The Madison County 4-H Country Ham Auction is a relatively new project in Madison County, but it has already become one of our staple programs in the county.  The agriculture community in Madison County was really looking for a place to invest in young agriculturalists when the project began. In fact, several local businesses even approached me to let me know they had money in their budget to support their local 4-H with agriculture initiatives, but they did not have a place to spend those dollars. The 4-H Country Ham Auction began in 2019 as a way to give the community a place to support youth in agriculture, and as a culminating event for all of the youths’ hard work!  

Across the Commonwealth, the Country Ham Project begins in January with youth putting their hams in cure. Each student must also complete six hours of livestock educational training and give a speech on country hams at the Kentucky State Fair. In Madison County, we also require our youth to give their ham speech at the Madison County Fair, make business phone calls inviting local businesses to our Country Ham Auction, and make small talk with the sponsors and bidders on the night of the auction. 

In Madison County, every penny spent on a youth's ham goes to the youth. Lots of our youth put it in their college fund, and several more are saving to buy a large 4-H project such as a show calf. In 2021, we had 34 youth sell their hams at the auction, which was up from 19 youth in 2020. We also sold those 34 hams in 2021 for a total of $22,450. The average price per ham in 2021 was $660, and one youth even received $1900 for her ham! This youth has some physical health issues and was unable to attend the auction due to these issues, but the community realized this and showed out for her! Making the phone call to her mother to tell her what the ham brought was one of the highlights of my career. This youth and her family have been a part of the country ham project since it began so they know the average price is around $500 from year to year. 

Watching the youth grow and develop through delivering speeches, making small talk, and making business phone calls is such an incredible experience. It is truly the epitome of 4-H. I also thoroughly enjoy working with my office team to make an event successful where we know it will take all-hands-on-deck. However, building relationships with members of the community who now volunteer to lead livestock club, judge our county communications night, and continue to spend 100s and 1000s of dollars on country hams at our auction is also incredibly rewarding. Our community stakeholders recognize they are investing in the future of agriculture, and hopefully our community. I look forward year-round to our country ham auction, and working with local supporters of our program!  We truly could not have such a successful program without the help of every county extension agent in our building, as well as our community supporters.