Dear Wayne County 4-H Members, Parents, and Advisors,
This morning the Ohio Department of Agriculture made the decision to cancel all live bird exhibitions in Ohio for the remainder of 2015 in a proactive approach to deal with the current outbreak of Avian Influenza affecting the United States. This means there will not be any live poultry or waterfowl exhibited or showed at the 2015 Wayne County Fair. We know this is a tremendous disappointment to our 4-H members and their families, however, we also know this is an important precautionary measure to protect our state's poultry industry. We understand that this will impact many Junior Fair members who already have poultry in their possession or have ordered poultry. While completion of a 4-H project is not contingent upon exhibition at the fair, we recognize that it is a meaningful part of the 4-H experience.
We are currently working with the Wayne County Senior Fair Board, 4-H / FFA Poultry Committee, and the State 4-H Office to develop and finalize the alternative activities we can offer for poultry project participants at this year's fair. We know many of you will have lots of questions, but we ask that you please be patient as we work to put together a plan and answers to your questions that we will share with everyone. If you have suggestions or ideas for us to consider, please submit them in writing via e-mail to 4-H Program Assistant Stephen Heppe. We have called for a special meeting of the Poultry Committee this coming Monday and will have more information to share on or around June 15th.
For more information about the Department of Agriculture's decision to cancel all Poultry Exhibitions - please click on the following links.
Statement from The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences
Sincerely,
Doug Foxx and Stephen Heppe