A critical component of herdsmanship is the way exhibitors positively interact with fair goers. Minnesota 4-H will continue the program launched in 2007 in cooperation with Minnesota Foundation for Responsible Animal Care (MnFRAC), Minnesota Livestock Breeders Association and Minnesota State Fair. We will to provide training and support to help 4-H exhibitors continue to showcase a positive image of animal agriculture at the fair.

The program will consist of three components; (1) specialized training for 4-H livestock delegations 2) coaching for exhibitors as they interact one on one with fair visitors during the fair and 3) evaluation and competition for 25 bonus points to be added to the county’s total herdsmanship score. The details of the program can be found at this website: http://www.fourh.umn.edu/statefair/herdsmanshipConsumerEdPromoActivities.html

Staffing and Training
MnFRAC will provide a staff of peer mentors. These older, college age youth will conduct two workshops addressing positive communication with consumers in the fair setting. The workshops are scheduled in the late afternoon and early evening on Wednesday, August 26. Counties should select at least one representative (youth leader) from each species to attend their assigned workshop. These exhibitors will be expected to attend the training session and to share the information with others in the county delegation. One workshop will be for Small Animals (rabbit, poultry and goat) exhibitors and the other one will be for Large Animal (beef, dairy, sheep and swine) exhibitors. Details of the workshops, times and agendas will be posted at this website: http://www.fourh.umn.edu/statefair/herdsmanshipConsumerEdPromoActivities.html

County Exhibitor Expectations
One on one communication
County livestock delegations will then transfer what they have learned to one-on-one communication with fairgoers and educational and promotional activities. All exhibitors will be expected to conduct one-on-one interactions with fairgoers throughout 4-H livestock weekend. MnFRAC peer mentors will be available in the livestock areas to model, coach and encourage exhibitors with this task. (This supports the concepts in the LQA&E lesson on “Speaking Out for Animal Agriculture”)

Educational/Promotion Activities
Counties participating are asked to register at the respective species office; this will assure that no county is overlooked during the judging. Specific times will be designated for education/promotion activities. For rabbits and poultry, this will be done during their assigned times in the already existing promotion booths. A promotion area will be developed for the goat project with times assigned similar to rabbits and poultry.
Activities in the goat booth will be scheduled between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturday, August 29.

The large animal projects will each be assigned a specific time as follows:
Beef — 12-3 p.m. Saturday, August 29
Dairy — 9-12 noon, Sunday, August 30
Sheep — 6-9p.m. Thursday, August 27
Swine — 12-3 p.m. Saturday, August 29
During these times the large animal exhibitors are encouraged to have hands-on promotion/educational activities in their stalling/tack area.
County exhibitors are encouraged to work as a team to create an activity related to their species that addressed on or more of the key messages stated below. In keeping with 4-H State Fair policy all signs should be computer generated (no hand printed signs).

Key Messages
Both the one -on -one communications and the promotion/educational activities should focus on one or more of these messages
• personal information about the exhibitor, family farm, exhibit and showing experience,
• their animal(s) are raised for food and fiber
• the food produced by these animals is nutritious and safe,
• these animals have been cared for using best management practices and
• animals are raised using different approved production methods, but the final products are wholesome, safe and nutritional.

Evaluation
A team of evaluators will be evaluating these activities and the public’s interaction based on the following criteria
• Participation -10% of score –County participates in activities as assigned.
• Teamwork -15% of score-County exhibitors work as a team and establish an inviting environment.
• Public Interaction-25% of score-Demonstrates skills in engaging the public
• Props-25% of score -Shows good use of props such as eggs, rabbits, lambs, tools, charts, etc. to help enhance consumer understanding and education
• Subject Matter-25 % of score -Uses accurate and current subject matter relevant to the species

Scoring—25 bonus points per county per species will be added to the final herdsmanship score.

Awards—
Cash awards will be given to the counties that excel in this program. AGAIN in 2009 a cash award will be given to the Champion Overall Herdsmanship County based on total scores in all species areas. A county must have representation in 4 of the 7 species to qualify for the overall award.