July 10th-14th the annual NC State 4-H Horse Show was held at the James B Hunt Horse Complex in Raleigh NC. Youth have to qualify in their respective disciplines such as; non-trotting, speed events, western pleasure and more at the district 4-H Horse shows to even be eligible to show at States. This year Granville County had 12 youth exhibit their horses at the North Qualifying 4-H Show and 9 moved on to
States.

During our time at the horse show, our group, comprised of members from Spurs & Buckles and Ease Walkers 4-H Clubs, entered into the Stall Decorating Spirit Contest. They worked together to bring their 50s diner dream to life, even serving root beer floats to whomever stopped by! This effort was not unnoticed as our group placed 1st in their division and brought back a beautiful blue ribbon that is now displayed at the Granville County Cooperative Extension Office.

In the Non-Trotting division, we had 7 youth exhibitors from Granville County showing their Tennessee Walking Horse projects. They are as follows:

Senior:
Julianne Pendergrast- Grand Champion
Mikayla Neal- Third overall

Junior:
Lily Shaeffer- Grand Champion
Zoie Carroll- Reserve Champion
Aubree Pendergrast- Third overall
Taylor Tankersley- Fourth overall
Addie Cash- Fifth overall

In the Little Britches Western Pleasure division, we had one entry:
Jacob Owens- seventh overall

In the Speed Division we had one entry:
Susie Stock- seventh overall

In the Versatility class we had one entry;
Lily Shaeffer- Reserve Grand Champion

We are so proud of how hard these youth have worked with their equine partners to make it this far. What a huge accomplishment for every single one of them. Please help us congratulate them!!

Special thanks to our volunteers that made it happen; April Shaeffer, Brenda Nelms, Trinity Pendergrast, Dani Avery-Wilson, Wendy Tatum, and Terri Dillistin. We could not have done it without you!!

To learn more about 4-H please visit https://go.ncsu.edu/granvilleco4h, follow us on facebook @GranvilleCo4H, or contact Lina Howe, 4-H Extension Agent, at 919-603-1350 or Lina_Howe@ncsu.edu.

The 5 County Beef Tour is a tradition that has been going on since the 1980s. The event rotates between Franklin, Granville, Vance, Wake and Warren counties and showcases beef operations in the host county. This educational opportunity provides local and regional beef producers a look into other operations and what practices may be beneficial to their own enterprise.

The 2024 event was held in Wake County and highlighted varied enterprises. The first stop discussed their on-farm market and how that had grown to include products from other local farms. Additionally, they discussed how they had transitioned their barn from animal production sales into an event space to hold weddings and other happenings. The second stop included a discussion on dung beetles and their importance to the soil ecosystem along with information about pasture forage
species and the importance of diversity. The final stop was to the E. Carroll Joyner Beef Education Unit at NC State University. Here, various shade structures were compared. A delicious beef brisket lunch was served followed by a discussion from an NCDA representative about marketing meat products. Multiple door prizes were given to attendees.

The Farm to Fridge program is designed to connect those with limited resources to local surplus produce, eggs, and meat. The program is in connection with the Granville County Library System and local producers. Thornton, Stovall, and South Branch all have refrigerators. During July, the community donated more than 3,000 pounds of food to the program.