far as the club later? Have you all got anything coming up immediately?

Courtney Headley: A lot of community service coming up. Of course you've got State Fair right around the corner. Getting the banner book completed and turned in. We just finished exhibit days in our county. Those are the items that go to State Fair. Yeah, so we got some stuff going on, getting started.

John Long: Awesome, awesome. Well we just wish you the best of luck and just continued success in all that you do and for the hard work that you do. And I know that the young people appreciate it and as I've always said, if you're doing this now, you never really even get to see on down the road how much an impact that you've had on a young person. It goes and travels beyond this little existence we have here. Thank you so much for your hard work and again, much success.

Courtney Headley: Thank you all for having me.

John Long: Loved it. Loved it. See, it wasn't as bad as you thought it was going be. Cobie, tell everybody where they can go and get more information on extension and 4-H in their area.

Cobie Rutherford: To learn more about the MSU extension programs, you can go to our website at msstate, excuse me, extension.msstate.edu.

John Long: It's a mouthful.

Cobie Rutherford: Or contact any of our county offices. They're located in each county across the state of Mississippi.

John Long: Awesome. Awesome. Well, with that, we're going to wrap this edition of 4-H-4-U-2 up and we'll talk to you next time on youth and 4-H youth development. With that, thanks for listening.

Announcer: Thanks for joining us for 4-H-4-U-2. for more information, please visit extension.msstate.edu and be sure to subscribe to our podcast. 4-H-4-U-2 is produced by the Mississippi State University Extension Service, Office of Agricultural Communications.

Dr's Brandi Karisch and Josh Maples talk all things beef and the benefits that 4-H beef projects can provide for youth today!

Transcript:

Announcer: This is 4-H-4-U-2, a podcast from the Mississippi State University Extension Service, promoting 4-H programs and positive youth development. Here now are your hosts, Dr. John Long and Cobie Rutherford.

John Long: And welcome to another edition of 4-H-4-U-2 podcast. I'm your host John Long.

Cobie Rutherford: And I'm Cobie Rutherford.

John Long: Cobie, how you doing today?

Cobie Rutherford: Good for a Friday the 13th.

John Long: And a full moon.

Cobie Rutherford: That's right.

John Long: It's going to be a wild night.

Cobie Rutherford: Hoping that we'd get a good victory over Kansas State this weekend.

John Long: Well, yeah. Let's get there. We got to get there first.

Cobie Rutherford: That's right.

John Long: Got any superstitions you're...

Cobie Rutherford: You know, I'm not really superstitious about anything, to be honest with you.

John Long: Really? That's interesting.

Cobie Rutherford: No, not really. I mean, I do X out black cats, when they cross the road, on my windshield.

John Long: I do too and reverse X white cats.

Cobie Rutherford: I don't know why I do that.

John Long: I don't know. It's just the way I was brought up, I guess.

Cobie Rutherford: Maybe so.

John Long: My folks were probably more superstitious, I guess. Well, we've got two special guests with us today, and Cobie, I'm going to let you introduce who we have with us.

Cobie Rutherford: So this morning we have Dr. Brandi Karisch and Dr. Josh Maples with us, and we'll let them tell a little bit about themselves.

Brandi Karisch: I'm Brandi Karisch. I am the state beef cattle extension specialist here at Mississippi State and I'm excited to be joining you all today.

John Long: We're happy to have you.

Josh Maples: And I'm Josh Maples. I'm a livestock economist and just commodity economist here at Mississippi State. And thanks for having me on the program this morning.

John Long: Absolutely, glad to have you. Now, let me ask you all, do you all have any superstitions? Brandi, do you have any?

Brandi Karisch: Oh, I'm sure there's lots of little quirks, but none of them directly related to Friday the 13th. You can't walk under a ladder. That's bad luck.

John Long: Right, that's bad luck for sure. I never do that. I just don't think it's a smart thing to do in the first place, especially if somebody's on it.

Cobie Rutherford: That's right.

John Long: Josh, how about you? Do you got any superstitions?

Josh Maples: Yeah, most of mine are sports related. So if my team is doing really bad and then I walk away and they start doing really good, I don't watch them.

John Long: Really? Okay.

Josh Maples: And so I think it's all in whether I'm watching or not is what's causing them to do better.

John Long: Exactly. Exactly.

Brandi Karisch: We have the same thing in our house, but sometimes you have to go change shirts also.

Josh Maples: Yeah, that's true.

Brandi Karisch: If your team is losing and you change shirts.

Josh Maples: 2014, Daks, I guess, junior year when we were so good, I wore the same shirt for every single game.

Brandi Karisch: Did you really?

Josh Maples: And it worked out until the very end, you know, but ...

John Long: Of course. Yeah. Well go ahead.

Cobie Rutherford: Josh and Brandi. I used to work real close with them when I was over in the animal dairy science department, and they're actually thinking about starting their own podcast about the beef cattle industry.

John Long: Well, don't let us run you off from doing one. Okay. Because we have a lot of fun with it. We really do enjoy it. So I encourage you, if you're interested in doing one, please let us, Hey, let us be special guests.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah. Maybe this will be a launch board for them.

John Long: That's right. That's right. I don't know what we're going to talk about.

Brandi Karisch: We don't even have a name yet, so we're very starting stages here, so.

John Long: I think you'll find it informative. But yeah. For your, what, clientele, I guess. Go ahead.

Cobie Rutherford: So, Brandi grew up in 4-H in Louisiana, is that right?

Brandi Karisch: That's correct.

John Long: What Parish?

Brandi Karisch: Ascension parish.

John Long: Where is that located?

Brandi Karisch: So, we're halfway between Baton Rouge and New Orleans on the ... I'm actually on the west side of the river in Ascension Parish. So the Mississippi river splits Ascension Parish, and my little hometown of Donaldsonville is the only one on the West bank.

John Long: Oh, cool. We just got back from New Orleans and went to Chalmette.

Brandi Karisch: Okay.

John Long: Yeah, it was really cool.

Brandi Karisch: I hope you ate good while you're there.

John Long: Oh dude, we can do a whole episode on that.

Cobie Rutherford: We talk about food a lot on this, sad to say.

John Long: Yes, we do. Yeah. Especially when we got back from New Orleans, that's all we talked about.

Cobie Rutherford: For about two weeks.

John Long: Yeah, that's right.

Cobie Rutherford: And Josh grew up in FFA program in Alabama.

John Long: Okay. So tell me where, where in Alabama?

Josh Maples: So, Limestone County, Alabama, not too far from where Cobie's from and yes, I grew up mostly in FFA. It was just a little bit bigger in the County that I was in, but did participate in 4-H as a younger high school student, middle school students.

John Long: Now what did you do in 4-H?

Josh Maples: So, in 4-H it was mostly just the middle school type stuff. So I didn't show or anything like that. But just kind of the leadership training at early stages.

John Long: Yeah. That's cool. That's cool. I was not. I was never in 4-H until I came here, and I have no idea how I got here.

Cobie Rutherford: And now John is a shooting sports guru.

John Long: Yeah, well. 4-H SAFETY, not shooting.

Cobie Rutherford: Oh, that's right. I always forget that.

John Long: How dare you say that?

Cobie Rutherford: I know. That's right. Well, we've got a lot of things going on in 4-H right now, and I know Brandi's got a lot coming up with the state fair activities and with youth livestock shows at the fair. Brandi, tell us a little bit about why you think that those type of activities are important to 4-H-ers, like showing cattle, and showmanship, and anything kind of involved with that.

Brandi Karisch: Cobie, I'm a pretty proud product of the livestock program, the 4-H livestock program. You know, I tell people I do beef cattle for fun, and I do beef cattle for a living, and I grew up doing beef cattle. So I guess that's about all I know how to do. So I really hope nothing happens to take that away from me. But you know, not only are we growing cattle with these programs, we're growing kids, and I think that's something that's so important. Those kids that we see grow up through the livestock program. Not only is there research that shows that those kids that go out and play in the dirt have stronger immune systems and stay healthier, but those kids are the ones that are growing up to be leaders when they go on later in life, when they go into college and when they get into careers. And you know, we hear constantly from companies all over the place that they look for those type of experiences that prove those kids know how to work.

Brandi Karisch: They wake up every morning and those cattle get fed or those livestock projects get fed before they do. They get brought in before daylight, before they get ready to go to school most days. And then when they get off the bus in the evenings, it's straight to the barn to take care of those animals and do those things. And then on top of that, learning that hard work, you get to go out and have fun and meet lots of friends that you might not be connected to because they might not live close by.

Brandi Karisch: I have friends all across the country that I talk to on a regular basis that I grew up showing cattle with, and that I'm good friends with because of that program. So it's something that I can't speak highly of enough.

John Long: Right. It's, it's so much, and we always say this too, but it just seems like what you're saying is that 4-H expands. It's not just about showing livestock, it's about developing that young person, and you can't emphasize that enough. And I think a lot of people miss that based on just the competitive side of it. And that's sad because you understand that we're making leaders for tomorrow and some people would just miss that.

Cobie Rutherford: Another thing is whether it's showing cattle or competing in safety events or even athletics.

John Long: Yes.

Cobie Rutherford: The underlying goal of that is to make better people.

John Long: Right.

Brandi Karisch: When I was growing up, Louisiana 4-H has a program that when I was growing up, it was called 4-H for a course. And I'm not entirely ... It's called something different now, I think it's called 4-HU is what they call it. And one of the projects that I did every year was a soybean illustrated talk. I know nothing about-

John Long: Sounds fantastic.

Brandi Karisch: I know nothing about soybeans, but I'm competitive enough that by God I worked really hard, and I got up there and I did my soybean illustrated talk, and I got my medal, and I was really excited about that. Just goes to show you can expand your horizons doing things beyond your area of expertise in 4-H.

John Long: And it's amazing the catalog of things that we have available for youth too. I think that's just awesome.

Cobie Rutherford: Josh, I think you got roped in to helping with a 4-H contest this year at Club Congress, didn't you? The consumer judging? Did you help with that?

Josh Maples: The consumer judge, that's right. That was our first time. I didn't even know that a contest existed. I should have, but after I started helping out with it a little bit this year, it was really cool. It helped, or I guess it kind of trained students or help students learn how to make decisions. It really wasn't Ag. related. It was a, it was more of just making choices and economic thinking. And I really enjoyed it and I thought it was great for the students and they were very active and involved. And yeah, I had a great experience with it.

Cobie Rutherford: That's actually one of our largest contests at that we do all year, believe it or not.

Josh Maples: I can believe it. There were a lot of students, it was impressive.

Cobie Rutherford: And it's got kind of a wide range appeal that appeals to all 4-H-ers. Everyone's going to shop for groceries or consumer type products, clothing, and it's just got a big appeal to it.

John Long: Are you okay?

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah. I just banged my knee, did you hear that?

Brandi Karisch: We heard that.

John Long: I think I heard the bone break over here.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah, we were talking about that earlier, how these mics pick up everything though. Jammed my knee.

John Long: Cobie's the one making all the racket.

Cobie Rutherford: That's right.

John Long: Come on. Set the example.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah. But I think that's a coll contest for sure.

Josh Maples: Yeah. And I think, and Brandi kind of pointed to it earlier, but that's one of the best things about 4-H is just the breadth of things that you can do. And it's great for students to do stuff that they're not used to. Kind of like the soybean thing Brandi mentioned and this consumer judge. It may not be anything that anybody had ever thought about, but even if you're mostly have done cattle, you're raised on a cattle farm, being able to have the chance to step out and do some of this other stuff. It helps you going forward. You're going to be exposed to all these things in the future, and the earlier you can get exposed the better off you're going to be.

John Long: You know, and a lot of people ... I'm sorry Brandi, were you going to say something?

Brandi Karisch: Oh, I was going to say, we definitely see the difference in those kids when they get to college and they get involved in classes. And one of the things that most kids dread when they get to college is having to do that presentation up in front of a group.

John Long: That was the worst.

Brandi Karisch: And you can tell those kids that were involved in programs like 4-H not only did they have that experience getting to compete, but they're used to talking to people, and they're comfortable talking in front of people. Very respectful. Very respectful I think is probably the biggest thing that I take away from that. And you can really see the difference in those kids when they get up in front of a college classroom.

Josh Maples: Yeah, I agree with that. And I would add to it that also, just dealing with challenges, you can sit in class, you might give students an assignment they've never seen anything like before, and it puts them out of their comfort zone a little bit. The students who have participated in 4-H and have some of these leadership skills from an early age, you can just, they just take it in stride. It's a lot easier for them to adjust. And it's not just a ... They're not just in a textbook minded, or textbook mindset. They can handle things that don't necessarily fit on a piece of paper.

John Long: That's right. And I'll go back to kind of tag off what Brandi said too, is that I often had people ask me, "What should my child be involved in," or "which one would you think?" I'd say "Well, number one, ask the child what they would like to do" and then, "Try it." It's not, it's not set in stone that you have to do one thing. You tried, and that's the reason we have so many programs because it's about the hook that we use to get the child to be developed. And it's also a good point, a part or point to say that another thing is, is they're exposed to an activity with a caring adult, which they have as a mentor, I guess you could say. And I like that part too. I think it's important. Whether it be an agent or a volunteer.

Cobie Rutherford: That's exactly right. I mean, I think our agents are super special to our 4-H-ers, but the volunteers that they have a chance to interact with are usually leaders in the community, people that they can certainly look up to from a career readiness standpoint. There's a lot of good things going on there.

Brandi Karisch: Yeah. My husband and I both grew up in the 4-H livestock program, and that's something that we always try to do is volunteer to help give back. Not everybody grew up around livestock. Not everybody knows everything, but there's kids that really get excited about it and they want to get involved, and those are the kids that we really want to help. Be it, we've put on some showmanship clinics, or helped with the Cattleman's Association has put on where we go through everything about how to feed your animal, showmanship, how to train them to get ready for the show. And watching those kids as you go through and seeing that light bulb moment where, let's face it, I've got a four year old and an eight month old. Well, I guess he's nine months old now.

John Long: Oh God bless you.

Brandi Karisch: Gosh, he's nine months old earlier this week.

John Long: Are you all sleeping through the night?

Brandi Karisch: We sleep sometimes.

John Long: Okay, yeah.

Brandi Karisch: We sleep sometimes.

John Long: That's what I figured.

Brandi Karisch: But more often than not it's easier for them, especially the four-year-old, to listen to somebody other than mom or dad. So having those good leaders and those good volunteers that will be good role models for those kids growing up I think is invaluable.

John Long: Yep, absolutely. Absolutely. One of the things, talking about kids, I tell mine, "Look, if you want to do livestock, that's fine, but you're going to have to find somebody else to teach you because I know nothing other than they make good hamburgers." That's it. Oh, when we get a good glass of milk. But that's pretty much it. But I'm willing to learn. I'll tell you that.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah. You know, when I think about where I want Reason to be with 4-H, I sure hope he picks up the livestock skills.

John Long: What are you going to do if he doesn't?

Cobie Rutherford: I'll be okay with it, I guess. We'll just put him, make him go to the barn and do chores.

John Long: I see the concern in your-

Cobie Rutherford: I think that when he starts out with 4-H, which is six or seven years from now, I mean he's still two and a half, but I think that I'm going to have the same approach my parents did that if he wants to have a livestock project he can, but he's also going to have to do other things as well. He can't just show livestock. So my parents made me do everything from ... I say made. They did make me start off with like cookie cook-off and public speaking-

John Long: Here we go, here's the food.

Cobie Rutherford: ... and all that stuff. I got a big view approach to 4-H early on because they made me, but I was thankful for that. For sure.

Josh Maples: Cobie, my first 4-H event was a cake baking contest. I remember that. I can't remember which grade I was in, but ...

Cobie Rutherford: I think that was a big thing in Alabama.

Josh Maples: It was.

Cobie Rutherford: That's how they got you hooked into 4-H. Food. The teacher's wanted to eat, so they made their fifth graders bake something.

Josh Maples: Everybody bring in cake today we'll ...

Brandi Karisch: That's some very brave teachers to volunteer to eat cakes made by a whole class full of fifth graders.

John Long: Oh yeah. Yes. I think we've got some pretty interesting stories on cook-offs don't we?

Cobie Rutherford: Oh yeah. I'm sure.

John Long: Yeah. But keep on trying. Get better. That's what we do. So.

Cobie Rutherford: Brandi, Texas, one of their largest events now ... I mention Texas because that's where her husband's from, the kind of backstory on where Brandi went to school. But they've got a great American food challenge that they say is going to be their largest event for 4-H-ers soon.

Brandi Karisch: Yeah. I mean, that's something that ties in I think so well to what they see. Food Network, all those cooking shows and everything like that. People eat those things up.

John Long: They do.

Brandi Karisch: They're not like me. I could sit there and watch home improvement shows and fantasize about how I want to remodel my house. But cooking shows, you just sit there and are hungry all day long. And I think that's something that's really important, especially when you tie in the nutrition aspect to it as well. So not only are they learning how to make things with those ingredients, they're learning how to make healthy dishes with those ingredients that they can take back home. And I think that's something that's really exciting to a lot of kids that might not necessarily have thought 4-H was for them.

John Long: Right. For sure.

Cobie Rutherford: You know, in Mississippi right now, only 6% of our 4-H-ers claim to live on farms or ranches. And to me in my programmatic approach to that I think, well we need to offer programs that those kids are interested in. But it's also very important for us to offer programs to the 94% to teach them about what's going on the farm’s ranches. So if we can tie a project area like food that they're interested in, tie back to agriculture, some somebody would say, "Hey, this is where that ground beef came from. This is the story behind that steer that produced that ground beef." I think that's going to be our ticket here in Mississippi.

John Long: For sure.

Cobie Rutherford: Whether it's with agriculture or with natural resources or whatever. It's an important part of all of our lives.

John Long: So what have y'all got coming up? Y'all got anything throughout the year that y'all... basically programs and things like that. Have you've got anything coming up Brandi?

Brandi Karisch: So we've got a fun program coming up that's called Beef 101. It actually started as I had a cattle producer that came up to me one day and said, "I know everything that I can know about how to process a deer in the field, but I know nothing about how to process this beef animal that I raise. How does he get from that animal that leaves my farm to that steak that ends up on somebody's table." So on November 2nd, and we're actually opening up our brand new meat and muscle biology laboratory here on campus, and we're going to invite producers in, and we're going to go through that process.

Brandi Karisch: So we're going to take everything and walk through that facility and show producers. We're not going to have any live animals that we're going to harvest, but we're going to have them break down a carcass, so they get to play butcher for the day.

John Long: Wow.

Brandi Karisch: I don't think we don't have any meat for them to take home, but we're going to have a pretty cool branded knife that they can take home. So this is actually the second time that we've done that program and the feedback that we've gotten from it has been something that's been really good. So we're looking forward to having that program again.

John Long: That sounds awesome.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah, it does.

Josh Maples: So we're, the fall after a farm bill comes out as a busy time. We're doing our farm bill rollout signup period starts. So producers are having to make decisions about how to enroll their acres and their crops into the new farm bill. And so that's a big thing. We're hitting most of the state over the next three months.

John Long: Wow.

Josh Maples: Yeah. It doesn't happen all the time. Every five years you can expect a fall to be pretty full, and so that just happens to be this fall.

John Long: Sounds like you got to cover the state. That's going to be busy.

Josh Maples: It probably will be.

John Long: A lot of miles.

Josh Maples: Not as many changes this time as last time. So it won't be as bad, hopefully.

John Long: Yeah. We'll keep our fingers crossed.

Brandi Karisch: Sounds like we've got a good topic to cover for our first podcast.

John Long: Oh, yeah.

Brandi Karisch: How to make the farm bill work for you?

Josh Maples: Yeah, yeah.

John Long: That's awesome. Well if they want to find more information about 4-H and 4-H in their area, adults and youth, Cobie where can we go to, can they get that information from?

Cobie Rutherford: So the first place that you should go to find out information about 4-H or any of our extension related programs is our website, which is extension.msstate.edu Or you can contact any of our county offices, and we have a County office located in every single county in the state of Mississippi, and find out information from your county agent.

John Long: The one thing I love about our website is the fact that if you don't know who's in your county, they have a dropdown menu and you can click on say if it was Oktibbeha County, it shows all of the staff, and it has all the contact information. And it's on the right side of that page. So that's always a helpful way. I think I use that more than anything. But y'all Brandi, Josh, we thank you so much for joining us today, and we wish you the best and all that y'all are doing. Thank you for what you do and keep up the good work. We'd love to have you come back, and good luck on your own podcast.

Brandi Karisch: Thanks for letting us crash your party today.

John Long: Oh, not crashing just amped it up.

Josh Maples: No doubt.

John Long: Yeah. I asked when they walked into the office a while ago and I said, Oh, they had donuts. I said, "When did the party start?" They said, "As soon as you walked in the door." Well, thank y'all so much for listening. If you would, if you're out there listening to us, please subscribe to our podcast and join us. Every Wednesday is when our podcast drops. That's 4-H-4-U-2 for this week. Thanks for listening.

Announcer: Thanks for joining us for 4-H-4-U-2. For more information, please visit extension.msstate.edu and be sure to subscribe to our podcast. 4-H-4-U-2 is produced by the Mississippi State University Extension Service, Office of Agricultural Communications.

Saddle up for a good time as Dr. Clay Cavinder rides into the studio this week to talk about the importance of horses!

Transcript:

 

Announcer: This is 4H4U2, a podcast from the Mississippi State University Extension Service, promoting 4-H programs and positive youth development. Here, now your host, Dr. John Long and Cobie Rutherford.

John Long: Welcome to 4H4U2, where we talk about all things 4-H, 4-H youth development, life skills, preparation for the future, and giving back to the community. I'm your host, John Long.

Cobie Rutherford: And good morning, I'm Cobie Rutherford.

John Long: Cobie, how are you doing today?

Cobie Rutherford: Doing well, it's Friday.

John Long: Awesome.

Cobie Rutherford: Football Friday.

John Long: Woo-hoo! We got our first home football game, and people are already putting their tents up. So, we're getting fired up, and you and I both have our maroon on, as well as our guest that we have today. Cobie, why don't you go ahead and introduce our guest?

Cobie Rutherford: Well, John, I'm happy to have our guest here today. Dr. Clay Cavinder, he's a professor in the Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences here at Mississippi State. I guess, Clay, you started here about three or four months before I did, back in 2015.

Clay Cavinder: That's right. January of 2015.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah, time's flying, isn't it?

John Long: I remember when you, I don't know what that meeting was that we were at, but that was the first time I'd seen you. I think it was in 409. But anyway, I remember meeting you that day and them telling me that you were new, so that's, ooh, four years?

Clay Cavinder: Four and a half, yeah. It'll be five, five this January.

John Long: So Clay, tell us a little bit... Oh, I'm sorry, Go ahead.

Cobie Rutherford: Oh, no. Go ahead. I was just going to say Clay is our equine specialist, for Extension.

John Long: Yes. Yes, that's good to know what he does.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah. I should have said that earlier.

John Long: You just wandered in here and says, "Can I be on a podcast?"

Cobie Rutherford: No, not really.

John Long: Even though he says he's a podcast junkie, so that that's good. He feels at home here, so that's just great.

Clay Cavinder: I do. It's strange to actually be a part of it.

John Long: Yeah, it's awesome. Look, Clay, tell us where you're from and just how you got to be where you're at today.

Clay Cavinder: Man, that's-

John Long: And spare no detail.

Clay Cavinder: That's a long story, but the shortened version. I grew up in a little town in Southeast Oklahoma. It's weird. Anybody ever asks me that question, and I tell them a little town, they say, "Which one?" I say, Idabel. Everybody knows where it's at. You don't go through Idabel, you go to Idabel.

Clay Cavinder: So, most people, for some reason, have been there, but I grew up there, finished school and undergrad there at Oklahoma State, and then, wound up in Texas.

John Long: How far is that? I'm sorry, I'm going to... How far is that from Stillwater?

Clay Cavinder: That's a good ways, four and a half, five hours.

John Long: Ooh, okay, great.

Clay Cavinder: As far as Southeast, you can get close to Texarkana, Texas.

John Long: Okay, go ahead. I'm sorry.

Clay Cavinder: So, I grew up close to the Red River, and then when I was finished up schooling at Oklahoma state, wound up through a series of events, but wound up in Texas doing a PhD. And then shortly after that, finishing up, they had a spot open there on faculty. And so I wound up staying on faculty at A&M for 11 and a half years.

John Long: That's awesome.

Clay Cavinder: And then, I don't know, it's just kind of a God thing, really. A position opened here, and through a weird series of events where my family moved here, and I've been blessed to be here for sure, since January '15.

Cobie Rutherford: Wow, that's awesome. That's good.

John Long: Now, the reason I asked how far it was from Stillwater, you ever met a guy named Kevin Allen? He is-

Clay Cavinder: I don't think so.

John Long: Well, he's the state program leader, state 4-H program leader over there. So he and I, he used to do shootings for it, so that's how I knew him. He was at the PLN that we were at.

Cobie Rutherford: And Clay, you've had some big life changing moments since you got here. I mean welcomed your daughter here in Mississippi.

Clay Cavinder: They all happened in the same month, it seemed like.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah.

Clay Cavinder: Yeah, within a six month period, we moved here in January and within four, five, six months we were, my wife was job hunting and I was starting a new career, really a new career because I hadn't ever had a formal Extension appointment, so it was a new animal for me. And in the midst of all that-

John Long: Pardon the pun.

Clay Cavinder: Yeah, right. In the midst of all that, our daughter was born and to make matters worse, it happened in the morning of the second day of the state horse show in Texarkana, Texas when I was in Jackson, Mississippi and she was premature. Everything's great now, but that was a scary time. I wound up being in the NICU for five weeks.

Clay Cavinder: So you know, within a six-month period, you know, parents understand people who are going to be parents will understand, but new parents, it's tough. The job was nothing.

Cobie Rutherford: The job is raising them.

Clay Cavinder: The career change was not that big a deal. It was the, juggling all that the same time. But it's been a tremendous blessing, for sure.

Cobie Rutherford: No doubt. The whole life changed just in one day almost, didn't it?

John Long: Oh, man. Nothing like them.

Clay Cavinder: Let me tell you a quick little story, just to tell you how great the people of Mississippi are. I was brand new, did not know hardly anybody, especially at the producers level. We were at the state horse show. Oddly enough, the second morning of the state horse show, I don't know, it just, I woke up out of sleep at the hotel about 1:00 AM and wide wake.

Clay Cavinder: And I picked up my phone, like most of us do to kill some time. I was just looking at it, just to hopefully go back to sleep, and it rang. It was my wife, and I knew immediately something was wrong. And you know, of course I'd put on my pants was off to Texarkana two, three o'clock in the morning, and wound up having to call John Blanton and Dean and them guys that were at the state horse show and saying, "I won't be there. I've got some things going on."

Clay Cavinder: But you know, that night I had people that I didn't even know texting me saying "We're praying for you." And the really cool thing was, people called me and told me, said, "Hey, that night at the opening ceremonies of the state 4-H horse show, they did an opening prayer and talked about your family." And I thought, "You know what, there's not many places that do that."

John Long: Right. That's awesome.

Cobie Rutherford: That's pretty cool.

John Long: That's awesome. And good to know, everything's okay now.

Cobie Rutherford: It's fine, that's great.

Clay Cavinder: She's great. She's a tough one.

John Long: That the only one you have?

Clay Cavinder: Only one.

Cobie Rutherford: Oh, okay.

John Long: May end up being the only one.

Clay Cavinder: Probably so. Yeah. Yeah, it took a while to get her.

John Long: You know, I'm talking about if they're tough.

Clay Cavinder: She is.

John Long: My son's tough, and I think we wouldn't have another one, if we hadn't had the girl first.

Clay Cavinder: Yeah, I love that though. It means when they get older they'll be able to take care of-

Cobie Rutherford: That's right. That's exactly right.

Clay Cavinder: I hope that's the theory.

Cobie Rutherford: And what's her name?

Clay Cavinder: Isabella.

Cobie Rutherford: Ooh, beautiful name.

John Long: Yeah. Beautiful name.

Cobie Rutherford: So, Clay, you mentioned that you work with a 4-H youth horse show. What other kind of responsibilities do you have as the Extension specialist?

Clay Cavinder: Pretty much anything that deals with equine programming in the state, whether it's at the youth or adult level, with agents, with their clientele, a number of things in that regard. And then even here on campus, a number of things that deal with the management of the horse unit here, and some... I've tried to take some student programming through the courses I teach here and kind of overlap that with Extension work in terms of getting students involved in being a part of that education process through the horses.

Cobie Rutherford: That's really neat. What surprised me, as I was part of an economic analysis a few years ago in Alabama, and I always think about Alabama and Mississippi being very similar in terms of agriculture industries, but how much of an economic impact the horse industry makes in the state. John, it's a... How many, it's multimillion, isn't it?

Clay Cavinder: Multimillion-dollar deal. And even beyond the state, people don't realize that, in terms of a national economy, horses bring in billions of dollars in terms of GDP.

John Long: No idea. I didn't know that. I did not know that.

Cobie Rutherford: It's really incredible how much, I mean just the horse people in general spend on their horses, just to maintain them and keep them.

Clay Cavinder: Yeah. If you think about it in terms of comparison to beef cattle and other food commodities, you know we have to eat and that kind of thing. And so, cattle are an important thing, poultry and swine, but horses, we don't obviously have to do that. It's just the sheer enjoyment of the species that drives it.

John Long: That's that almost [inaudible 00:07:55] equate it kind of the hunting. We don't have to hunt, but we do enjoy it. So it's a multimillion, multibillion or million, whatever, for our state as well.

Clay Cavinder: If you look at the GDP comparison of equine businesses, it's comparable to tobacco manufacturing, even apparel. That's what's crazy to me is, we all need to or have to wear clothes, but we don't all have to contribute to the horse industry.

John Long: Right. That's so cool. You know, the horses had been around for a long time and they have helped out a lot. Of course, mechanization changed a lot of that overnight, I guess, but we still enjoy our horses for sure. That's good. I'm not a horse person. I'm not saying I don't enjoy them, but I saw a picture of me on one 10 years ago, the other day. It popped up on my Facebook Memories. We were doing therapeutic riding and yeah, so that was cool.

Cobie Rutherford: You know, I'm not a horse person either. I mean, I like to look at them from a distance.

John Long: I've enjoyed riding them.

Cobie Rutherford: If one comes up to me, I'll probably pet it, but I think my son is going to be a horse enthusiast. He's all about them. We almost bought him one, but luckily the lady backed out on us and decided to keep it herself.

Clay Cavinder: You know? It's wild though. If it's in your blood, it's there.

John Long: Yeah, that's right.

Clay Cavinder: I tried it a few years ago, probably four or five years ago. I was kind of burned out with everything. I was dealing with my own business and my own horses. I thought, you know what, I'm done with it. Right. It's a lot of work. People don't get that part of it. They go to the horse show and think, "Wow, that's pretty, that's neat," but the work that goes into that, it's insane.

Clay Cavinder: I sold out, sold everything I had, and within three months I was buying new horses again.

Cobie Rutherford: It's funny how when-

John Long: My friend has one that'll... I don't know, he hasn't ridden it in years, but takes he takes very good care of it. I take my kids over there, and that joker is a biter. I say, "You watch him move, his ears go back, you better look out because he's coming for you.

Clay Cavinder: Well you talk about raising kids, working with horses ain't no different.

John Long: Right.

Clay Cavinder: I mean, it's the same training. I tell my students all the time that you can train anything, your boyfriend, your horse, whoever it may be, whatever it may be, a dog, with three simple things. That is, provide a cue, wait for a response, and then reinforce that response, and that's the truth. The other day my wife and I were sitting in the living room and she said, ""Man, it's cold in here. And before I knew it, I was turning the thermostat down.

Clay Cavinder: She never told me to get up and do it, but through providing a cue, telling me she was cold, I knew what my response needed to be, and I knew how she would positively or negatively reinforce that response or lack thereof.

John Long: That means get up off the couch, right?

Clay Cavinder: That's right. "Hey, go turn down the air."

John Long: That's right. I think you're a wise man.

Cobie Rutherford: Maybe we need to start incorporating those theories into our child development.

John Long: Maybe it's the same.

John Long: For sure.

John Long: Probably so.

Cobie Rutherford: Now a child, if you want to bite your teacher, this is how we're going to negatively reinforce it.

Clay Cavinder: Right. That's negative reinforcement. Yeah.

Cobie Rutherford: So, Clay, as far as this 4-H horse show, kind of getting back on track a little bit, are there activities that children can participate in if they don't own the horse, at the-

Clay Cavinder: Man, that's a great question. You know that's usually the stumbling block or hurdle people talk about is to expense the horses inquire, which is true, but there are so many opportunities for kids to get involved with through education, with horses, with not directly owning a horse.

Clay Cavinder: Horse judging obviously is something I've been big involved in through my lifetime, and that's a huge one for life skill development. You don't ever have to own a horse, but can still be around them and still be involved in that community. And there's other things too, like hippology which is a, it's a humongous contest. It's an educational contest.

Clay Cavinder: It involves some aspects of judging, education, as far as knowing different facts about horses, and then of course things like horse bowl. And yeah, there's plenty of opportunities for people to get involved, and I think it's a... even if you do own a horse, need to be involved in that. The understanding of what's going on physiologically with the horse or management-wise is definitely important.

John Long: You brought up a question I had in my mind. On average, what would you say that it would be for upkeep for a horse, on average for a year.

Clay Cavinder: Yeah. It's very dependable upon a lot of certain factors, but we think around $1,200, $1,500 for feed and costs, you know, maintenance. But when you start adding in other things, like boarding and you know. You've got to own a barn or board them or whatever it may be.

John Long: And heaven forbid something happened, which it will, because it's an animal, for sure.

Clay Cavinder: And it's a horse and it will happen.

John Long: Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah. We've been talking about... Most folks listening to the podcast know that my wife and I are livestock people, but we've actually been talking about how expensive buying a show heifer or buying a show steer would be. And yeah, when you start putting the pencil to it and you get multiple years showing a horse, it may be less expensive to show a horse than a steer.

Clay Cavinder: Well, and I think that's a fine line too. You know, people try to, not that you were doing this, but a lot of people will exclude horses from livestock species. They are definitely a livestock species. It's not a pet, but the end product is a little bit different obviously, because of the meat animal versus athletic animal, performance-based animal.

Clay Cavinder: But I think what you're probably alluding to more is that, if you buy a show steer and take him to the end of his showing season, then he makes a sale, then you make money. Horses, you may keep them for 10, 12 years, because of the life expectancy in that kind of thing.

Cobie Rutherford: That's a good point. And I think a lot of people have started equating horses as companion animals, instead of livestock.

Clay Cavinder: They sure have.

John Long: Right.

Cobie Rutherford: And I think as an Extension specialist, that's probably something you battle pretty often.

Clay Cavinder: It is. And you know, people say all the time, they are a companion animal because I connect with them. Well, so is a guinea pig or a Potbelly pig. Pigs are not pets. I've seen it multiple times. A little girl has a show steer, she pets on that thing and puts bows in his hair. It does not make it a companion animal.

John Long: Right.

Cobie Rutherford: That's right.

Clay Cavinder: So to me, I'm defensive about that because I want to maintain the livestock production, agriculture and animal aspect of the horse business. I think that's important, or a valued thing for many of us. But I also get that people look at them as a, with a connection.

John Long: And I am sure it's real easy to do that, even then with the other animals, like you say, livestock and things like that, because of the fact that they raise it, they have such a hands on experience with it, but then of course, there comes that time where you realize that yeah, that's bacon too, or whatever, a burger or whatever you want to talk about.

Clay Cavinder: Well, the scarier part of it is too, for me, is that you can pet a dog and he doesn't step on your foot and break your toe. A horse is a different animal. And talking about that, that training aspect of it, every horse you meet, whether you know it or not, they ask you one simple question. That is, "Would you like me to be the boss, or would you want to be the boss?"

John Long: Right.

Clay Cavinder: And they're fine either way. Whichever one you choose, they're okay with it. And really, especially at the young student level, trying to get them to understand the capacity of this horse to learn something, but also to understand his train of thought. His mindset amongst his herd mates is, there is a definite hierarchy. And so we as horse owners, for safety more than anything, have to establish a clear, dominant-submissive relationship with them, that sometimes people who look at them as pets don't quite understand that aspect.

Cobie Rutherford: That's a good point.

Clay Cavinder: It is a good point.

Cobie Rutherford: This may be turning into a parenting type thing too-

Clay Cavinder: It all relates.

Cobie Rutherford: ... because I keep thinking back a lot. Maybe my child identifies as all horse. He bites and kicks.

John Long: The lights coming on now.

Cobie Rutherford: The light's coming on.

Clay Cavinder: Well, I think especially as young parents, we all, all of us, Cobie being a young parent too, is we all try to figure out, I think we're all constantly analyzing, "Well, I did this wrong here. I hope I don't scar my kid for the rest of his life," But, my wife and I were, yesterday, just talking about some parenting things we're going through and everything I do, it goes back to the horse. I'm just now after 20 years of marriage getting her not to condemn me for doing that.

Cobie Rutherford: That's pretty good.

John Long: Yeah. That's why I've used the analogy of training the kid's like training the lab, which we do. And it's like what you're saying, that reinforcement or the dominant-submissive. It's not to lessen the fact, how we teach, but it is a method to it. For sure.

Cobie Rutherford: That's funny. Clay mentioned the hierarchy. Reason's first day of daycare at the new location, he went in and got in a fight with every kid in the class. I tried to tell my wife, I'm like, "He was just establishing the pecking order."

John Long: That's right.

Cobie Rutherford: And that's something that all animals pretty much do.

John Long: Youth development.

Cobie Rutherford: Feral [inaudible 00:00:16:36].

John Long: That's right.

John Long: [crosstalk 00:16:40] animals do that.

Clay Cavinder: And there's always a bigger one out there.

Cobie Rutherford: That's right.

John Long: Oh yeah.

Clay Cavinder: They'll figure it out.

John Long: I guarantee you.

Cobie Rutherford: Maybe that's what we need to do, is ask them to move my child up to another class or two, see what happens there.

John Long: It's going to happen soon enough.

Cobie Rutherford: Soon enough. They say-

John Long: My daddy would say, there's always somebody bigger. Like you said, just gotten run across him yet.

Cobie Rutherford: So Clay, what's coming up in the horse world, though? Do you do anything with the state fair or have any activities there? What's going on this fall?

Clay Cavinder: No, we don't have anything going on at the state fair. A lot of the horse stuff evolves around the state 4-H stuff, and with the Winter Classic, stuff goes on with these especially.

John Long: When is that? When is that?

Clay Cavinder: I think it starts the end of, middle of January, end of January, down in that ballpark.

John Long: Oh, yeah. Yeah. We're going to have to turn the corner before we get to that.

Clay Cavinder: Yeah. Yeah. And then of course we'll head into the state show. But, we do so many little things too, but people don't get, and talking about that non horse owning group, we started a program two years ago called Horse tales, T-A-L-E-S, which I think is a really cool program in which we're using the horse to go into schools to educate kids.

Clay Cavinder: Actually, we're not really educating them. We're the horse as an entertainment tool. So we go into third, fourth, fifth, sixth grade level classrooms and engage the kids with horse facts, knowledge, and information. And then, it's a door of opportunity to open up to discuss all of what 4-H has to offer. So, there's kids in there. We always go, "Hey, how many of you are not interested in horses?"

Clay Cavinder: And there's always those kids that aren't. "Well, if you're not, we've got shooting sports, we've got ATV classes, we've got all kinds of different robotics.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah, that's a great point.

Clay Cavinder: Tons of things that you can get involved with. So, we're using Horse tales as a tool to increase or improve a 4-H enrollment in activity at the county level.

John Long: Now do you actually take a horse?

Clay Cavinder: You know, I did. The first one we did, I did. It's a program that's... I created all the tools for the agents to be able to do it. Whether they know anything about horses or not, that is irrelevant. The information's there and again, it's just a tool to engage the student. But the first one I did, and we did, it took maybe an hour. I took two horses with me, talked to the students in a classroom setting, but then took them outside and let those horses engage, or let those kids engage with horses, and we talked to around 600 kids that within about an hour and a half.

Cobie Rutherford: Oh, good gracious.

Clay Cavinder: You should've seen these kids. Just that, being able to pet them and be around them, it really lit them up.

John Long: Folks just don't understand the power of experiential learning, that hands on that we have in 4-H. I think it's just, more people can relate to that, is the fact that when you can put your hand on a horse or some... And I'll go back to Clay, who was saying that, just to get them hooked. That's what it is, really, is the horses a hook, a cow or whatever is the hook.

John Long: Then we get them in, to where we can teach them those life skills that they need.

Cobie Rutherford: That's right.

John Long: And it's that connection that...

Clay Cavinder: And if anybody's listening that is connected with a secondary school or high school or any, it doesn't matter the age group, wants us to come do something like that, I'd be happy to talk to them.

Cobie Rutherford: That's awesome.

John Long: Now, how can they get in touch with you?

Clay Cavinder: They can start through their county office. The agent in their county should know, be engaged with that program. And then, if the agent doesn't want to come do that or in terms of, just doesn't feel comfortable with it, I'd be more than happy to come help the agent do that and put that on at the county level, but that'd be the first place.

Clay Cavinder: And then maybe, maybe me secondly. But engaging their county office, that's where I would say to start.

John Long: That's awesome. That's awesome. And Cobie, where can our listeners go, just to find out more information about 4-H?

Cobie Rutherford: Our listeners can go to our Extension website, which is constantly changing with updates, at extension.msstate.edu.

John Long: And, if you're a podcast junkie like the rest of us in this room are, you would like to subscribe to this podcast, please do. We would love to hear back from you, and you can reach us at the state 4-H office via email or by phone at (662) 325-3350. And my email is [email protected].

Cobie Rutherford: And mine is [email protected].

John Long: We'd love to hear from you. So with that, we're going to call this the end of our podcast for this week, and we'll hope you join us next time on 4H4U2.

Announcer: Thanks for joining us for 4H4U2. For more information, please visit extension.msstate.edu and be sure to subscribe to our podcast. 4H4U2 is produced by the Mississippi State University Extension Service, Office of Agricultural Communications.

Transcript:

Announcer: This is 4-H-4-U-2. A podcast from the Mississippi State University Extension Service promoting 4-H programs and positive youth development. Here now, your host, Dr. John Long and Cobie Rutherford.

Dr. John Long: Welcome to another edition of 4-H-4-U-2. I'm John Long.

Cobie Rutherford: And I'm Cobie Rutherford.

Dr. John Long: Cobie it is... I know we always seem like we start out talking about weather, but it is fantastic out there for a August day.

Cobie Rutherford: It sure is John. That breeze feels mighty nice.

Dr. John Long: Mm mm. Good things to come, good things to come for sure. Oh me, well we've been, again, busy and you and I've been traveling a little bit, but what did you do this past weekend? You have anything special.

Cobie Rutherford: This past weekend I actually went down to Raymond for the South Mississippi Volunteer Leaders Association Forum, on Saturday. That was a good deal. Tammy Parker, shout out to her, she put on a great conference for the South Volunteers and Extension agents. Well attended. Great workshops. I guess we can spend a whole episode one of these days on the workshops we went over.

Dr. John Long: Yeah, we need to get Tammy in here, I think that's a good idea.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah. And I'll tell you someone else we need in here is Erika McDaniel from Chickasaw County, she has started a 4-H dog club in her county, and it's fantastic. It could be a state wide program so easily.

Dr. John Long: So what exactly do they do in that? Do you know?

Cobie Rutherford: Well they kind of have all the-

Dr. John Long: Or should we wait for Erika?

Cobie Rutherford: Well we should probably wait for Erika, but all the things that they're doing like; teaching children how to properly handle their pets, how to feed their pets, differences in-

Dr. John Long: Grooming.

Cobie Rutherford: Different breeds of dogs, grooming, you name it.

Dr. John Long: Mm-hmm.

Cobie Rutherford: And then they're starting a little dog show, and basically it's an obedience class. So the kids take home what they learned, teach their dog, work with their dog, and basically strengthen that human animal bond.

Dr. John Long: That's good.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah, it's very positive.

Dr. John Long: I love dogs. Those dogs are great.

Cobie Rutherford: And then there was just a whole lot of other good workshops. Rocheryl Ware in Hinds County did a nice workshop about 4-H 101 that's real informative. I hate to start naming names...

Dr. John Long: No, no. You may leave somebody out, but still.

Cobie Rutherford: Those are the ones I was interacting with the most. And in my workshop was all about the fair, which we talked about a couple weeks ago.

Dr. John Long: You didn't have anybody go to sleep in there did you?

Cobie Rutherford: No, I almost did, given the presentation, but people were writing down and asking questions, so I think they liked it.

Dr. John Long: Well that's good.

Cobie Rutherford: Maybe.

Dr. John Long: That's always good. You know, it seems like sometimes when you're presenting something it's maybe not as interesting as you think it is, and then somebody says, "I really enjoyed that." And I guess that can be the case at times I guess.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah, kind of like, "Are you feeling empathy? Because that was awful."

Dr. John Long: Right, "Yeah, thanks for trying to prop me up." But no, I know you did a good job.

Dr. John Long: We actually, and I say we, my family and I went to a bow tournament and everybody but my wife shot so, we had a lot of fun. That's something I guess that... I shoot every day. It may not be, I don't know, whatever, but archery is one of my favorite things to do and it was really good to get to do that with my family and just to get out and, and get away. It was out of town too, so we had a little trip and that was a lot of fun. A lot of fun.

Cobie Rutherford: Good. Good. Well, leading up to the weekend it was a busy week.

Dr. John Long: Oh yes.

Cobie Rutherford: We made some road time.

Dr. John Long: Yes. And you and I left last Monday, I guess a week ago, over a week ago now, and went to New Orleans.

Dr. John Long: Excuse me.

Dr. John Long: And I haven't been to New Orleans in several years, it still looked the same.

Cobie Rutherford: That was my first trip. I was impressed. It exceeded expectations.

Dr. John Long: What was your favorite thing?

Cobie Rutherford: Oh gosh, I guess it was the food.

Dr. John Long: Okay. So, first of all, we have to say, we went down there for a meeting.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah. It was for a conference.

Dr. John Long: Cobie and I just didn't load up and say, "Hey, we're going to New Orleans." Okay?

Cobie Rutherford: Right. That's right.

Dr. John Long: So, just clarify that right now.

Cobie Rutherford: And the conference was good. It was very good, very informative-

Dr. John Long: It was.

Cobie Rutherford: Made a lot of good contacts and a lot of networking. But yeah, I don't think you can go to New Orleans and not talk about all the good food.

Dr. John Long: Oh the food. I tell you what, it was good. What was your favorite food that we ate?

Cobie Rutherford: Oh, I guess it was that the Crawfish Etouffee.

Dr. John Long: Yeah. You really liked that didn't you?

Cobie Rutherford: I really did. I loaded up that night. I'm kind of a glutton I guess, I ate two bowls of it, but I hated for it to go to waste. I mean they made probably enough for a hundred.

Dr. John Long: Gosh, it was a lot. I don't know what they did with it, but it was a lot.

Cobie Rutherford: I don't know. But the PLN meetings were good.

Dr. John Long: Yes. And that PLN stands for?

Cobie Rutherford: Program Leaders Network.

Dr. John Long: Southern Region.

Cobie Rutherford: Southern Region. So, it kind of was all Extension administration from the ANR and FCS side, the 4-H side, lots of different committees with a whole lot of acronyms.

Dr. John Long: Right. That first day...Well, the first day I really enjoyed it because they had that first-timers meeting. That was a lot of fun, just to kind of get to know... And we actually got to go out to eat with a couple of older... Well no, one was first time and then the other one was a committee member or whatever. But anyway, that was a lot of fun to do that and get to start meeting new people. And then we started meetings on that Tuesday and went all day Tuesday and Wednesday, so.

Cobie Rutherford: And then part of Thursday morning, it wrapped up.

Dr. John Long: Part of Thursday morning, Yeah.

Cobie Rutherford: But it was nice to be able to represent Mississippi State as the 4-H leaders.

Dr. John Long: Absolutely.

Cobie Rutherford: Of course Dr. Threadgill was there, but she sat in on the FCS meetings-

Dr. John Long: Dr Jackson.

Cobie Rutherford: And Dr. Jackson was there, sitting in on the director's meetings. So, if nothing else, it was also good to get to interact with our administrators and talk to them more, in more of an informal type setting.

Dr. John Long: Right, right. And I think you need that sometimes just to kind of, not put all that down, but to really be able to have open discussion about things. And out of the office setting, which was really nice. I like that.

Dr. John Long: But, I tell you, one of the things that I was really interested in, and I told Dr. Jackson this when I was talking to him, is that I really enjoyed seeing what other states are doing.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah.

Dr. John Long: The difference. You know, of course we're all geared towards youth development, and you and I were in the 4-H youth development committee section of that and, it was really neat to see how different states are doing this. What really stuck out in your mind about that?

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah, I think the one thing that I thought our 4-H'ers may be missing out on is a state wide camping opportunity. Which, I know there are good regional camps all around the state. I know those regions put on a very good... But I don't think, with the limited resources we have, you know, we don't have a Mississippi State 4-H camp grounds. And I think most of the states that had successful camping programs had just one 4-H camp ground, the way I understood it.

Dr. John Long: Right.

Cobie Rutherford: So I'm glad the regions are kind of taking that and running with that endeavor, because I think that's a very positive experience.

Dr. John Long: Yeah, I think it is too.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah I went to 4-H camp when I was a 4-H er.

Dr. John Long: Did you?

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah, it was a lot of fun.

Dr. John Long: What did y'all do?

Cobie Rutherford: Oh gosh. We did everything.

Dr. John Long: Sang Kumbaya?

Cobie Rutherford: Well they had some campfire type stuff, but mostly it was just workshops and meetings, and we got to canoe and swim and different things. It was fun.

Dr. John Long: Throw in a little shooting sports in there on top of it?

Cobie Rutherford: I don't remember doing that.

Dr. John Long: You could do archery.

Cobie Rutherford: You could. Maybe I went a different track, but it was a lot of fun. But in Alabama they had one in the summer that was kind of statewide and then they also had a mid-winter camp.

Dr. John Long: Right. Is this tent camping? Is this what I'm thinking about?

Cobie Rutherford: No. Not at all.

Dr. John Long: Cabin. Cabin camping.

Cobie Rutherford: Cabin. Dorms.

Dr. John Long: Oh yeah. Okay.

Cobie Rutherford: Yep. They were fun. For sure.

Dr. John Long: See, I've got to get in a tent. If I'm going to say I'm camping, I got to be in at tent.

Cobie Rutherford: I appreciate the outdoors but, I want modern day amenities.

Dr. John Long: We went camping this year for our "Summer vacation." And it was a two day event, obviously on the weekend, but it was so funny. We tent camp, and we were on our little concrete pad... Of course, we're not roughing it completely because we got electricity and water there at the pad, but it was so funny, it was all of these hundred thousand dollar campers and then this, right in the middle of them, is our little tent. But you know what? We had a great time anyway.

Cobie Rutherford: I'm sure. That's... to each their own, but that's probably not my cup of tea. I don't want to fight the bugs or, you know? But then again, I'll go out to the barn and sweat with the flies and things. But, I don't know.

Dr. John Long: We picked up our tent last year when we were camping and there was a snake under it.

Cobie Rutherford: Oh geez.

Dr. John Long: So I figured it was attracted to our body heat, I don't know that.

Cobie Rutherford: Dang, I'd have left the tent there I suppose.

Dr. John Long: Well, obviously you're saying these 4-H camps, they're not geared that way. It's actually kind of like a summer camp like you would imagine, that you see on "TV". Because I've never been to a summer camp or anything like that.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah, and I think most of these had dorm rooms, and air conditioned cafeterias.

Dr. John Long: Have you ever been to Rock Eagle?

Cobie Rutherford: Rock Eagle? I have not, no.

Dr. John Long: It's beautiful. It's a beautiful place. And they've actually done more now. Rock Eagle is in Georgia, in Athens, Georgia. So big 4-H camp there.

Cobie Rutherford: So, what about you? What was the part that you think that we might be missing out on? Something that just kind of stood out.

Dr. John Long: You know, I really liked... Of course, I know we do have collaborations, but I was really impressed, I would really like to know more about the collaborations we have with individuals like... For instance, we went to the farm, they had a Docville Farm, in Chalmette. They had a, oh I don't know what you would say... Partnership. Let us just say a partnership with that County Club, and they've just gone above and beyond reaching out and assisting them in different projects. They had a, I wouldn't say it's a, well I guess it is kind of a reforestation of coastal wetlands and marshes that Docville Farms actually works with the 4-H clubs there in order to try to reclaim some of that coastal marshland, because it's eroding away so fast.

Dr. John Long: And I thought that was really cool. I know we have partnerships like that in the state, but I'm not aware of who they are. And I that would be really cool, because those 4-H'ers get up there, we had two 4-H'ers get up there and they presented that whole presentation about how they went about putting the marsh, I'm just going to say grass because I can't remember, what was it?

Cobie Rutherford: Mangrove trees.

Dr. John Long: Mangrove tree. Yeah, I knew it. Okay. Mangrove trees. Kevin, my friend from Oklahoma, he thought they were saying... was that to you or was that...

Cobie Rutherford: Oh that was me.

Dr. John Long: That was you.

Cobie Rutherford: I thought... well it may have been both of us.

Dr. John Long: Mango. Mango.

Cobie Rutherford: I thought, well then you can go out there and pick fruit when they're finished, but, Man Grove.

Dr. John Long: I thought this is a dual purpose thing. But yeah. So mangrove trees and Cypress trees and things like that so that they got up and gave that whole presentation and, I think you'll agree with me, just knocked it out of the park.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah, they did really well.

Dr. John Long: And I think that's a result of those cooperatives like that. Of course, you went on a cooperative tour this year too, but I just thought it was really neat to see that on a county level. So, I wouldn't say it was something that we're missing out on, it's probably because we're in a state office we're probably not as aware of them going on. So, that would be really cool to see even more that, you know?

Cobie Rutherford: You know, one thing I think that we are doing very well compared to the other states is our Statewide leadership team.

Dr. John Long: Oh yes. Yes.

Cobie Rutherford: You know, there wasn't a whole lot of other states that I interacted with. I mean they might have had a president or a board, but it seems like ours is more engaged with what all we're doing than some of the other ones.

Dr. John Long: Yeah, that's great for sure. I loved our interaction, you know, of course we had 1862 institutions and 1890 institutions there, and that was really cool to interact and work out how we could work more together on doing 4-H youth development. And seeing how the 1890s institutions do that. I thought it was really good. It was very educational for me.

Cobie Rutherford: Yep. No doubt.

Cobie Rutherford: You know, I think that just getting to interact with those other state program leaders was my favorite part bar none. Just learning more about them, learning about... There's some people in that room that I would consider to be new mentors for me.

Dr. John Long: Right. I would too.

Cobie Rutherford: That I'd never met before, and never even heard of before. And now I feel like if I had a question about a program that's going on in North Carolina that I want to come to Mississippi.

Dr. John Long: That one stuck out to me too, yeah.

Cobie Rutherford: You know, I could call Mitzi Downing and she would help me out with it. I mean just name dropped her, but there were a lot of other ones that would do the same thing I think.

Dr. John Long: For sure. For sure. I will not lie, in all the acronyms that first day I felt, other than the main presentations, when we got into committees I was like, "Oh my goodness, I am totally lost." But the second day I felt like I was with family, because I'd kind of figured out where we were going with it. But of course a lot of that was last years reporting and stuff that we weren't privy to at that time. So, but yeah, it was really cool going and representing 4-H and Mississippi Extension, for sure.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah. You know that committee, they really embodied the four essential elements of 4-H.

Dr. John Long: Yes.

Cobie Rutherford: They made us feel like we belong to the group. I always felt included and... But then had that sense of independence as well. They were generous in sharing their other ideas and we got to experience how some of our colleagues, and maybe, I'm not going to speak for you, but maybe one day I'll have the chance to mastery some of those ideals and things that we're talking about.

Dr. John Long: Right. Exactly.

Cobie Rutherford: I don't feel anywhere close to a mastery on that. But, I feel like we were included within the masteries.

Dr. John Long: Yes.Yes. We bow before their greatness.

Cobie Rutherford: But I thought that was cool.

Dr. John Long: Yeah.

Cobie Rutherford: We had a good time and, I don't know, I got a blank John, where I was going with that?

Dr. John Long: Food.

Cobie Rutherford: Probably food.

Dr. John Long: Now we go back to food.

Cobie Rutherford: I didn't get any beignets, and I was disappointed on that.

Dr. John Long: Well, we ate those blue crab beignets, those were good.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah, they were very good. I feel like I missed out on the sweet ones.

Dr. John Long: Oh yeah, yeah again. They are.

Cobie Rutherford: Then on the way home, we bought a king cake, and that king cake got ants in it.

Dr. John Long: No!

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah, so I got home and opened it up, there were ants all over it.

Dr. John Long: Oh my goodness.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah. I tried to pick them off and then I'm like, "Eh, I don't know where them ants have been."

Dr. John Long: You did not throw that king cake away did you?

Cobie Rutherford: Well, it was infested.

Dr. John Long: Really, that bad?

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah. They were all over the place.

Dr. John Long: Oh man, that's terrible.

Cobie Rutherford: I know, I was disappointed on that.

Dr. John Long: Oh we got petite fours the next day.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah, they were good. So, we did that.

Dr. John Long: Well, that was an interesting time. And like I said, I would go back in a heartbeat. If I was asked to go back to PLN, I would definitely do it just because I felt like, professionally, it was very good professionally to go there.

Cobie Rutherford: I'll tell you the one thing I didn't like.

Dr. John Long: What was that?

Cobie Rutherford: All right. So when we went around the room that day and we had these chairs, our superpower-

Dr. John Long: You had to bring this up.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah, I did. Mine was awful. And yours was not that great.

Dr. John Long: It was terrible. Yours was good. I liked yours.

Cobie Rutherford: But ours was not the worst.

Dr. John Long: No. No-

Cobie Rutherford: There were ones that were worse than that. And then there was some people that took the easy way out and just copied the person in front them.

Dr. John Long: That's what I should've done. Oh, I just wish I could take mine back. Ugh.

Cobie Rutherford: So I'll share my superpower.

Dr. John Long: I'm not. I'm not going to share mine.

Cobie Rutherford: I don't remember what it was.

Dr. John Long: Good. Maybe nobody else did.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah, mine was so corny, I said "I'm good with numbers and I have this ability to remember numbers from my old high school friends, or elementary school friends, and I can even remember my parents credit card number." And-

Dr. John Long: Oh my god. But you got a laugh out of that though, it was good.

Cobie Rutherford: I did. But then I thought, again, on the same side, they were like, "That guy is mid thirties, and he knows his parents' credit card number. That is shameful."

Dr. John Long: Still.

Cobie Rutherford: But I guess, shout out to my parents for keeping up with that card and all these years.

Dr. John Long: That's right. That's right.

Cobie Rutherford: I have to call them every once in a while when it bounces back and the expiration date change or the CVV changes. And that's kind of embarrassing, but, it's only in case of emergencies.

Dr. John Long: I just don't like... I'm sorry, and this leads to what we had talked about before about introvert. I am a introvert, I do not like ice breakers. It is the hardest thing in the world for me to do, is to do that. I just want to state my name and what I do and move on, because I'm just not good at it. I don't know why, but I'm just not.

Cobie Rutherford: I always try-

Dr. John Long: You talk about hunting and I can do that, but-

Cobie Rutherford: I always try to think of something really creative, and sometimes I'll nail it and then sometimes it comes out like, "What an idiot."

Dr. John Long: Well I had stepped out of the room, and I came back into it. So I was really not, I don't know, I wasn't prepared. I wish I'd had at least another 10 minutes. I maybe should've just copied, like I said, I could've copied somebody else's, but I didn't, and wound up giving the dumbest answer I probably ever have. And, I don't know, I looked over to you and I don't if you were smiling because of my answer or were you still thinking of about yours?

Cobie Rutherford: No, I was probably still thinking about mine, but anyway, I think they come out with knowing that those probably were not our true superpowers.

Dr. John Long: No, I know. I know.

Cobie Rutherford: But you know, you got a good shout out in for our podcast.

Dr. John Long: Yeah, I did. I really did. And I think, you know, we had to give a state report so that, or I guess what did they call it?

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah a state report.

Dr. John Long: A state report. So, that was really cool. And I think that, when I said podcast, people kind of perked up. I don't think they're doing that.

Cobie Rutherford: I don't think so either.

Dr. John Long: We're all cutting edge.

Cobie Rutherford: Another thing that made people perk up was the name change of shooting sports to safety.

Dr. John Long: Yeah, it was. I think it was well received and, as I was explaining why, I saw a lot of people nodding their heads, so, yeah, it was really good.

Cobie Rutherford: I think that was good.

Dr. John Long: For sure. For sure. Well, we need to get down to... Oh, the Bulldogs are going to be in New Orleans this weekend too.

Cobie Rutherford: Oh yeah?

Dr. John Long: Yeah, they're going to be in a Super Dome, playing in the Super Dome. We should've just stayed down there. Maybe.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah, just taken two weeks and-

Dr. John Long: Gosh. I wouldn't be able to fit in the door if I stayed down there and ate all that all the time.

Cobie Rutherford: I think my phone would have blown up.

Dr. John Long: Probably.

Cobie Rutherford: I think it would have spontaneously combusted had I been out for two weeks.

Dr. John Long: Yeah, I couldn't do that. I couldn't do that.

Cobie Rutherford: I had plenty of voicemails. I think I still have some people I need to reach back out to from that week of being gone.

Dr. John Long: Well, if you need to get up with Cobie, just call the main office. He'll be there, and you'll get him.

Cobie Rutherford: That's right.

Dr. John Long: Apologize for anything we've missed during this time.

Cobie Rutherford: Exactly. Maybe I haven't missed anything.

Dr. John Long: Maybe not. Maybe not. You're good. You did good. You're good. Hey, you'd heard from it by now, probably.

Cobie Rutherford: That's true. That's true.

Dr. John Long: Oh man. Well, all right. Well with that we're going to wrap up this podcast of 4-H-4-U-2. And if you're not already, go ahead and subscribe and kind of punch up our numbers. I wish we knew how many people were out there, but we don't and if you are, let us know. You can contact us through our emails, [email protected].

Cobie Rutherford: Or [email protected].

Dr. John Long: And only kind comments only, please. We don't want any... No, we'll take constructive criticism I guess.

Cobie Rutherford: That's right.

Dr. John Long: And if you want to know more about 4-H and 4-H in your area, tell them where they can go, Cobie and learn more about Extension overall too.

Cobie Rutherford: So you can visit the website at extension.msstate.edu or visit any of the local County Extension offices.

Dr. John Long: And I will say this, if you still have questions and need them answered, please do not hesitate to call the 4-H office and we can point you in the right direction, who you need to talk to, and find out about where 4-H is and what they're doing in your area.

Dr. John Long: So, with that, we're going to sign off for this edition of 4-H-4-U-2. Thanks for listening.

Announcer: Thanks for joining us for 4-H-4-U-2. For more information please visit extension.msstate.edu and be sure to subscribe to our podcast.

Announcer: 4-H-4-U-2 is produced by the Mississippi State University Extension Service, Office of Agricultural Communications.

Julie White sits down with Cobie and John to explain what's so fantastic about an activity she developed called Farmtastic!

Transcription:

Announcer: This is 4H4U2, a podcast from the Mississippi State University Extension Service, promoting 4-H programs and positive youth development. Here now, your hosts, Dr. John Long, and Cobie Rutherford.

John Long: And welcome to another podcast of 4H4U2. I'm your host, John Long.

Cobie Rutherford: And I'm Cobie Rutherford.

John Long: And it is yet again one of my favorite times of the week, and that is to do this podcast, and we're talking about everything 4-H. We are joined with our special guest this week, Dr. Julie White. And Dr. White, did I do that right? Did I say that correctly?

Julie White: It's Miss White.

John Long: Oh, sorry, sorry.

Julie White: Hopefully in the next year.

John Long: Okay. All right, so we are working on it. All right.

Julie White: That is true.

John Long: That's good. All right, so we're going to get that taken care of, and then we'll formally call you doctor.

Julie White: That is true. Yes, that's right.

John Long: All right.

Cobie Rutherford: That's right.

John Long: So you're pre-doctor? That's the way I look at that.

Julie White: That's right. Yeah, there we go.

John Long: Okay, very good, very good. So, how are you?

Julie White: Good.

John Long: Good. Good, good. Cobie, so you had a good week so far?

Cobie Rutherford: It's been a good week.

John Long: Good. Yeah, I think it's been a pretty good one.

Cobie Rutherford: A hot one.

Julie White: Yeah, very hot.

John Long: A hot one. Felt very blessed to be able to say that I could stay inside.

Cobie Rutherford: No doubt.

Julie White: That's right. Amen.

John Long: Yeah. And I'm an outside person, so that's kind of tough. But anyway. Anyway, comme ci comme ca, we're going to move in to the program. And Julie ... I've been knowing Julie a long time, and Julie, tell us a little bit about yourself, where you're from, and how you got here, to where you are today.

Julie White: Okay.

John Long: And what you do, today.

Julie White: All right. So I grew up in South Louisiana. I grew up in Livingston Parish, just outside of Baton Rouge, and grew up in 4-H there, showing livestock, was in the clothing project, which is one of those deep-known secrets that a lot of the 4-H agents find out. And you're like, "Really?" So I actually made my senior prom dress. So it was one of my projects. But I grew up on a dairy farm, and so ... But while I was in school, I met a Mississippi boy, and ended up in Starkville because of the Mississippi boy. So ...

John Long: Isn't that a, I think that's a country song isn't it? Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah, that's it.

Julie White: Mississippi man, sure is.

John Long: So you just played that right out there.

Julie White: Sure is, so ...

John Long: Yeah, that's awesome. That's awesome.

Julie White: So yeah.

John Long: And got started, you said in, well you were a 4-H-er, and then you came to 4-H through here.

Julie White: Yep, yep.

John Long: So that's awesome. That's awesome. And a little-known fact, I always like saying a little-known fact. Julie and I are practically neighbors.

Julie White: That is correct.

John Long: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Cobie Rutherford: Wow, how about that.

Julie White: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

John Long: Yes, yes. We got to keep check on each other when we need to.

Julie White: Technically I'm in the middle of you two.

John Long: You are, you are. You really are. So ...

Cobie Rutherford: How about that?

John Long: If we need anything, just call, she can be there in a short amount of time.

Julie White: That's right.

Cobie Rutherford: That's a good deal.

Julie White: That's exactly right.

Cobie Rutherford: Now Julie, you started out your career in the county office here in Oktibbeha County, right? As a 4-H agent?

Julie White: I started actually in a Attala County in 2000, and served there, and in Lowndes County, and Webster County before coming to Oktibbeha County as a County Agent. In Attala, Lowndes, and Webster, I was actually a 4-H Agent. So I spent 15 years on the county level before coming to the School of Human Sciences.

John Long: Boy, time gets away, doesn't it? I just was always say that it's amazing how quickly that gets away from us.

Julie White: Mm-hmm (affirmative). So, yeah.

Cobie Rutherford: And now you've got one of the largest Extension projects in the whole state that you conduct. Tell us a little bit about that.

Julie White: So I am an Extension associate over in the School of Human Sciences, but I focus on Agriculture Literacy. So I run a program called, Farmtastic, that I actually created back in 2012 as a way to teach kids. At that time I was the county agent here in Oktibbeha County, and I just wanted a way to teach kids about farming and agriculture. And when I would go to the schools they would say, "Tell me that chocolate milk came from a brown cow. Or that cotton comes from a sheep." And so I just wanted a hands-on way for us to be able to teach those kids about agriculture, and for them to experience it. And so-

John Long: And these are legitimate answers that kids are giving.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah.

Julie White: Yes. Yes.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah.

Julie White: It's amazing how many adults will tell me that chocolate milk comes from a brown cow. And they really don't understand where cotton comes from, or anything like that. And so, there are as many adults that have that perception as kids. And so, this was just a way for us to really highlight county agriculture here in Starkville, but grew way faster than I had planned.

John Long: That's what you get for being creative, Julie.

Julie White: And so, in about a year and a half, we went from being just a county program to being a statewide program.

John Long: That's awesome. That is awesome. And now, we talked about this on our last podcast we recorded, about that disconnect that people have with where everything comes from. And it's so hard to wrap your mind around it. Well, I grew up in an agricultural background. If you're around it, it's pretty easy to know where things come from. I never had those kind of questions. But it's really hard to believe that people really don't know where everything comes from, and what it takes, that production side and all of the things that are so big a part of our state for that matter.

Julie White: Right, yes, very much so.

John Long: So, with us being an agricultural state, to me that seems like an extremely important thing we need to do, especially in our state, is to continue doing that.

Julie White: Yeah. Most of our kids these days are three to four generations removed from the farm. And so they just haven't been exposed to it like many of us were. And so, they just don't know. And so it's our job to show them what agriculture is about, and why it's important to them.

John Long: Right, right.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah. And I even look at our statewide 4-H demographics, where only 6% of our 4-H-ers claim to live on the farm. So there's 94% of even the children that we're interacting with, John, that don't have that real farm experience.

John Long: Background, that's right. And see how much that's changed. And I would think in a relatively short amount of time, too. I don't think it's been all that long since ... But then that's again, something that we have to adapt to, as far as the educational efforts for sure, I would say, so ... So Julie, exactly ... Walk through some of the activities. I know my kids have been, or one of them have been through it. Just tell us exactly what Farmtastic, how do you go about setting that up and going through them?

Julie White: Okay. Yep. So Farmtastic is a traveling exhibit, and we travel across the state throughout the year. We set up in agri-centers across the state, and when we set up, it has five or six different focus areas depending on where we're set up. But basically the main ones that the kids will walk through, they'll all enter through our Barnyard Bonanza, which of course focuses on livestock and poultry. Then they'll move through to Mighty Crops, which focuses on agronomy, like cotton, soybeans, rice, corn, those kinds of things.

Julie White: And then they'll move to Wonder Plants, which is horticulture, so it looks at gardening and things that they can do in their backyard, whether it's actually growing vegetables, or whether it's growing plants such as flowering plants to beautify their home. And then we also go to the Enchanted Forest, where we look at forestry and how big that industry is in our state, and how it relates to the things we do every day. We also go to Something Fishy, which has to do with aquaculture. And we look at the different things, the catfish industry here in this state. Unless I'm on the coast, and then of course on the coast we're looking at the seafood industry.

Cobie Rutherford: You have to adapt for that, for sure.

John Long: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Julie White: Yes. And that is a huge room when we're on the coast. And then the last room that they always go through is the Farm Village, which helps them to put together the things that they've seen that day dealing with agriculture, and how all that gets to their plate, or their home, or their clothes that they're wearing. And so that's a chance for us to kind of tie that whole farm-to-plate activity. But we also have many partners as we travel, such as the Soil and Water Conservation districts, the County Farm Bureaus, MDOT is a big partner of ours that comes in. And so, there's a lot of different activities that we add to the events, depending on where we are and what the local partners are.

John Long: Right. Well that's great that you've got these local partners coming in and continuing to help to expand the program that you have. So that's important, too, as far as that support is concerned.

Julie White: It's definitely a great benefit.

John Long: Mm-hmm (affirmative). For sure.

Cobie Rutherford: How many of these do you do a year?

Julie White: Typically the last four years we have done anywhere from nine to twelve a year. When we set up, we come in on a Monday and set up, and then we run the event Tuesday through Friday. So bringing in local schools ... As an example, and most of them, this is how it works, like here at MSU when we host the one at the Horse Park, we attract 10 counties, and we're targeting second to fourth graders. And so it's a free field trip as far as coming in and being able to tour it, and experience it. All the kids go home with a backpack full of goodies they get to take. There's a lot of make-and-take activities as they go throughout the exhibit. They get to take that stuff with them. The teachers also get some information, an agriculture curriculum that they can use in their classroom. And so they get stuff, too, while they're at the event.

John Long: Wow, that reminds me. I'm sure you remember this, you know when we used to have school days on the farm?

Julie White: Yes.

John Long: That's very similar to that.

Julie White: It is.

John Long: Except you're more mobile, instead of having to bus kids into the campus. That's great. So this program is, I'm obviously expanding through the years that you've been doing it, as you said, starting on the county level ... How many at each workshop or Farmtastic event that you have, on average, how many kids would you say that you're reaching out to at a time?

Julie White: Each time it kind of depends on actually how many days the event is. But the average is about 12 to 1500 in those four days. So ...

John Long: Wow. Sorry I just blew into the microphone, but that's mind-blowing.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah, that's a lot.

Julie White: So we're seeing a good number of kids for us as a 4-H program. It's a great opportunity for us to show what we have, as 4-H, since everything we do doesn't necessarily have to do with farming. There are some other things that our kids can be involved in, and so it's a great time for us to market our 4-H program, too.

John Long: Now Julie, I know that you're a hard worker, and I know that you don't back up from anything, but you have to have help for these things.

Julie White: I do.

John Long: Now how many people do you have helping you with this? Because it's tiring me out hearing you say all that.

Julie White: Yeah, I run ... Usually I utilize about 40 volunteers a day, and that's to get through all of the stations that are in the different focus areas, and to make sure that the kids have the best experience possible. So we're using a lot of volunteer hours when we do Farmtastic.

John Long: Yeah. Thank you volunteers.

Julie White: Yes, very much.

John Long: Thank you. We can't do a lot of stuff without you, and we really appreciate you. A little plug for our volunteers.

Julie White: That's right.

John Long: Now I have to ask this, do you have a favorite area that you work in?

Julie White: Well ...

John Long: Yeah, out of everything, the whole thing, out of everything.

Julie White: I do. Actually, there's probably two. A, I'm a livestock person. And so, of course the livestock room is always my favorite. Because being raised on a farm, and we have a farm now, it's kind of my thing. And yeah, to see the kids all hold that baby chick in that room, it's a really cool moment, especially for those that have never seen it. My other favorite is the forestry room.

John Long: Really?

Julie White: They get to the bubble blowers in that room.

John Long: Oh yeah, I saw that.

Julie White: So if you haven't seen a bubble blower, it's an actual stick of red oak, and red oak is very porous, and so it allows us to be able to blow bubbles through it. So they get a piece of wood that they get to blow bubbles through. And just watching them experience that concept of how a tree utilizes water ... But for us, we're utilizing bubbles. But we get to have some fun with wood, so that's my other favorite.

John Long: You get an aha moment of it anyway, don't you?

Julie White: Yeah, so ...

Cobie Rutherford: That's pretty cool. So I'm sure you've seen a lot of eureka moments, where the light just flicked on in the kid's mind. Do you have a favorite?

Julie White: I think for me, one of the favorites, and it's more because of the way my volunteers act, is because the kids walk from the livestock room into the agronomy room. Well in the agronomy room we have a cotton gin going, and we're ginning cotton. Well, of course the first thing we ask is, "So where's cotton come from?" And they're like, "A sheep!" And we're like-

John Long: Well it does look kind of like cotton.

Julie White: Yeah, it does. But then they're like, "Oh, it really doesn't?" And so we really get to hone-in on that. "No, here are the plants it comes from, here's where it's grown."

John Long: It's a plant, not an animal.

Cobie Rutherford: Right, yeah.

Julie White: And so that one is really neat. And to watch how the volunteers react to the kids' reaction has been really a neat thing for me.

John Long: That's good. That's really good.

Cobie Rutherford: I can almost see the volunteers getting as much out of this in some cases as the youth, because they kind of see firsthand that disconnect that we all see on a daily basis. And then I guess from an adult standpoint, that gives them an opportunity to say, "Well I tell them an agriculture story is important."

Julie White: Yep.

John Long: Right. That's exactly right.

Julie White: It does. And we try to utilize a lot of volunteers that are farmers, or that are involved in different industries in agriculture when we're out traveling. Because then they're actually getting to see what their consumers are saying. And so it gives them that consumer perspective

John Long: It may be more so now than when we went to school, but ... And I think this is what is so important about 4-H, kind of the key thing that we teach in 4-H, is that, learn by doing, and that hands-on activity is so important to that learning process. And every station you have is that way. So those kids are not sitting in a classroom trying to regurgitate information. They're actually learning by that tactile touch, and everything.

Julie White: Yes, and that's one of the things I try to emphasize to our volunteers as I'm doing volunteer orientation for the events, is, look, it's okay that they're not just standing there listening to you. It's okay that they're moving around, and really in each room, there's like seven activities for them to do. And so there's a lot going on in that one room. And so, sometimes my teachers are like-

John Long: Be still!

Julie White: What do you mean they're not going to just stand still?"

John Long: Right right. "We can't handle that."

Julie White: They have trouble. Yeah, they have trouble more than my kids do. My kids love it.

John Long: Very freeing. Yeah, so ...

Julie White: Yeah. And so it's one of those that I kind of have to talk to the volunteers and the teachers, and just be like, "Hey, let them do what they want to do. And it's okay if they don't touch everything," but just letting them do how they want to do. So ...

John Long: Right. Right, right. And giving them a little freedom as far as what they're interested in, yeah.

Cobie Rutherford: I remember a couple of years, well, I guess it was last year when you had it here on campus, we took Reason. And Reason had been terrified of chickens-

John Long: Reason being your son.

Cobie Rutherford: Reason is my son, yeah. He was terrified of chickens up to this point. So we took him in, and he got to hold a chick for the first time. And that was the first time he had seen a chicken outside of a commercial grower. And he just, it blew his mind. He couldn't wrap his head around why this chick wasn't yellow, and in a house with 60,000 friends.

Julie White: Right, yeah.

John Long: "Where are all your friends?"

Julie White: Yeah, they, that's probably ... And that's, like I told you, that's one of my favorite spots, is because that is an aha moment for most of them. And even though we have to tell them that that chicken's going to end up growing up to be probably a chicken nugget.

John Long: Right, your chicken nuggets, yeah.

Julie White: But that whole little fuzzy baby chick thing, and we actually have them hatch in there, so they're getting to see the whole process. The whole "chicken or the egg" thing. So it's-

John Long: We discussed that last time, didn't we?

Cobie Rutherford: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Julie White: Yeah, so it's kind of a neat thing for them. So ...

John Long: Oh, that's good.

Cobie Rutherford: It also works out really well that Julie and her husband have a farm, because I know they use their own animals sometimes at these events.

John Long: Oh, wow.

Julie White: Yes, especially here in Starkville. It's ...

Cobie Rutherford: Easy to transport.

Julie White: Yeah, it's easy, and it's easier for me because I spent so much time at the exhibit. When we're having to feed and stuff, it's just easier to have ours there. But we do utilize 4-H-ers as we travel across the state to utilize ... Whatever county we're in, typically that county's 4-H-ers provide the animals for the exhibit.

John Long: Boy, that's great outreach for them as well. That opportunity to go out and show what they know, too, so that's really good. And it's giving back to what 4-H has given them. That's great.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah and I said, I guess I misspoke there, they're probably not Julie's animals, they're probably your children's animals who are 4-H-ers, too.

Julie White: Yes, yes. And they spend as much time at Farmtastic as I do because they love it as much as I do. So ...

John Long: Right. That's awesome. It's a family event.

Julie White: Yeah.

John Long: Yeah.

Julie White: Yeah. Morgan asks me all the time if I'm going to keep doing this until she's old enough to do it. And I'm like, "I don't know about that."

John Long: Well, you know, time moves on.

Julie White: Yes.

John Long: Well, now what do you see in the future for Farmtastic? What are your visions for the future? We're not going to hold you to those, but ...

Julie White: Yeah. No, I would love for us to be able to continue to do Farmtastic across the state, because I see the importance of us as an agriculture state promoting what we do. And to be there to promote what our farmers are doing on a daily basis, because people need to understand where their food and clothes come from.

Cobie Rutherford: Absolutely.

Julie White: And so I'd love to see us maybe scale back a little from doing that whole 12 a year to maybe doing at least one a region across the state. And if not, just a couple more than that. But I would love to see us be able to continue the program for a while and expand it in certain areas. And change it up just a little. It gets changed pretty regular, more or less because I get bored, more than ... With the same activities all the time, but that also-

John Long: Because you've got a new crop of kids coming in.

Julie White: Right. And so it's fun to change things up and let them see something new.

John Long: Sure, sure. And that's keeping you fresh too, right?

Julie White: Yes, yes.

John Long: Not losing your mind. So with that, that is, like you said, expanding and changing things is going to be important. And we have a lot of things that change agriculturally, and otherwise. So, yeah.

Julie White: So yeah, our technologies are changing every day. So there's going to be a lot of new things coming down the pipe that we're going to be able to show.

John Long: I saw a drone spraying a field the other day. I knew it was just a matter of time, so ...

Julie White: Yep, yep.

Cobie Rutherford: I heard about that.

John Long: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Julie White: So most of our kids will have the opportunity to go to school to be a drone pilot.

John Long: See, now that's ...

Julie White: And that's something we would've never thought of.

John Long: The big yellow bird will be replaced by that. That's an airplane for people that don't know.

Julie White: That's right.

John Long: But anyway, but anyway. Well Julie, we certainly thank you for coming in, and the time just flies by when we do these things.

Julie White: It does.

John Long: And we really appreciate it. Now where can they go, our listeners, if we have listeners, I think we've got listeners. I hope so. If you're listening, Where can they go to get more information?

Julie White: Our website is farmtastic.msucares.com.

John Long: Oh, that was snappy. I like that. That's good, and easy to remember.

Julie White: There you go.

John Long: Easy to remember. And Cobie, where can they go to learn about 4-H in their area?

Cobie Rutherford: So to learn more about 4-H, you can visit any county Extension office across the state or visit our website at extension.msstate.edu.

John Long: And I love our website, because if you're in your county, and you just look to the right, it'll say, "Select a county," and it automatically takes you to the people that you need to be in contact with.

Julie White: That's right.

John Long: So, that's awesome. Well thank you. And with that, we're going to wrap up this edition of 4H4U2. Be sure and subscribe if you're not a subscriber already, and join us next time. Take care.

Announcer: Thanks for joining us for 44H4U2. For more information, please visit extension.msstate.edu. And be sure to subscribe to our podcast. 4H4U2 is produced by the Mississippi State University Extension Service Office of Agricultural Communications.

Cobie and John give out the exciting details and activities of 4-H Day at the 2019 State Fair.

Transcript:

Announcer: This is 4H4U2, a podcast from the Mississippi State University Extension Service promoting 4-H programs and positive youth development. Here now, your host, Dr. John Long and Cobie Rutherford.

John Long: Welcome to another edition of 4H4U2. We're the podcast that's bringing you all things 4-H in Mississippi and even touch on some national events as well. I'm your host, John Long.

Cobie Rutherford: I'm Cobie Rutherford.

John Long: Cobie, how are you doing today?

Cobie Rutherford: It is fair week, John. I couldn't be better.

John Long: It is. It's been a busy week for us for sure. We're on the road and and whatnot, and we're just excited about it. I know it's always one of my favorite times of year.

Cobie Rutherford: Same here. I have been going to state fair since I was nine years old, and I just never lose enthusiasm for them.

John Long: I never went to state fair until I started working for 4-H.

Cobie Rutherford: Really? It just became part of our annual calendar.

John Long: Right.

Cobie Rutherford: We would go show livestock and compete in different activities. It was something I kind of carried with me throughout my career. I went to state fairs in Kentucky, in Alabama, and now Mississippi. It's just something different and unique about every one of them.

John Long: Fair food keeps me coming back.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah. What's your favorite?

John Long: My favorite. Normally what I get is the kielbasa sausage and the chili cheese fries with ranch. That's my favorite, I would say, but I always like trying something different too.

Cobie Rutherford: The best thing I've ever had at the fair was in Kentucky at their state fair, and they had a Krispy Kreme cheeseburger. It was basically the cheeseburger with the two buns were donuts, just glazed donuts. It was so good.

John Long: Did we have that? I haven't seen that at ours.

Cobie Rutherford: I haven't either, but if it was there, I would definitely have another one. It was really good.

John Long: I'll be on the look for them. Yeah, I've had a turkey leg before, but since it's right outside our 4-H village, I may just pick one of those up since it's so close.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah, but it's always so many good things.

John Long: Yeah.

Cobie Rutherford: So earlier in the week, we set up the state fair village in a different location. Thoughts on that?

John Long: Yeah. I liked it. I think that we're going to get a lot more traffic through there than we did in our previous location. Not that there was anything wrong with our previous location, but with it being located right outside of the livestock barn, I think we'll definitely get more foot traffic in there.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah, I think so too. The events, or the exhibits, were really good this year I thought, as a whole.

John Long: I liked them as well. Oh, and we'll just touch on this. Anybody that's listening that was part of the wrecking crew. Previously, it was way easier to put the village up this year.

Cobie Rutherford: Oh, yeah. Without those plywood storefronts, I guess you could say-

John Long: Right, that's what they were.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah, it was much easier to hang those curtains.

John Long: It looks good, and I think it looks really good.

Cobie Rutherford: I think it does too.

John Long: Yeah. We'll just pat ourselves on the back.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah, we're doing that right now, just pat.

John Long: We can't do that because...

Cobie Rutherford: Now if it rains, let's hope it doesn't, but-

John Long: If it's a 4-H event, you can be guaranteed of one thing: it's going to rain at one point or another.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah. Well, we got two weeks to make it. So maybe it'll all turn out okay.

John Long: Oh, it'll be fine.

Cobie Rutherford: Got a lot of things going on, though.

John Long: Yeah, let's talk about that. We're hoping we can get this out to everybody in a reasonable amount of time to where you can learn more about the state fair and what we've got going on as far as 4-H and 4-H Day is concerned. So, tell us about it, Cobie.

Cobie Rutherford: So, most of the exhibits are in already. We have all our exhibits that were in the Agri science shop, all our seed displays, all the environmental shop items, which I really like this year, John. There was some really good items in your shop. All of our creative arts and fashion and all that stuff is the in. We got one more entry day for our horticulture items, which is our vegetables produce, et cetera, and our baked goods items.

John Long: Now, when is that?

Cobie Rutherford: So, those have to be in by October 10th, Thursday.

John Long: Okay.

Cobie Rutherford: But if you're going to bring those, you need to let me know as soon as possible so I can make sure there are people there to judge them, and make sure they can get them displayed. But, got to be turned in on Thursday, October 10th.

John Long: Okay.

Cobie Rutherford: I kind of hope we have a lot turned in, because that way we can kind of refresh the exhibit and things look good for 4-H Day that following Saturday.

John Long: Yeah. So, what time does 4-H Day get started, I guess?

Cobie Rutherford: So our tickets, the fair commission was gracious enough to give us a lot, about 2,500 tickets for our 4-Hers. So we are able to distribute those across the state, and they can enter the gates at 8:00. Now, our activities that you and I and other staff are coordinating, they begin at 9:00.

John Long: At 9:00, okay.

Cobie Rutherford: So, we have a Public Speaking contest that morning in the Mississippi Cattleman's Association Building, which is just right across the road from the fairgrounds on Monterey Street.

John Long: Very nice building.

Cobie Rutherford: Then, we had the Fashion Review Contest that's going to be held in the Equine Center.

John Long: Okay.

Cobie Rutherford: So, it'll be kind of the opposite side of the road from where the trademark, where we usually are.

John Long: That's the Kirk Fordice-

Cobie Rutherford: The Equine Center.

John Long: The Equine Center, yeah.

Cobie Rutherford: Okay, I didn't realize that was the whole name of it, but-

John Long: Former governor.

Cobie Rutherford: Okay, good deal. So, that'll be nice over there. This will be my first time to really help with the Fashion Review contest, but I think it's pretty cool. I sent out some entry information on it.

Cobie Rutherford: Basically, there are two divisions in the Fashion Review. You have a clothing construction, where the children actually make their own garments. Then, you have a clothing selection contest, where a child will go and purchase an outfit that is appropriate for some event that they're going to, and then describe that, and why that's the right choice for them.

John Long: Like for a job interview I guess or something like that.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah, or like a formal party or something like that.

John Long: I got you.

Cobie Rutherford: It can be anything as long as what the child's description of that garment or that outfit matches what they're wearing.

John Long: Now, is there any prerequisite that the individuals have to go through in order to get to this level?

Cobie Rutherford: I don't think so. We always encourage county contest for everything and go through a county level, and if possible, a district level.

John Long: Right.

Cobie Rutherford: But for state fairs, just kind of come one, come all, I think.

John Long: Right, right. Well, that's good.

Cobie Rutherford: It probably differs by county.

John Long: Right.

Cobie Rutherford: But then, I'm really excited, too, about what the Commissioner of Agriculture, Commissioner Gipson is doing with this Mississippi Ag Workforce Development Core.

John Long: Yes.

Cobie Rutherford: Mrs. Gayle Fortenberry is leading that, and she's kind of bringing 4-H and FFA together on a few events, and look forward to seeing her.

John Long: Shout out to Gayle. She's really done a lot of work.

Cobie Rutherford: She has done a lot of work, and it's going to be exciting to see how many 4-Hers are participating in those events and how those kind of workout. One, it's modeled after our Career Pursuit contest, and the children are doing an interview and resumes and all those kinds of things. So, it'll be interesting to see how those two contests will feed off one another.

Cobie Rutherford: Then of course, the commissioner's also doing a summit, an Ag Workforce Summit. He'll start at noon on Saturday. So, we hope a lot of our 4-Hers will go over there and hear all the things he has to say.

John Long: That's great. That's great. Yeah, they have really reached out and just going above and beyond on helping us get everything done. So, we really appreciate that with the commissioner for sure.

Cobie Rutherford: One thing that Mrs. Fortenberry mentioned to me that they've done this year is they partnered up with Hinds Community College, and they're doing kind of this combined simulator thing.

John Long: Okay.

Cobie Rutherford: I don't really know a whole lot about simulators or electronic games or anything like that, but basically the simulator, you can get in it and pretend like you're driving a combine. This kind of gives you that real life experience of being in the combine, picking the corn, or whatever.

John Long: Right.

Cobie Rutherford: So, that's kind of going to be neat, I think.

John Long: That'd be awesome. I'd like to give that a try.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah. I mean, I know I've been in a combine before picking corn or soybeans before, and just to see how different it is from real life will be pretty neat.

John Long: Yeah. Yeah, it would be cool, for sure. If they could switch it up and do different simulators.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah, I'm sure that could. I don't know. I have no idea how that's going to work, but that's going to be a feature this year that's going be in the big white tent near the Coliseum.

John Long: Good deal, good deal. That's great. Now, let's step off because I've got to ask this. I'm going to step to the side and say that when we were judging exhibits, did anything particularly stick out?

John Long: I always love judging state fair, because it's really cool, I've said this before, it's cool to see the little projects and things that the 4-Hers come up with, and they've been participating in. So, I have a fair favorite this year. I'm not saying there's any less on anybody's part, but I do have a favorite one that I saw in my shop. Now, do you have one?

Cobie Rutherford: You know, I think the one that I think was the most interesting to me was a circuit board that the kids from Lauderdale County did.

John Long: I saw that one. I saw that one.

Cobie Rutherford: I thought that was the best one in my opinion.

John Long: Yeah, yeah. Mine was, and I had most fun with, was the maracas. Did you see the maracas?

Cobie Rutherford: Oh yeah, with the plastic spoons.

John Long: I've got all the materials to make those except the Easter eggs. I've got to find some plastic Easter eggs, because I wanted to do that tonight with my kids. I wanted to make them tonight.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah, that is where neat. What county did those?

John Long: I can't remember. I really can't.

Cobie Rutherford: Those were very good I thought.

John Long: Yep. I had a lot of fun playing them. Kyle Lewis is awesome on them, by the way.

Cobie Rutherford: Oh, really?

John Long: Yes. He had the rhythm going. I never could get the rhythm like he did.

Cobie Rutherford: I saw those. There was quite a few of those. I thought some of the creative arts were also really good with the paintings and things.

John Long: Oh, yeah. Paintings, yes, yes, yes, yes. Very much so.

Cobie Rutherford: I thought those were really nice.

John Long: Yeah. Very, very much so. So, we don't have Ms. Debra Lloyd in here with us, but what exactly, we know we have some activities going on in the tent on 4-H Day, what about that? I know our ambassadors are going to be there. Tell us a little bit about that.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah, they are. So in the 4-H tent, near 4-H Day, we hope that all our 4-Hers who got the 4-H Day tickets come through just to say hello and look at all their colleagues, their friends' exhibits or their own exhibits, but we've also got some things in there that we think will be fun to them.

Cobie Rutherford: So, the ambassadors are going to do face painting. We've got some different 4-H armbands that we're going to hand out. MVLA, the Mississippi Volunteers Leaders Association, are going to be handing out refreshments. So, that'll be nice cool down for the 4-Hers. So, a lot of things going on in there.

John Long: Okay. Yeah, the 4-H tent's nice. It's air conditioned, and you can just kind of move through and look at all the exhibits, and then kick back and just enjoy the rest of the show for sure. It's going to be a lot fun I think.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah, and I think the weather's going to be perfect this weekend.

John Long: Yeah, I hope so. I hope so.

Cobie Rutherford: Well, this upcoming weekend.

John Long: No, it ain't upcoming weekend.

Cobie Rutherford: Yep.

John Long: Yeah. Well I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but they're saying we're going to have a cool down, so that'll be really good fair weather. Well, that's a pun there, but fair weather for the fair itself.

Cobie Rutherford: Be fairtastic.

John Long: It'd be fairtastic. Oh, that's a good theme. We need to pass that along. So, fairtastic. We may even make that in the show notes. That'll be fun at the fairtastic or something. I don't know. That was not good. I failed miserably at that, but we'll figure something out.

Cobie Rutherford: Good deal.

John Long: Well, that's awesome. That's basically, I guess, what we wanted to cover is just to say, "Come out and join us. We'd look forward to seeing you." If you are one of our podcast listeners, please come up to us if you see us and let us know that you listened to our show. If you don't and you're just new to this broadcast, please like and subscribe, and do whatever you got to do social media wise to spread the good word about the 4-H-4-U-2 podcast.

John Long: Now Cobie, where can individuals go if they're interested in 4-H in their area? We get that question a lot, even in the state office. Where can they go to get more information about 4-H and 4-H in their area?

Cobie Rutherford: Well to get more information about 4-H, you can visit our Extension website, which is extension.msstate.edu, or contact your county Extension agent. We have those in located in all eighty-two counties across the state of Mississippi.

John Long: Isn't that wonderful that it's just so widespread that we have that ability to reach out to those young people? So, make sure that you do that. Check us out on, well, we're basically everywhere. Facebook, there's Instagram. Yeah, Twitter. So, we've got a lot of different ways that you can get in contact with us, and we hope that you do that. I got to ask this before we wrap it up, do you ride the rides any?

Cobie Rutherford: Not really.

John Long: Really?

Cobie Rutherford: Nah, I just go eat.

John Long: The food's good. It's best to ride the rides and then eat. That's my opinion.

Cobie Rutherford: That would make pretty good sense.

John Long: Yeah, yeah. So anyway, I'll tell you what mine is. The swings, I love the swings. I rode those last year. It was amazing. All right.

Cobie Rutherford: Not big on that.

John Long: Well, maybe we can get you into it one time. I'm not getting on the Ferris wheel. That's all I know. All right. Well, thank, everybody, for joining us today and hope you come out and be with us during 4-H Day at the fair. It will be, as Cobie said, fairtastic and that is October the 12th.

Cobie Rutherford: That's right.

John Long: Starting at 9:00. Well, the gates opened at 8:00.

Cobie Rutherford: That's right.

John Long: Then, our events will start at 9:00. You will be easily seen or know where to see us on the midway because we have a big 4-H sign out front and come in and join us. With that, we're going to be a calling that wraps on today's podcast. Thank you for listening.

Announcer: Thanks for joining us for 4H4U2. For more information, please visit extension.msstate.edu, and be sure to subscribe to our podcast. 4H4U2 is produced by the Mississippi State University Extension Service, Office of Agricultural Communications.

Dr. Jessica Wells visits the studio this week and discusses all things chicken related in the world of 4-H.

Transcript:

Announcer: This is 4-H-4-U-2, a podcast from the Mississippi State University Extension Service promoting 4-H programs and positive youth development. Here now, your host, Dr. John Long and Cobie Rutherford.

John Long: And we are back on the air. This is 4-H-4-U-2 and I'm John Long, your host.

Cobie Rutherford: And I'm Cobie Rutherford, I got a little quick there, John.

John Long: No, it's fine. It's fine. We've had a lot of coffee. Well, not you, you don't drink coffee, do you?

Cobie Rutherford: I don't.

John Long: No. No, but we had donuts this morning, so-

Cobie Rutherford: We did.

John Long: We got our sugar rush going. We've got summer celebration here in the Extension Bost building today and it's a Friday.

Cobie Rutherford: Most importantly.

John Long: Most importantly. So, we're getting geared up for the weekend. We are so delighted to have Dr. Jessica Wells with us this morning. And how are you doing this morning?

Jessica Wells: Doing good.

John Long: We have been sitting here talking for like 30 minutes, it seems, and just trying to catch up on some stuff that's been going on. So, Jessica, tell us a little bit about yourself, where you're from and how you got to where you are now.

Jessica Wells: Sure. So, I am originally from south Mississippi, Ellisville area. Yeah, Free State of Jones-

John Long: Jones county.

Jessica Wells: Yeah.

John Long: That's right. That's right.

Jessica Wells: I grew up there, graduate-

John Long: Have you seen that movie by the way?

Jessica Wells: You know I have not, I've seen-

John Long: You need to.

Jessica Wells: I've seen pieces of it but-

John Long: Very good movie.

Jessica Wells: I'm sure it is. No, I saw all the hype over it when it was being filmed, because, you know, being from there.

John Long: Sure. And it was filmed.

Jessica Wells: Yeah, everybody posted a picture with Matthew McConaughey because he came through town. Yeah.

John Long: Sure, of course.

Cobie Rutherford: You know, I've met a guy that was actually in that movie. He was an amputee. He was a veteran amputee and he's actually in the movie, well as a wounded person. So yeah.

Jessica Wells: Yeah. The man that married me and my husband, he was in it, too.

John Long: Oh really?

Jessica Wells: Yeah.

John Long: Well good.

Jessica Wells: He had a few little snippets, you know he had to post those and he was famous.

John Long: I'm sorry that we got sidetracked on Matthew McConaughey, but who wouldn't?

Jessica Wells: Exactly.

John Long: Right? I mean, he's a good actor. So, go ahead. I'm sorry.

Jessica Wells: I graduated from there and I did my bachelor's and master's here at Mississippi State in poultry science. Kind of just fell into that department, I don't think many people grow up saying, "I want to be a poultry scientist." It's just not something at six years old you decide, but I was lucky that I was given the opportunity. It's been great. And-

John Long: Well, what six-year-old doesn't like a chicken?

Jessica Wells: Exactly, exactly.

John Long: I mean, come on.

Jessica Wells: But I finished that master's and got hired on in the poultry department in 2009 and I've been working with 4-H/FFA Youth Project since then. Along with other Extension activities, like Backyard is particularly what I focus in. And then I teach some classes on campus, as well.

John Long: It sounds like you're really busy.

Jessica Wells: I stay busy.

John Long: Yeah, yeah. And you just recently finished your doctorate, right?

Jessica Wells: I did. I finished my PhD this past May. So, work I'm sure is not going to change but...

John Long: It may increase.

Jessica Wells: But the titles different. Same person, different title.

John Long: Give Cobie some advice, as he is going through the... Yeah, you got any questions?

Cobie Rutherford: The dissertation writing.

Jessica Wells: Yeah, I would suggest starting to figure out how to drink coffee, Cobie.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah, I need to-

John Long: A lot of it.

Cobie Rutherford: I need to do that.

John Long: Copious amounts of coffee.

Jessica Wells: Yeah.

John Long: Black.

Jessica Wells: Cry every now and then, it helps.

Cobie Rutherford: Will that help, too?

Jessica Wells: Yeah.

John Long: If you don't cry, just use artificial tears. It worked, it's the same thing.

Jessica Wells: Yeah.

Cobie Rutherford: Good deal.

John Long: Yeah, that's a big deal. And Cobie, I don't know if you know this or not, we are sitting in the room with a celebrity.

Cobie Rutherford: Oh yeah.

Jessica Wells: Oh, yeah.

John Long: She was not in any movies, I don't think, but she just got an award.

Jessica Wells: I did.

John Long: Yeah.

Jessica Wells: So, a little bit of what I do in our department is student recruitment and I'm the undergraduate coordinator, so I work with our students a lot. So I was nominated and awarded a national recruitment award through Poultry Science Association.

Cobie Rutherford: Oh, very cool.

John Long: That's awesome.

Jessica Wells: Yeah, it was a nice honor, I got to go to Canada and accept that award. So-

John Long: Do they say eh up there?

Jessica Wells: They all spoke French, actually, where we were at. It was a little nerve wracking getting off the plane-

John Long: What part of Canada?

Jessica Wells: Montreal.

John Long: Yeah, I was going to say if... Yeah.

Jessica Wells: Yeah. Beautiful place though. It was real pretty.

John Long: Yeah. Oh, I've heard it was.

Jessica Wells: They all speak English, they just talk French to you until you go, "What'd you say?" And then they'll pick up in English then.

Cobie Rutherford: That's funny. Well, I went to Canada last year for the animal science meetings. We went to Vancouver and it was perfect up there.

Jessica Wells: Yes.

Cobie Rutherford: Like, I love Canadian summers.

Jessica Wells: Oh, I know.

Cobie Rutherford: I don't think it want to be up there in the winter, though.

Jessica Wells: Yeah, I totally agree. It was like 75, even on their hot days while we were up there. So, I mean sight-seeing was beautiful, but I agree, I'm not a snow person at all.

Cobie Rutherford: But you mentioned-

John Long: Fly south.

Cobie Rutherford: That you do the recruiting. So, I guess 4-H plays a pretty important role in that.

Jessica Wells: It does. I have different things that I do in our department, but they really all kind of mesh into one. So with 4-H and FFA, it's a huge recruiting tool for us. I also do a hatch out program in elementary schools and you know, in all honesty that's somewhat of a recruiting tool, as well. Even though those kids are in kindergarten, we make that impact. You give them baby chicks, they get to see that live animal and it's something that they remember from there on out. So when I do come into a school their junior year, they already have that trigger of, "Oh, I remember this activity. This was really cool." So all of those youth development type things that we do, we can really use them as recruitment tools to kind of prove to students that poultry science degrees doesn't mean that you're going to be working in a chicken house. It's actually a wonderful industry and hugely supports our state. And the job opportunities are endless in what you can do with it.

John Long: I think that... And you kind of touched on something that I've always kind of thought... Or not thought, but know, that sometimes you feel like maybe what you're doing is not being effective as far as teaching a young person. But there you make an impact on a young child's life and obviously 4-H does this, they're providing experiences that they never forget. It doesn't matter what it is, I mean, as long as you're that.

Jessica Wells: Right. Right, I agree. You know, it's not a fast turnaround, if I do a 4-H or FFA activity with a senior, I might see that student in in a year. But with kindergarten, you can't really turn that paperwork in to upper admin and say, "See, we're doing something. Look at the numbers." It takes a long time to see that develop, but it's definitely worth it. I can remember as a child, my granddad, who I was really close with, would let us pick out eggs in the Murray McMurray magazine.

John Long: Oh really?

Jessica Wells: Yeah. And we would hatch them and I'd go through there and pick out colorful pretty eggs-

John Long: Well sure.

Jessica Wells: We'd pick out turkeys, quail, ducks, chickens, whatever. And we would hatch them out, keep them in the living room for a couple of weeks, and then he'd turn them loose and I'm sure half of them got eaten-

Cobie Rutherford: Become coyote bait. Coyotes, cats.

Jessica Wells: Right. But it was still like a really cool experience. I remember as a kid, getting flashlights out and going hiding in a closet and looking at the eggs inside and it was... So when I did come into poultry science it was like, "Oh my gosh, I think I was geared for this from day one." I didn't realize it, but... So, little things like that are really important and it seems-

John Long: It's my favorite thing that y'all do. Not the favorite, but is my favorite, it's the candling. I love that. I think it's just the coolest thing.

Jessica Wells: Oh no, the little kids in kindergarten through third grade. I mean they love, you'd tap on that egg and the little embryo starts to move and they get so excited. It's so cute. And then if they start to pip but they haven't actually broken through the shell and you can hear them peeping, they think that's just the coolest thing in the world.

John Long: That leads me to ask the question. What came first chicken or the egg?

Jessica Wells: You know, that's a very valid question, but-

John Long: Well, yeah, I know. We won't get into that.

Jessica Wells: We'll say that both came at the same time. If you had a grown chicken, there's probably an egg inside of her.

John Long: Hey, that is true.

Cobie Rutherford: That's pretty valid.

John Long: Didn't think about that.

Jessica Wells: So it's a draw.

John Long: Yeah. But we still don't know why the chicken crossed the road. That could be a lot of reasons.

Jessica Wells: Yeah.

Cobie Rutherford: So I used to work in the beef industry with Extension and then with the Cattle Association, and one thing I always had a challenge doing was making that connection from farm animal to a food product.

Jessica Wells: Yes.

Cobie Rutherford: And one of my... I can't say favorite questions, but one question that I got from a kindergarten one time was a sweet little girl in Kentucky, she raised your hand and said, "So when you get the hamburgers from the cow does it hurt them?" And it just baffled me that there's such a big disconnect between farm animals and food.

Jessica Wells: Yeah.

John Long: How old was that child?

Cobie Rutherford: She was in kindergarten.

John Long: Oh, you said kindergarten, yeah.

Cobie Rutherford: So I'm like... How do you combat that because I'm sure you get some of those questions when you go to a kindergarten class.

Jessica Wells: I do, and I will say that when it comes to those questions, kindergarten and first graders are way better at the questions. I mean, they really do logically think through those processes. And you can still kind of... If I go into a senior class and I talk about slaughtering an animal and us eating it, they're all, "Ooh, yuck." And when you talk to kindergarten or first grader, they've just got that innocence to them that's like, 'Well we've got to eat, I understand this." So it's actually a little easier to communicate with them, you wouldn't think it, but... That hatch out program that I mentioned is a lot... It's an easy way to talk to them about that. We bring live chicks, we talk about how cute they are, but the fact that we need them to survive and they serve a purpose and we go through the concept of... I usually ask them, how many of you like chicken nuggets? And they all raise their hands, everybody gets excited. And then we mentioned to them that chicken nuggets come from the chicken and that we have to slaughter this animal in order to utilize them but we have processes and methods in place that make it safe and less harmful for the animal.

Jessica Wells: And you know, honestly, I've never had kindergarten and first grade students that aren't receptive of that concept and understand that. There is a huge disconnect though, I will agree with that, Cobie. A lot of kids don't put the connection together and it's never offered to them. I think a lot of us try to tread lightly with kids, when in reality, when you're honest and truthful with them the benefit is there, it's good for them. So being able to go into those classrooms with a program like the hatch out, that's fun and educational at the same time, helps to kind of dispel those myths, but also allow them to see that process firsthand, utilize that information in a positive way.

John Long: And we don't do that education, then they are the adults that say, where do you get the milk from? They say the grocery store.

Jessica Wells: Right, exactly.

John Long: Have no idea.

Cobie Rutherford: When that little girl asked me that question, it was around Thanksgiving time and I played it off with the pilgrims and the Indians and the Thanksgiving story about how the Indians taught the pilgrims how to hunt and how did they get the turkey? Well, the Indians showed them how to kill turkeys. It was the same purpose, they shot turkeys with bows and arrows and we eat chicken today.

Jessica Wells: Right, right. And-

John Long: Don't get to talking about turkeys, you'll get me all messed up.

Jessica Wells: We'll get way off track, again.

John Long: I'm already in the spring all of a sudden. Go ahead. I'm sorry.

Jessica Wells: No, it is. It's fun. I get wild questions sometimes, some of them throw me way off guard with those kids, but a lot of them, I'm sitting there just in amazement of how they really start to piece those puzzles together. And you know, in all reality, I'm not just there teaching the students, a lot of times those parents and teachers that are in the room, too, have valid questions and a lot of questions that you wouldn't think that an adult would ask, but they're disconnected. Less than 3% of us actually have a connection with agriculture and farm. So you got to think most of these people have never even seen a baby chick and experienced that.

John Long: I think that's so true, what you say, is that connection between the need or the... Well I don't know how to say that, that disconnect, that gap needs to be closed for sure, because people... And I've had people, they didn't want to talk about it. They know that chicken nuggets come from a chicken, but they don't want to talk about it and they don't want to know and I guess that's fine. At least they know where it comes from where a lot of people don't.

Jessica Wells: Yeah, I would say that generally when you have people that are very timid of the process, if they have the opportunity to go in an actual processing plant and watch that process, they come out with a way better knowledge and it's almost like, wow, that wasn't bad at all. So that understanding, a lot of it is just not knowing and your head creates an image for you that really isn't the truth.

John Long: Exactly. And it's like riding a roller coaster, it's normally worse than... I mean, you make it so.

Jessica Wells: Right. Once you get on, it's like, wow, that was actually fun.

John Long: I want to do that again, let's go to the chicken plant again.

Jessica Wells: Yeah.

John Long: No, I'm kidding. I've never been to one, I would love to go to one though.

Jessica Wells: It's definitely something to see. It's so efficient and, I mean, you're just in amazement of how well it's operated and ran. And I mean you're talking 150 birds a minute are coming out of that plant process, it's so crazy.

John Long: I went to school many years ago, but I still remember that in animal science, they were quoting those numbers and I was like, "You've got to be kidding me." And I'm sitting here and thinking, okay, how many we've gone through already. But yeah, it's crazy. But we need it, there's a demand for chicken.

Jessica Wells: Exactly.

Cobie Rutherford: And Mississippi ranks third or fourth in the nation?

Jessica Wells: Yep, I think we're fourth or fifth actually now, I think.

Cobie Rutherford: We're fourth or fifth, okay.

Jessica Wells: North Carolina has put in some plants, Sanderson Farms has started developing up there. So they are on the map now. It's number one for our state, it brings in about $3.5 billion for our state in income and whatnot. So it's huge and we do rank in the top five nationwide. In the world, the US is number one for broiler production. So people don't realize, you can say you don't want it, you don't like it, but in reality-

John Long: The demand is there.

Jessica Wells: The demand is there, and it's a way to feed the world, you know? I mean, it's efficient.

John Long: High protein.

Jessica Wells: It is. It's sustainable. A lot of people don't match a commercial industry with sustainability, but if you really think about it, it's probably the most sustainable market we have.

John Long: I had chicken last night in preparation for this interview.

Jessica Wells: And it's good.

John Long: And, oh, it was fantastic. Yeah, it was wonderful.

Jessica Wells: Goes with everything.

Cobie Rutherford: What other contests and activities do you help with?

Jessica Wells: So, with 4-H and FFA, we have poultry judging, which those students will come to state competitions, they also have district competitions and they judge market products as well as live birds. Those we basically base off of industry standards. So most people don't realize it, but when you go buy those eggs or that meat in the grocery store, there's actually a grade on them. And that grade means something. You know, if you go and see that grade A on the top of a carton, that means that that's a good, top egg. Whereas you'd have an A, B, C or no grade. We don't actually buy B eggs or C eggs, they go for other things.

Jessica Wells: But we teach those youth what those grades mean and how to judge those products on that factor, to say whether it's a good egg, a bad egg, mediocre egg, I guess. And then also the quality of that bird. So in our industry, I know a lot of people think we just hatch those eggs, put those birds in a house and see what we get in the end, we can't do that. A processing plant can't run efficiently if those birds aren't uniform, if they're not grown to the best of their ability, we lose profit. So there's characteristics we can look for in young hens and in broilers that we could either cull that out, so that genetic line doesn't move into future generations. And we teach those kids how to look for that. Pigmentation's an easy one to kind of use as example. If a hand has really yellow legs, that means she's probably not laying those yellow yolks. So she doesn't lay as many eggs.

John Long: Really?

Jessica Wells: Yeah. So she-

John Long: Wow. Did you know that, Cobie?

Cobie Rutherford: I did not.

Jessica Wells: Yeah.

John Long: Just learn something every day.

Jessica Wells: I know. She actually, the food she consumes has xanthophylls in it, which is yellow pigment. And as she eats that, it turns her skin yellow. If she's laying eggs, she's utilizing that nutrient for that egg. So it will pull that color out of her body. So I could actually walk through a hen house of egg layers and I could tell you who's consuming feed and not giving me profit. And we would want to get rid of that bird because if I'm just feeding her and she's serving no purpose, you know, it's not useful for us. So they learn how to place those birds based on those characteristics. So, it's not just a fun activity, it's actually something that we do utilize in the industry. And our students in college actually take those courses and they compete and they will utilize that once they go into the industry.

John Long: It seems to me, that there has been an increase in... Maybe not, but it seems like it to me, that there's been an increase in interest in growing your own chickens, growing your own eggs at home.

Jessica Wells: There has.

John Long: Especially in our area, I know for a fact.

Jessica Wells: Right.

John Long: Why do you think that is?

Jessica Wells: You know, I think, this is just my opinion-

John Long: You're entitled to it.

Jessica Wells: Yeah, I think so.

John Long: This is free radio.

Jessica Wells: But I think as, Americans especially, but as a human population, we always want what we can't have. And you know when 90% of us lived on a farm, nobody wanted a spare chicken to play with, you know? Because we were all doing it day in and day out. And now that less than 3% of that population live on that farm, we want what we can't have. We don't actually grow our food, so you know what I think I can... I want to take that opportunity, I want to try it out because I've never done it before. So I think that's a lot of where that boom comes from. And social media, too, we see a lot on social media. It has a huge impact and a lot of that's in your face on do we really know where our food comes from? Do you know what those sources are? Whether it's true or false, we take it, we absorb it. And I think that it plays a part on people getting into that feel of wanting to grow their own and see if they can do it.

John Long: And maybe it's in fact that they want to know where they're... I mean, how their food's being handled, too. I've heard that as a reason as why.

Jessica Wells: Right. Most of the time when they do get that flock of birds, they realize real quick that it's a lot more convenient to go back into the grocery store.

John Long: I had an old poultry science professor told me the same thing. He said, "Don't worry with it."

Jessica Wells: It's a lot cheaper, too. I mean, don't get me wrong, it is a very fun hobby. And chicken of all the livestock is probably the best to prove to a child, it's something that they can maintain on their own. So it's a good one to use as a concept of you're not going to sink thousands of dollars into it, it's going to be pretty cheap. You don't have to have a lot of land for it. And they're able to take care of that, not knocking Cobie livestock over here with cattle and whatnot, but I'm not so sure I'd give my four-year-old a bucket and send them out into the pasture with bulls to feed. I would probably give a four-year-old a bucket to go feed some chickens.

John Long: Yeah, they're pretty safe.

Jessica Wells: Yeah, a little safer.

John Long: Until they get spurs on them, I guess you get roosters over there.

Jessica Wells: Yeah, don't get me wrong, they can hurt you, but I don't think it's going to be as bad as some other livestock. So, it's a good, fun project. Like I said, I don't think you're going to save money on it by doing it, but it does teach some really good qualities in youth.

John Long: Educational value's there for sure.

Jessica Wells: Right, right. But aside from that judging, we also have egg prep competition. So students come and give a 10-minute presentation. Those youth come up with some type of food product that they make and it has to have egg in it. And we get everything under the sun, deviled eggs, we get that.

John Long: My favorite.

Jessica Wells: Yes. But some of them will even make cheesecake because it has egg in it, it has to-

Cobie Rutherford: I'm sorry. He was starting to say, "Oh really?"

Jessica Wells: Yeah, you'd be amazed at what you can make with some egg. But they come and do a demonstration and they talk about that product and then they also do a taste test. So the judges will have... We'll have a panel of judges and they serve their product after their presentation and whoever has the best product, as far as flavor and presentation, ends up winning that competition. So that's one that's really fun and you don't have to necessarily get in there with live birds and whatnot, you still get that process. And then our main one, that big one, is the chain project.

John Long: Oh, I love this. I love saying chicken chain.

Jessica Wells: I saved it best for last, right?

John Long: Yes, yes.

Jessica Wells: That poultry chain is really fun, we do all ages, so Cloverbud all the way up to that Senior level 4-'er. They get chicks starting May 19th week, every year, and usually, we tell them to order around 20 because it gives you kind of a pool, but-

John Long: And they go through that through you? Is that how they do that? I mean, through the poultry science. They say, "Hey-"

Jessica Wells: Yes, yes. Their county agent would have all of the information and then, obviously, if they can't get what they need from that county office, then they can always call us and we can answer questions and whatnot. Any of those routes would work, we're probably going to direct them back to that county office, but we'll be glad to help. But those kids get those 20 chicks, or around 20... Obviously if you have six kids, I don't expect you to buy six times 20-

John Long: That's a lot of chickens.

Cobie Rutherford: That's too much.

Jessica Wells: So we don't make it mandatory, but it's just a suggestion. But there're select breeds that they can choose from, they raise those birds for about 20 weeks. So they get them to, basically, sexual maturity and then they bring them to the state fair and they pick their top three to show.

John Long: Wow.

Jessica Wells: It's really been a pleasure to do that. We started that project about eight years ago, I think, and it's been a lot of fun. It's really rewarding. We usually have a pretty large group of kids that compete. We do give out monetary awards for that, so our grand champion gets $1,000, makes it worth it, you know?

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah.

John Long: I'm sorry.

Jessica Wells: You want to compete now, John?

John Long: No, I'm going to sign my vote.

Jessica Wells: And then a reserve gets 500 and we give money to first through fifth place as well. And then there's a category in that, showmanship. So I came up with the showmanship after our first year, I had a little girl that kind of pulled my heartstrings. She was about 10 years old, came decked out, all the bells and whistles, just so excited to be there. She lived with her grandmother, her grandmother was a lot older and you could tell they didn't have a whole lot. But buddy, she was ready, she was excited. But you know, 85-year-old grandmother doesn't understand the concept of feed-in-a-bag feed and it having a nutritional value and whatnot. So she was free ranging some chickens and telling her have fun. So, obviously, she didn't place, her chickens weren't very good quality, but, I opened the cage, they looked at me, jumped in my arms, they weren't scared at all. You could tell the child had lived in that chicken pen.

Jessica Wells: So, we developed the showmanship category to where those students actually take that chicken and they show it. It has to walk across a table for them, they have to position it in different positions and kind of show that bird. So it doesn't really matter the quality of the bird, but it proves that that kid took up time and effort with that animal. So it gives them the ability to place when maybe they don't have the means to place in other categories. So-

Cobie Rutherford: That's awesome.

Jessica Wells: Yeah. And they get a monetary award, as well. We placed first and second for showmanship. So-

Cobie Rutherford: That is cool.

Jessica Wells: It is really fun to watch these little kids make a chicken walk across the table, too.

John Long: I was going to ask you-

Jessica Wells: Yes?

John Long: I'm not even going to go because my mind was thinking, okay, now how do you exactly show a chicken?

Jessica Wells: I know, it's like any other animal. If you've ever seen kids show rabbits or sheep or anything-

John Long: What do you do? Whistle and hold it in the air?

Jessica Wells: You would be amazed.

John Long: Really?

Jessica Wells: So they'll train them with treats.

John Long: Yeah, like a dog.

Jessica Wells: Yeah, just like a dog. And they'll pretty much put their fingers in front of their face and kind of snap and that chicken will walk and-

John Long: You are kidding?

Jessica Wells: Yeah, and they'll stop them-

John Long: I've got to... Have you seen this before, Cobie?

Cobie Rutherford: I've seen the afterwards of a chicken show, but I've never watched the children's show their chickens.

Jessica Wells: Yeah, it's pretty neat to watch.

John Long: That is too cool.

Jessica Wells: Now, occasionally-

John Long: Now, when does this happen because I'm going to make plans.

Jessica Wells: So we always do the second weekend of the state fair, we generally have that show on that Friday before. It's worth coming.

John Long: So, that's the Friday before 4-H day, I guess.

Cobie Rutherford: That's right.

Jessica Wells: It is.

John Long: Oh, I'll be there.

Jessica Wells: It is, yeah, come on over.

John Long: Oh, I've got to see this, this chicken walk [crosstalk 00:26:49].

Jessica Wells: Yeah. We're usually showing about five at a time from starting about 8:00, 8:30 until lunch.

John Long: Where is that located? Is it in one of the barns?

Jessica Wells: So it's usually where your dairy show is going on in the arena, we're usually right outside of that.

John Long: A smaller ring.

Jessica Wells: Yeah, yeah.

John Long: In the little, smaller ring.

Jessica Wells: Yeah.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah. Last year I walked through there after the show was over and I tried to buy some chickens from a 4-H'er and she priced those three chickens to me for 75 bucks.

Jessica Wells: Hey, there's a lot of work that went into [crosstalk 00:27:18].

Cobie Rutherford: That's right, that's fine.

John Long: If you won't Fifi, you're going to have to pay for it.

Jessica Wells: Exactly. So we actually did do auctions a couple of years, but we kind of ran into that. A lot of those kids get attached and they just really don't want to get rid of them.

John Long: Yeah. Now, I'm excited just to see the little arena.

Jessica Wells: It's a show that's worth coming to see.

John Long: And it's all hens, we don't have rooster?

Jessica Wells: We do all hens. So they don't get... If they want to buy rooster they can, but we don't do roosters. I kind of like to get that concept across that we don't need a rooster to get our eggs and they don't serve a purpose unless you want chicks off of them.

John Long: Right, more chicks.

Jessica Wells: It's just a headache. They get aggressive and-

John Long: They're so pretty, though.

Jessica Wells: They are pretty.

John Long: But pretty annoying.

Jessica Wells: When your four-year-old walks in and they start attacking.

John Long: Yeah. We don't want that to happen.

Cobie Rutherford: So do y'all do anything with any other types of poultry? With ducks or geese or guineas-

John Long: Turkeys.

Jessica Wells: Yeah, so as far as youth projects, we don't, some other states do have turkey shows. The Turkey industry is nonexistent in Mississippi.

John Long: Don't they have it in Arkansas.

Jessica Wells: They do.

John Long: I thought they did.

Jessica Wells: They do. So neighboring states do have some turkeys, we're too hot for turkeys here in Mississippi.

John Long: Okay.

Jessica Wells: We're too hot for everything really. But-

John Long: For us.

Jessica Wells: Yeah, exactly. But we don't really have a whole lot of turkeys. Now, if a backyard enthusiast had turkeys or ducks or geese or whatever, then we're equipped to answer those questions and help them out as best we can. But we don't have any projects that focus around those other avian species.

Cobie Rutherford: Gotcha.

John Long: You just don't think about... Domestic turkeys, I guess. Wild turkeys live out and I guess they're tougher.

Jessica Wells: Yeah. They're way different.

John Long: Wait, wait, here we go, I'm getting sidetracked again. Better bring us back around.

Jessica Wells: John, if you've ever been around commercial turkeys, you would-

John Long: You'd know the difference.

Jessica Wells: Yes, yes.

John Long: Yeah, I bet there is.

Jessica Wells: There's a big difference. They're hard to raise, too. They're not as smart as chicken.

John Long: Really?

Jessica Wells: Yeah. You kind of... With a baby chick, you hatch it out and you put feed and water out and they're good to go, give them some heat. But with a turkey, you generally... They imprint on that mother, so you have to kind of feed and give them reasons to go to the water and if you don't give them heat, they won't go and eat and drink and-

John Long: Wow.

Jessica Wells: They're way more finicky than a chicken.

John Long: Labor-intensive.

Jessica Wells: They are. They are.

Cobie Rutherford: Sure didn't know that.

Jessica Wells: Yeah.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah. When I grew up we had some backyard chickens and some of my fondest memories-

John Long: I thought he was about to say turkeys.

Cobie Rutherford: No, my grandparents never let me get turkeys because they said they roost in trees and they'll poop on the car and-

John Long: Well, yeah.

Cobie Rutherford: Their poop is acidic and it'd make the car rust.

Jessica Wells: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

John Long: That's true.

Jessica Wells: Yeah.

Cobie Rutherford: Is it?

John Long: I mean I'm asking, I don't know.

Jessica Wells: Yeah, it is. They basically excrete uric acid.

John Long: Oh my.

Jessica Wells: So, they're not like us. It is pretty nasty and-

John Long: And we've scored some more points on something I didn't know.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah.

John Long: That's crazy.

Jessica Wells: Yeah, it's uric acid.

Cobie Rutherford: So that was why I couldn't have turkeys, but we would always... Like, we would sell chickens at the local trade day and we'd get up before dawn go out there and catch the chickens while they were on the roast and then like take them to trade day and pedal them all day.

John Long: Really?

Cobie Rutherford: Yep.

John Long: My wife won't let me have turkeys at the house. She says I gobble enough, so...

Jessica Wells: I agree with her, they're a little bit of obnoxious. They're not real bright and they are a lot of maintenance.

John Long: Yeah, I bet.

Jessica Wells: They're way bigger bird, too.

John Long: Everything after it, I'm sure, too.

Jessica Wells: Yes, yes.

John Long: Just like chickens.

Jessica Wells: Yeah. I worked with them in my master's degree and I had my fair share of turkeys, the line that we worked with-

John Long: That's good eating, too. I'm saying-

Jessica Wells: It is.

John Long: The protein and...

Jessica Wells: Yes, it tastes really good.

John Long: It tastes mighty good at any time.

Jessica Wells: That would be one pro to having your own turkey, turkey's pretty expensive in the grocery store.

John Long: Oh, you're not kidding. Meat, would you come out on top, growing your-

Jessica Wells: Probably not-

John Long: Probably not.

Jessica Wells: You'd still have a lot of feed intake there, but-

Cobie Rutherford: You know, my former boss in Kentucky, they had a little farm right outside of Lexington, and his wife grew turkeys and would sell them for 75 bucks a piece.

Jessica Wells: Yes.

John Long: Holy smokes.

Cobie Rutherford: Processed at the farmer's market.

Jessica Wells: And people will pay it. Yeah, people will definitely pay it. We do a fundraiser, occasionally we have in the past with our club, and people don't bat an eye at $50, $60 for a whole turkey.

John Long: Wow.

Jessica Wells: So I mean, especially if it's a fundraiser for-

John Long: Well, yeah, sure. Sure, sure.

Jessica Wells: Somebody, but we've done that in the past with our club and I try to not mention it too often because I end up being the one that's processing all those turkeys. And you process a couple of turkeys in you realize really quick, it's not fun.

Cobie Rutherford: It's hard work.

John Long: You did it with hot water?

Jessica Wells: Do what?

John Long: Do you do it with hot water?

Jessica Wells: Yeah. We do use it... Well, we use our scalder and whatnot because we have our own processing plant. It's just that our automation is set for chickens, so we can't hang turkeys in it. So as far as like the cut-up process, everything past plucking we have to do by hand and even hanging a Turkey, their wings-

John Long: Oh yeah.

Jessica Wells: I mean if you're not careful, I could honestly see them break an arm on you if you let them get too crazy and start flocking around on you.

John Long: I guarantee they will. I've got scars to prove it.

Jessica Wells: Yeah, exactly. And you got to think your turkey that you're killing in the wild is not near the size of-

John Long: No, no.

Jessica Wells: A commercial turkey.

John Long: I know, I know, they're more ferocious.

Jessica Wells: Yeah. Those breeder turkeys can get up to 80, 90 pounds.

John Long: You are kidding?

Jessica Wells: No, they're big.

Cobie Rutherford: Wow.

John Long: Did know that? I did not know they were that large.

Cobie Rutherford: I knew that the males were so big that they couldn't naturally service the hens.

Jessica Wells: That's right.

John Long: Wow.

Jessica Wells: That's right.

John Long: I'm just... This is a Friday learning experience for me.

Jessica Wells: I know, the commercial industry actually artificially inseminates on turkeys.

John Long: Geez, that is insane. I did not know that.

Jessica Wells: Yeah. They don't have artificial insemination in turkeys and chickens, so they can actually store sperm, so you don't have to do it every day.

John Long: Is that an ootheca?

Jessica Wells: Do what?

John Long: What's that called and isn't that an ootheca? Now, what's that called when they can store that because I've heard of that.

Jessica Wells: You know, I don't know what the term is.

John Long: I'm sorry.

Jessica Wells: I should, they have sperm tubules, I know that. That's [crosstalk 00:33:18]-

John Long: Yeah, that is pretty neat. I think that [crosstalk 00:33:20]-

Cobie Rutherford: I didn't know that.

John Long: So they can be serviced once, yeah.

Jessica Wells: It's about a-

John Long: It's a repository.

Jessica Wells: A turkey can store almost about two months, approximately two months. So and then a chicken is about two weeks.

Cobie Rutherford: Wow.

Jessica Wells: Yeah, you're not in there but you know maybe once a month or something like that, it's not an everyday chore.

John Long: I'd love to see an 80-pound Turkey coming through the woods, just once.

Jessica Wells: Oh my gosh.

John Long: Thing would look like a tank.

Jessica Wells: Hunting season would be over-complete.

John Long: Here you go, this is all the turkey's you get, right here. Well Jessica, we certainly appreciate you coming in and sitting down with us. It's been a lot of fun.

Jessica Wells: I enjoyed it.

John Long: And, again, we've learned a lot. So, Cobie, you got any other questions for her? This feel so educating.

Cobie Rutherford: I do, too. It was a good Friday podcast.

Jessica Wells: Good.

John Long: Absolutely, absolutely. Then Jessica, you've talked about a lot of projects and a lot of things for 4-H'ers to be involved in. Where can they go and get more information on that.

Jessica Wells: So, all of your county offices are, obviously, going to have that information. Also, you can visit our website, poultry.msstate.edu and even if you call our front office or anything, if you mention youth, you're going to end up getting in touch with me. Even if you don't remember a name, you don't know the face, anything like that. Everyone in that department is going to funnel you to me, so we can answer any questions and get you in touch with the right people in order to get active in those youth programs. I mean I do it if I had... I have kids and none of them are old enough yet, but I'm sure they'll be in all of those poultry projects.

John Long: Do you have chickens at your house?

Jessica Wells: I do not. Anytime they want to see chickens, they can come up to work.

John Long: And an 80-pound turkey, apparently.

Jessica Wells: That's right and they do. They get pretty aggravated when they come up to the building and I don't have chicks. They just don't understand why there's not chicks there.

John Long: What a big letdown.

Jessica Wells: Yeah, it is.

John Long: Come on, come on.

Jessica Wells: So, why did I come up here again?

John Long: Yeah.

Jessica Wells: But we don't have chickens at home. You know, I'll work with them enough. It's kind of a biosecurity issue, too, with us having a farm and I'm on that farm constantly. I would hate to think that my chickens gave some type of sickness to chickens that we're raising to research and whatnot, that are worth tons of money.

John Long: Right, right, sure. That makes sense. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to throw a guilt trip over...

Jessica Wells: No, it's fine. My kids can get all the chickens they want at work, they can see them anytime they need to.

John Long: That's awesome. Awesome. Well Cobie, tell everybody where they can go as far as on the extension side, where they can go to get more information.

Cobie Rutherford: So you can visit extension.msstate.edu or contact any of your local county offices.

John Long: And we would love if you're hearing this podcast, please subscribe and I guess like, whatever, our podcast, because we're going to keep bringing it to you every week. So just a little word, too, is if you're interested on when these podcasts drop, that's the official term drop.

Jessica Wells: I learned something today, now.

John Long: Yeah, there you go, there you go. They drop on every Wednesday, so just keep up to speed on that. And you can also go to the extension webpage and just type in 4-H-4-U-2 and you will hear us talking about a variety of subjects. So with that, we're going to close out this podcast and thanks for listening.

Announcer: Thanks for joining us for 4-H-4-U-2. For more information, please visit extension.msstate.edu and be sure to subscribe to our podcast. 4-H-4-U-2 is produced by the Mississippi State University Extension Service, Office of Agricultural Communications.

Natasha Haynes the host of The Food Factor satisfies our appetites with a discussion on how knowing what to eat helps everyone make healthy choices when we sit down to eat.

Transcript:

Announcer: This is 4H4U2, a podcast from the Mississippi State University Extension Service promoting 4-H programs and positive youth development. Here now your host, Dr. John Long and Cobie Rutherford.

John Long: Well, if you're hearing that funky music, you know what it's time for. It is a time for another podcast of 4H4U2. I'm your host John Long.

Cobie Rutherford: And I'm Cobie Rutherford.

John Long: And I tell you what, we're laying down some tracks on this podcast. If I think I am correct, it will be our 21st episode.

Cobie Rutherford: Wow. Time is flying, John.

John Long: Yes it is. It is. We're having fun doing it, too. And we are so happy to have our guest with us today. And Cobie, I'm going to let you introduce our guest today.

Cobie Rutherford: Well, our guest, I think, is one of Extension at Mississippi State celebrities.

John Long: Yes.

Cobie Rutherford: Miss Natasha, you all know her as a host of The Food Factor. And Natasha, what is your exact title?

Natasha Haynes: Extension Agent 4, and I am in the Rankin County Extension Office.

John Long: Shout out to Rankin County.

Cobie Rutherford: They've had a big week.

John Long: Yes.

Natasha Haynes: We have had a big week. I saw on social media we won second place, National 4-H Forestry.

John Long: That is awesome.

Cobie Rutherford: That's really good.

John Long: That is awesome. I've been to that 4H camp up there. And you ever been to Jackson's Mill? Y'all ever been there?

Cobie Rutherford: I have not.

Natasha Haynes: I have not.

John Long: It is absolutely beautiful, absolutely beautiful. I've been there twice.

Cobie Rutherford: So I guess Natasha is here today to talk to us about foods.

John Long: Yes.

Cobie Rutherford: I have watched all these, every single episode of The Food Factor.

Natasha Haynes: Thank you!

Cobie Rutherford: I'm a huge, huge fan. And Natasha, I know your favorite color is purple.

Natasha Haynes: It is.

Cobie Rutherford: And things you like to cook.

Natasha Haynes: See I have my purple tennis shoes on.

Cobie Rutherford: I see that. We never get to see those purple tennis shoes on Food Factor.

Natasha Haynes: I know. I know.

John Long: Her office is purple.

Natasha Haynes: Is purple.

Cobie Rutherford: Is it really?

John Long: Yes.

Natasha Haynes: Yes. It's all purple.

Cobie Rutherford: How about that?

John Long: It's cool.

Cobie Rutherford: I feel like we're sitting with a celebrity.

Natasha Haynes: Y'all are so kind.

John Long: Yeah, I do, too.

Cobie Rutherford: If we had Gary Bachman in here, I feel like we would have the duo of Extensions.

John Long: I'm telling you.

Natasha Haynes: Now, Gary is a celebrity. I've been out with him.

Natasha Haynes: People recognize him everywhere we go.

John Long: Every time I see The Food Factor, I don't care who's in the room, I say, "I know her. I work with her."

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah.

Natasha Haynes: Thank you. I appreciate that.

Cobie Rutherford: Natasha, what is your most favorite part about your job?

Natasha Haynes: I like the fact that it's so different. I mean, I have really enjoyed being the host of Food Factor, because so many people have recognized me and they've talked about different recipes they've tried. I know just working in the Extension Office has been fun, because no two days are truly alike, and it's just always something different.

John Long: Right. And we're going to be talking about food today. When Cobie said that, I was like, well, if you could see both of us, Cobie and I, you know we love food.

Cobie Rutherford: We do.

Natasha Haynes: I love food. We've been eating it. We've been filming the last few days, so I have eaten a good bit. So, I have got to go to the gym tonight.

John Long: What is your favorite thing to eat?

Natasha Haynes: Wow. I would say sushi.

John Long: I love sushi, yeah.

Natasha Haynes: I love sushi. I am a rice-a-holic, and I'm trying to not eat as much sushi. No offense to the Rice Council. I love rice, so I'm not saying anything negative.

John Long: Right, right.

Natasha Haynes: I'm just trying to cut back on my intake.

John Long: Everything in moderation.

Natasha Haynes: Everything in moderation.

John Long: Nothing wrong with that.

Natasha Haynes: So, I love that. And of course I just love any kind of fruits. I'm really hung up on cherries right now, I guess, because they're on sale at the grocery store. But I've been eating like a bag of cherries in a couple of days.

John Long: That's good.

Natasha Haynes: Yes.

John Long: That's good.

Natasha Haynes: So, that's my second favorite.

Cobie Rutherford: I like everything

John Long: I do, too.

Cobie Rutherford: ... except tomatoes. I will not eat a raw tomato.

John Long: Are you the same way?

Natasha Haynes: No! I love tomatoes.

John Long: I do, too.

Natasha Haynes: You put basil on them, and put any kind of balsamic vinegar, oh, man, that's the best little salad. No.

John Long: We need to bring a hot plate in here, and we can just do our own little-

Natasha Haynes: We can make our own food, right?

John Long: If you hear the sizzling, that's us.

Natasha Haynes: Right on the podcast.

Cobie Rutherford: That'd be really good.

Natasha Haynes: Then we need smell-a-vision.

John Long: I know. Wouldn't it be so nice?

Cobie Rutherford: You know, by the time we're retired it could happen.

John Long: It could.

Natasha Haynes: It can happen.

John Long: Food Factor with smell-a-vision.

Natasha Haynes: With smell-a-vision.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah. That'd be awesome.

Natasha Haynes: We'll make that a app.

John Long: See?

Natasha Haynes: Extension has to get it.

John Long: We always say that this is where the great ideas come from, right here.

Natasha Haynes: It does.

Cobie Rutherford: That's right.

Natasha Haynes: It does.

John Long: Yeah, that's true. That is very true.

Cobie Rutherford: I like cooking, but I don't feel like I'm very good at it, because every time I do I mess up every single dish, and every single pan in my house.

Natasha Haynes: I'm like that. I'm a messy cook. I pretty much have my kitchen all counter top full of different pots and pans and seasonings. But you know what? I look at this way, a messy cook is a good cook.

John Long: That's what I've always heard. Yeah.

Natasha Haynes: So I wouldn't even worry about that. It just means you're going to spend more time cleaning up the kitchen.

Cobie Rutherford: Cleaning up.

Natasha Haynes: But that's fine.

John Long: Yeah, that's right.

Natasha Haynes: That's not a big deal. Like I said, I love to cook.

John Long: I don't mind making a mess, I just don't like cleaning.

Cobie Rutherford: I'm the same way, John.

Natasha Haynes: I know, I know. But see, if you have kids, then you just tell them come in the kitchen. I don't have children, so that doesn't work for me. I have to clean up my own mess, but if you have children you could probably say, "Hey, y'all go in there and clean up the kitchen."

John Long: I am a neat freak, and I have learned, being a parent, to just let it go.

Natasha Haynes: Yes.

John Long: Let it go. There will be a time where I can be in control of that again.

Natasha Haynes: You can't with kids.

John Long: No.

Natasha Haynes: If they're in the kitchen cooking, it's just going to get messy.

John Long: Yeah, that's right.

Natasha Haynes: And I have nieces and nephews, and when they're in the kitchen with me it is messy.

John Long: I guarantee it. I guarantee it.

Cobie Rutherford: I don't know if we've got enough soap in our house that I could trust my child to wash his hands with to get them clean enough to touch his food or a dish that I'm going to eat out of. A nasty little animal.

John Long: Have another one and you won't care.

Cobie Rutherford: I know, right?

Natasha Haynes: How old is your child?

Cobie Rutherford: He's two and a half.

Natasha Haynes: Oh, he's little, yeah. No, it'll change. You'll be okay. You'll get past that phase.

Cobie Rutherford: I have learned though, and partly from The Food Factor, is that one time Natasha did an episode on, that if you can get your kids to help prepare their food, that they're more likely to eat it. And I tried that one night, I think it was with a quesadilla, and my son's very picky eating, but I let him help build the quesadilla and he thought that was so much fun and he ate every bite of it.

Natasha Haynes: Wow. Well, that's a great thing, because I think ... We just did a recipe for cauliflower tots that's going to come out in a couple of weeks. And that was one thing I encouraged parents is to let your kids make that with you, because cauliflower is something different, and kids kind of frown upon that. So that was a good thing to just encourage parents to participate in that. And then, to put cheese in it. If you put cheese in things, kids will try it.

John Long: Yes, yes.

Natasha Haynes: Unless you have a child, like my nephew, who doesn't eat cheese, which, I think, that's just crazy.

John Long: Or dump sour cream on it.

Natasha Haynes: Dump sour cream on it. Or ketchup.

John Long: Yes.

Natasha Haynes: Now, you get real creative what sauces the kids like.

John Long: That's right. It's ironic you say cauliflower, because yesterday we were having a conversation and one of our local pizza places here has a cauliflower pizza crust.

Natasha Haynes: Yes.

John Long: I don't want to say the big deal, but I'm going to be ignorant. Why is cauliflower such a-

Natasha Haynes: It's just a good, versatile vegetable that you can use in cooking, and it gives a good consistency.

John Long: I got you.

Natasha Haynes: So, for example, cauliflower rice is real popular, right now.

John Long: I heard ... Yeah, we were talking about that.

Natasha Haynes: You can buy it in the grocery store. It's real inexpensive. It cooks well. It doesn't have a strong flavor, so you can put food with it and it takes on the flavor of the other foods.

John Long: Okay.

Natasha Haynes: So that's one good thing.

John Long: Yeah, because they said that you really can't taste the cauliflower so much in them.

Natasha Haynes: You can't, because I cook with cauliflower rice a good bit, and I usually just put whatever kind of meat on top and the sauce and it's fine.

Cobie Rutherford: Cool.

John Long: Yeah. That's awesome.

Cobie Rutherford: I have not tried cooking with cauliflower. I've tried mashed cauliflower before.

John Long: Now, that sounds like a good show.

Natasha Haynes: Cooking with Cauliflower. Well, actually, we've done a segment on that.

John Long: Really?

Natasha Haynes: Go take a look.

John Long: Okay.

Cobie Rutherford: How about that?

John Long: I've been on Food Factor.

Natasha Haynes: You have.

John Long: Yes.

Cobie Rutherford: What did you cook?

John Long: Well, I didn't cook anything.

Natasha Haynes: No.

John Long: It was my hands, when I was getting cereal off the shelf for something.

Natasha Haynes: Yes, you were getting cereal off the shelf.

John Long: These are famous hands.

Natasha Haynes: We've used people in Bost a lot.

Cobie Rutherford: Yes. Hand model.

Natasha Haynes: Particularly on the fourth floor.

John Long: I don't think I had a beard then.

Cobie Rutherford: Oh, yeah?

John Long: Probably not.

Natasha Haynes: No, I don't think you did. Yeah, you look totally different, because that's been several years ago.

Cobie Rutherford: You know. One thing, Natasha, that I got tickled at last year is when we were all at the state fair and we'd set up all the exhibits, and Natasha had the opportunity, and I'll say opportunity very loosely, to judge all the baked goods. And I remember just some of them had been in those bags probably for a few days.

Natasha Haynes: That was an interesting contest to do. But it's always fun to see the chocolate chip cookies, and of course the yeast breads, and it can get really interesting as a nice way to just judge everything. But I do like that, because it's always great to see what kids are cooking.

John Long: That's true.

Cobie Rutherford: I got my start in 4-H with the Cookie Cook-Off in fifth grade. So, a lot of people say, well, Cobie is livestock all the way. But-

Natasha Haynes: Yeah, because I thought you were a livestock agent.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah, and if it hadn't been for cookies, I would've never, probably, went on with the 4H program, because I-

Natasha Haynes: And look at you now.

Cobie Rutherford: I know, right?

Natasha Haynes: Who would've thought?

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah. I had to give a presentation. We had to bake six cookies, and then stand up in front of the whole classroom to give our presentation on our cookies. I was-

Natasha Haynes: What kind of cookies did you make?

Cobie Rutherford: So I made yellow cake mix cookies with chocolate chips, and they were fantastic.

John Long: And they were cauliflower.

Cobie Rutherford: No. I didn't-

Natasha Haynes: No, no cauliflower in those.

Natasha Haynes: They should have been really good.

Cobie Rutherford: They were very good. And then, I won the school contest and then went on to county. So that was my first real interaction with other people from around the county. It was so much fun.

John Long: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Natasha Haynes: So then did you go on to the district or to state?

Cobie Rutherford: Well, I was just a junior, so we didn't-

Natasha Haynes: You didn't go all the way.

Cobie Rutherford: I didn't go on all the way. I don't think I won the county contest. But I do remember, one time ... So my wife was really big in foods, and she did a a dairy demonstration at the district show, and I went and watched her give it.

John Long: Is this when y'all met?

Cobie Rutherford: Well, I had met her before, but I went ... I just saw the program, saw who was doing different contests, and I went and stalked her so I could be a fan.

John Long: Oh, my. So this is the first time you stalked her.

Natasha Haynes: And that's when you met your wife.

Cobie Rutherford: That's right.

John Long: Stalking her.

Natasha Haynes: Stalking her at a 4-H event.

John Long: And this is 4H4U2.

Cobie Rutherford: And I told her-

Natasha Haynes: You may not want to tell people that.

John Long: That's right.

Cobie Rutherford: That's probably a good thing.

John Long: We'll edit that part out.

Cobie Rutherford: But you know what she did make? And your purple purse reminded me, she made grape ice cream.

John Long: I haven't had that.

Cobie Rutherford: And she started out with this little poem about the Purple Cow.

Natasha Haynes: Yes.

Cobie Rutherford: I told her, when we started dating several years later, I'm like, "You know, I remember that." And she's like, "Oh my gosh, you're such a weirdo."

John Long: The truth comes out.

Cobie Rutherford: I know, I know. That's a good key point, though. Persistence pays off.

John Long: Right.

Natasha Haynes: It does.

John Long: I guarantee it does.

Natasha Haynes: It will pay off.

John Long: I guarantee it does.

Natasha Haynes: And I bet y'all probably make Purple Cows for your anniversary, don't you?

Cobie Rutherford: No, we don't. I don't think she really liked that recipe for some reason. I've asked her to make one before and she just won't oblige.

Natasha Haynes: That's no fun.

John Long: How do you make purple ice cream?

Cobie Rutherford: She did it with Kool-Aid and I don't know what else she put in it.

Natasha Haynes: Maybe a juice, I think. I know there's a fun punch that's called a Purple Cow, and it's got grape juice and ice cream and other things in it. It's kind of like a float.

John Long: Float. That's what I was thinking. Yeah, and it's kind of light. Or not light but kind of foamy.

Natasha Haynes: Mm-hmm (affirmative). More like a float.

John Long: Yeah, kind of.

Natasha Haynes: Foamy at the top.

Cobie Rutherford: So, Natasha, I know that you helped with the contest at the Project Achievement Day, can you tell us a little bit about those contests?

Natasha Haynes: I have helped in the past with the food and nutrition, visual presentation contest, and then in the afternoon I'm helped with food and nutrition judging contests. So, the food and nutrition visual presentation, I always enjoy that because kids come up with great topics. I think this year we had a person talk about okra, which I thought that was totally different. But usually there is a presentation. They stand, they give a PowerPoint or there's a visual. And I just think they have so many wonderful topics.

Natasha Haynes: And then in the afternoon we have of course the judging contest. And in that we'll have them to identify different types of kitchen equipment as far as how to learn how to measure properly, if they're doing those techniques. And then we may even have a few menus to kind of see where their knowledge is as far as can they judge a menu from the standpoint of is it a good menu, is it a okay menu, or is it the best menu to make for your family? So we do a variety of things in the judging contest.

Cobie Rutherford: That's an incredible skill for a kid to learn about the balanced diet, and being able to pick foods that kind of go together and stuff. I think that that's something that I'm not good at myself. I might make a meal that has four starches in it and be perfectly fine, but my wife's like, "Well, where's the vegetables?"

Natasha Haynes: No. You have got to have a variety. And we do a Kids In The Kitchen in the summer time. A lot of extension offices provide that. And I think that's one way where we teach the kids about just how to have variety in your menu, and just showing them the skills of being in the kitchen, kitchen safety, how to use equipment. So that's a fun thing to do.

John Long: I'm glad that you talked about the contest, because I've never ... The visual presentations, obviously. I'm like you, I'm always impressed with the visual presentations, but I didn't know about the judging. That's really cool.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah, I didn't know about that either. I knew that we had the contest, and we had different levels to it, but, I think, when we go to Project Achievement Day in Congress, we're always running around.

John Long: Right.

Natasha Haynes: I don't get a chance to see the contest. Y'all are so busy.

John Long: No, we don't.

Cobie Rutherford: We don't get to see them.

John Long: Unless we just so happened to be.

Cobie Rutherford: Yeah.

Natasha Haynes: Yeah.

Cobie Rutherford: So I think that's pretty cool. I think that menu part really intrigues me. So, do you give them a restaurant menu, too, sometimes and let them look at that?

Natasha Haynes: It will vary depending on what level they're on, but we usually will do a home menu where someone was cooking and perhaps they had too much of, say, too many starchy items. Or we may say here's two fast food menus, can you make a meal out of one of the menus? So it varies.

John Long: Yeah. That's cool.

Cobie Rutherford: That is cool. I know a lot of schools are dropping their family consumer science programs. I know in my hometown, where I grew up in North Alabama, our school dropped theirs. Do you see Extension in 4-H kind of fill in that void that some of those kids might be missing out with that FACS Ed used to reach?

Natasha Haynes: Yes, I think so, because when you think about family, consumer science, we provide programs in food and nutrition, child development, money management. Those are all life skills that everyone needs. That's for male or female. That's across the board. So, I think a lot of times when people hear family consumer science, they're thinking it's only for the girls, but it's definitely something that all kids can participate in.

Cobie Rutherford: I think that's so important, too. When I was in high school ... So I was a seventh grader and they made all the boys take Ag and all the young ladies take

Natasha Haynes: Home Ec.

Cobie Rutherford: ... Home Ec. And I always thought, I was so jealous of the girls in Home Ec, because they were doing things like

Natasha Haynes: Cooking.

Cobie Rutherford: ... cooking and-

John Long: Going back to food.

Natasha Haynes: Yeah.

Cobie Rutherford: Going back to food.

Natasha Haynes: Going back to food.

Cobie Rutherford: And they'd be sitting out on the patio eating what they'd made for the day, and they weren't willing to share with us most of the time.

Natasha Haynes: And then, see, I thought the opposite. I was kind jealous because I was like, the boys out there in shop, they're making stuff, all kinds of wood equipment. And so, I was thinking, who wants to be in the kitchen cooking when you can make something like a wood equipment.

John Long: I saw an episode of Petticoat Junction. I don't know if y'all know what I'm talking about, but it was an old show back in the day. And they had a Home Ec class they were showing then, and I told my daughter, and I said, "They used to have a Home Ec course that they were teaching young ladies how to cook at that time." Times have changed for sure. It's not the way that that it happens now. So a lot of that education is being missed.

Natasha Haynes: It's gone. Mm-hmm (affirmative). In my Home Ec class we had to plan a wedding.

John Long: Did you really?

Natasha Haynes: From beginning to end.

John Long: Wow.

Natasha Haynes: We had to have a whole notebook to show everything from your engagement all the way down to the dress you were wearing, the reception.

John Long: Really?

Natasha Haynes: You had a budget, you had to show how much money you were spending on the wedding.

John Long: Wow.

Natasha Haynes: It was really in depth.

John Long: I did not know that they did that.

Cobie Rutherford: In our economics class in high school we had to pretend we were a family, and the teacher matched us up with ... I was matched up with one of my friends, Amy, and-

Natasha Haynes: Did you have a baby?

Cobie Rutherford: We had a baby.

Natasha Haynes: Did y'all have the egg?

Cobie Rutherford: Yep.

John Long: Oh, yeah.

Natasha Haynes: We had the egg. We did that.

John Long: You had to take care of the egg.

Natasha Haynes: Yeah. And then did she follow you around? Did the teacher follow you around, and make sure you had the egg? Because I know a lot of my friends were putting them in the locker.

John Long: Oh, really?

Natasha Haynes: And then the teacher was like, "You're killing the child." So, you had to keep the baby, I think, what was it? A week? I know-

Cobie Rutherford: No.

John Long: Yeah.

Cobie Rutherford: We didn't have to get that in depth.

Natasha Haynes: Yeah, we had to take it everywhere, and then you had to have a journal to show when the baby was sleeping, what did you do after school with the child. We had to write down so much about it.

Cobie Rutherford: That is intense.

John Long: It sounds like fun.

Natasha Haynes: It was fun, but you know-

John Long: Toting an egg around.

Natasha Haynes: Around day three you're tired of this egg. You're kind of like, let's just drop it and move on.

John Long: Okay. He wants scrambled eggs or fried.

Natasha Haynes: Right. That's pretty much how you felt by day three.

John Long: Yeah.

Cobie Rutherford: Can I drop this egg and still have to be in the class.

Natasha Haynes: Right.

John Long: Yeah, right. Right, exactly.

Natasha Haynes: Right. Hey, what happens if the egg is cracked?

John Long: Right, right. There's all these different ways to play it, I guess.

Natasha Haynes: Well, and now in Family Consumer Science classes, they have dolls.

John Long: Yeah, right.

Natasha Haynes: Have y'all seen those?

John Long: Oh, yeah.

Natasha Haynes: They're really cool, too, because they can program them to cry at different times, and they're just not happy. So, I think that's neat.

John Long: I saw that on a TV show one time. They had one and this girl, boy, she got irate having to get up in the middle of the night and make it stop crying.

Natasha Haynes: But I mean, that's a great way to teach kids about what

John Long: Yeah, I guarantee it is.

Natasha Haynes: ... it means to be a parent.

John Long: That's right.

Cobie Rutherford: That's true.

John Long: That's life.

Natasha Haynes: That's true life.

John Long: That is life.

Natasha Haynes: Nobody wants to get up at 2:00 in the morning with a baby, but if you're a parent you get up because you love that baby.

John Long: That's exactly right.

Cobie Rutherford: That's funny.

John Long: So talking about meal planning, clarify me on this, because I know that there used to be a food pyramid.

Natasha Haynes: There is now a plate.

John Long: Plate.

Natasha Haynes: It's called Choose My Plate.

John Long: Yeah, how does that work?

Natasha Haynes: So just think about a plate in your mind. It's round and divided into fours. So then that's pretty much your four food groups with the exception of dairy is on the outside of the plate. So now you've got grains, you have fruits, vegetables, protein, which is, of course, mainly your meat, but it could be something like eggs or peanuts. And then your grains are more your complex carbohydrates like rice, pasta, tortillas, those things fit in that group. And then on the outside of the plate now is a cup and that represents dairy. So that of course would be your milk or cheese group.

John Long: Right. I had found that when counting calories, and especially with these apps that we have now, if you go to look at the breakdown of carbs, of course, your carbs are going to be a little bit more, and then the fats and the proteins, it's really hard to eat a low carb or lower carb. It seems like you just get a lot of ... Especially from stuff I eat, I guess, but it's either a large amount of carbs or a large amount of fats, and it's hard to get the protein.

Natasha Haynes: Well, what I try to tell people is, remember this, that everything in moderation. So I think a lot of times we get kind of hung up on, should I eat this? Should I not eat that? But it's all in moderation. You're trying to eat the the plate as often as possible, which is 2000 calories or less. It depends on where you are as far as fitness, your age, your sex, all those things are going to determine how many calories you really need.

John Long: Right.

Natasha Haynes: So I would just tell people to really just pay more attention to getting all of the fruits and vegetables and everything that's on the plate.

John Long: Right. And I told somebody, I said, like you said, in moderation, that it's okay to eat the fries. I'll just use it as an example. Maybe not all right to eat the fries, but you don't have to eat the whole serving of it.

Natasha Haynes: Or get the kid's size.

John Long: Right.

Natasha Haynes: You don't have to get the super-size.

John Long: Right, exactly.

Natasha Haynes: A lot of times-

John Long: It's so tempting, too, though.

Natasha Haynes: It is tempting, because when you're going through the drive through, and they say, "Hey, it's 39 cents." And you say, "What? Sure. 39 more cents, yeah, I can super-size. Yeah."

John Long: Why not?

Natasha Haynes: But that pays off in the end. 39 cents today is 15 pounds later.

John Long: Right, exactly. Exactly.

Natasha Haynes: Is it worth that? No.

John Long: Right, no.

Natasha Haynes: No.

Cobie Rutherford: Crazy how those things add up.

Natasha Haynes: They do.

John Long: Real quick.

Natasha Haynes: All in moderation.

John Long: And the way they're putting the calories on everything now that you read.

Natasha Haynes: And there's a new label coming out.

John Long: Oh, really?

Natasha Haynes: It is, and it's going to be broken down more into what a true portion size is. So that will help, because I think a lot of times when people read the label now they're kind of confused as far as what's a portion?

John Long: Right.

Natasha Haynes: What's a true serving size.

John Long: Right, right.

Natasha Haynes: So that will help, and it will highlight fat and sugar and sodium.

John Long: So when is that coming out?

Natasha Haynes: I think it's going to come out completely 2020, but you should see it now. I've seen it on several different foods already slowly making a move. But I think 2020, it has to be completely on everything.

John Long: What prompted that?

Natasha Haynes: I think just the fact that we're just realizing that Americans, we need to pay more attention to how to eat better.

John Long: Right.

Natasha Haynes: We're always tweaking things to learn more and do better.

John Long: That's right. That's exactly right. Yeah, I guess the way we ate before is not the way we should eat now, right? I mean, back in the day everybody was eating fried food and not worried about it as much [crosstalk 00:21:38].

Natasha Haynes: Well, that's true, but something that I tell people all the time whenever I'm doing a food program is people always say, "I remember we left food out all day long, and it wasn't a problem." Well, food is different now. Our bodies are different now, so we have to change to fit that, and that's something that we all have to do.

John Long: Right. That's exactly right.

Cobie Rutherford: It's good advice.

John Long: That's a good take home message right there.

Cobie Rutherford: It sure is.

John Long: For sure. Well, I have really, thoroughly enjoyed our conversation this afternoon, Natasha. And let me just say this, I have to say this about Natasha, she has the most infectious smile.

Natasha Haynes: Thank you.

John Long: I always love talking with her, and she always makes me feel like I'm having a great day when I've been around her.

Natasha Haynes: Thank you, thank you.

John Long: I'm not saying that just because you're here.

Natasha Haynes: I appreciate that. Thank you.

John Long: But it's true. I've always wanted to tell you that.

Natasha Haynes: Thank you.

John Long: But anyway-

Natasha Haynes: I'm going to give you a air hug.

John Long: We're getting an air hug over the radio.

Natasha Haynes: Getting an air hug.

John Long: Yeah. So, with that we're going to get ... And Natasha, do you have any media such as webpage or anything that you would like to plug while we're here? Do you have anywhere we can go to get more information on Food Factor or where that is and-

Natasha Haynes: Please like our Food Factor page. It is @foodfactorms, and then that is also on Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.

John Long: She is all over the social media.

Cobie Rutherford: That's right.

Natasha Haynes: Yes.

John Long: Yeah, she is a celebrity. Get her autograph.

John Long: Well, with that, too, is we'll also plug and say please like our 4H4U2 podcast, and subscribe, and tell everybody you know about it. And Cobie, where can we go get more information about Extension in our Extinction and 4-H in the particular counties of our state?

Cobie Rutherford: So you can find out more about Extension or the 4H program by visiting your local county Extension Office or visiting us on the web at extension.msstate.edu.

John Long: And with that, we're going to wrap up this section, and hope you enjoyed it, and we will be talking to you next time. Have a great day.

Announcer: Thanks for joining us for 4H4U2. For more information, please visit extension.msstate.edu, and be sure to subscribe to our podcast.

Announcer: 4H4U2 is produced by the Mississippi State University Extension Service, Office of Agricultural Communications.