INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Junior Beef Cattle Association (IJBCA) has awarded $500 grants to two Indiana county 4-H extension programs. This is the first year for the IJBCA to offer a grant to youth organizations in Indiana. The purpose of the IJBCA Grant is to fund organizations that intend to further support and promote Indiana’s beef industry.

The grant recipients are Adams County 4-H and Purdue Extension Area Two (Harrison, Crawford, Orange, Lawrence, Jackson, Washington, Scott, Clark and Floyd Counties).

Adams County plans to utilize the grant to purchase The Ohio State University Extension Beef Learning Lab Kit. This kit will provide educational hands-on materials for their beef committee to utilize when putting on a Beef Day of Education. Amy Rumschlag, Adams County 4-H youth development extension educator, said it’s been a personal mission of hers to educate the youth in Adams County 4-H that they are so much more than “little ole rural Indiana farm kids raising animals for the 4-H Fair.”

Purdue Extension Area Two will utilize the grant to create a Feed Lab Kit that will help achieve education in livestock nutrition through hands-on activities for 4-H members. “Youth participating in livestock activities...need access to materials to teach and guide them toward good management and stewardship of their animals,” said Miranda Edge, Harrison County agriculture and natural resources extension educator. Edge said that one of the most important and costly parts of raising livestock is creating a cost-effective, well-balanced diet.