United FCS Sponsors Wisconsin 4-H Fall Forum

United FCS was the fi rst-time sponsor for the 2008 Wisconsin 4-H Fall Forum, held in Wausau in October. The Fall Forum invites a youth and an adult delegate from each county to attend and learn about the goals of Wisconsin 4-H Youth Development, help plan and evaluate statewide programs, and share information about county activities. Over 100 delegates attended this year’s Fall Forum.

United FCS, a part of the National Farm Credit System, serves nearly 4,400 customer-members with a primary focus on a 22-county service area in North Central Wisconsin and West Central Minnesota by providing ag loans and leases, country home loans, and a wide array of fi nancial services. The Wisconsin counties that United FCS serves are Clark, Forest, Langlade, Lincoln, Marathon, Oneida, Portage, Price, Taylor, Vilas, Waushara, and Wood. United FCS is a farmer-owned fi nancial services cooperative, with a team of qualifi ed specialists having extensive agricultural knowledge and experience.

In addition to the Fall Forum, United FCS sponsored the 2008 State 4-H Plant & Soil Sciences Day, held in July. This was their fi rst time sponsoring this event, which brings youth together from all around the state to learn more about horticulture, through tours, hands-on workshops, demonstrations, and judging practice. “Today’s youth is tomorrow’s next generation of small business owners and workforce. As more of our country’s population is urbanized, it is important that future generations understand the importance that agriculture (and its related fi elds) play in our daily lives. Sponsoring 4-H programs like the Plant & Soil Science Day and the Leadership Fall Forum provide our youth with key developmental and learning opportunities that may foster growth and development of youth seeking careers in agriculture,” stated Jay Nickel, Senior Vice President for United FCS.

Fall Forum - Dialogue Between Youth and Adults

The Annual Fall Forum of 4-H leaders was held Saturday, October 18, 2008 in Wausau, Wisconsin. This is a true forum in every sense of the word. Youth and adult leader delegates from counties throughout the state come together in a public setting for an open discussion. The forum also serves as the annual meeting for both the State 4-H Adult Leader and Youth Leader councils.

Sue Pleskac, State Volunteer Leadership Specialist says, “The most important aspect of the Fall Forum is the opportunity for volunteers to dialogue. They help set priorities for 4-H and share ideas to maintain its relevancy in a changing world.”

A past president of the Adult Leader Council , Glen Viste of Door County said, “Fall Forum is a great opportunity for the adult and youth leaders to share ideas in a friendly working environment. I’ve made a lot of strong friends, both youth and adult, as I served on the board, and I treasure both.”

The counties sending delegates often reap benefi ts. Delegates to Fall Forum share what they learned back in the county in a number of ways. Often, leaders work to replicate the Fall Forum discussions at the county level. Sometimes the leaders teach parts of the leadership development they experienced at Fall Forum. “Their number one job is to communicate back to the leaders in the counties on what happened at Fall Forum,” says Pleskac.

This year, the forum provided two areas of emphasis:

• How to make it easy for volunteers to participate and lead in 4-H
• How to improve 4-H member retention (the backdrop for this discussion included changing demographics, technology changes, and economic challenges)

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