The calendar year 2019-2020 has been a new year and a challenging one for 4-H. Our youth livestock programs across the state had to come up with creative and new ways to engage our members. The Youth Academy of Livestock Learning (YALL) was created by our Livestock Steering Committee to provide our 4-H livestock members across the state a way to continue their educational growth with their livestock project(s).
It was designed as an educational event that would keep our dairy, livestock, and poultry youth engaged during a time when most of their in-person opportunities had been canceled or postponed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Agents from the 4-H and Livestock and Forages teams, along with volunteers, came together to produce five educational modules for six species; beef, dairy, poultry, rabbit, small ruminant (sheep and meat goats), and swine. In addition to the modules, webinars were offered for the participants to learn more or ask questions. After the educational modules, participants elected to take age-appropriate skillathon tests designed to assess their knowledge of their species of interest. The project wrapped up with two weeks of virtual barn tours and sales talk contests. These virtual events allowed the participants an opportunity to showcase their projects, their daily routines, and their ability to promote their project animal(s).
YALL had an overwhelming response, with an estimated 2,000 participants registered for the series. Participants included individuals and school agriculture programs. YALL participants were not limited to the state of South Carolina. In addition to South Carolina participants, YALL drew participants from more than twenty states, as well as several foreign countries.
Submitted by: Dr. Brian Bolt, Clemson Extension Livestock Specialist
