FARMINGTON – Most of the contestants in the 4-H dairy show are from Franklin or nearby counties, according to Darlene Nelson, leader for the Franklin County Dairy Club.

Nelson works with children aged 9 to 19 on various projects, many of which are not even remotely related to agriculture.

According to the organization’s national Web site, its purpose is to develop youth to reach their their fullest potential. Organized through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Cooperative Extension, the program has its roots in farming but has expanded to include projects in photography, music, drama and leadership. Their motto: To make the best better.

Today, however, 4-H in Farmington was all about cows.

The process started in late winter when members chose a heifer with which to work. Nationally, fewer than 10 percent of 4-H members live on farms, so they must lease the animals from dairy farmers. In the Franklin County Dairy Club, one-third of the kids live on farms, one-third lease a cow from a family farm, and one-third lease from a nearby farm. Nelson estimates that only one or two out of the 18 members showing from her club will end up in dairy farming.

Once a child chooses a heifer, he or she works with the cow, training and grooming her. Then they go to shows and compete.

Club members can show in either of two categories: showmanship and conformation. Showmanship requires that the cows be trained to walk a certain way and obey commands. Contestants are also expected to know details about the cow and to keep them clean and well-groomed.

Conformation criteria are based on certain characteristics of a cow’s figure, a sort of bovine beauty pageant. In addition to cleanliness and grooming, the cows are judged on traits that make them good producers of both milk and calves, and ones that presumably give them longevity in the herd. Tall, deep and long are characteristics that provide a cow with room for food, and therefore milk, and in which to incubate a calf. Slim is good too, though to the untrained eye, none seem to fit that picture. One needs to look at the cow’s spine to see a pointy ridge to determine slimness – the pointier, the thinner. Straight legs are a sign of good strong legs that help the cow live longer in the herd.

There are 14 4-H clubs in Franklin County, with approximately 160 children participating.

Despite the clubs’ farming roots, children “learn skills way beyond dairy farming,” said Nelson.

“Dairy skills are secondary to the life skills that are learned” in 4-H, she said.

Communication and leadership are key elements of the program. Children work together on projects and sometimes individuals take on the responsibility of organizing a tour or exchange to another state.

Joy Phillips grew up on More Acres Farm in East Dixfield. She was a 4-Her for 10 years while her parents were leaders of her club. When five or six club members leased cows from the farm, it was easy for her to become a leader, she said. She now leads the Wranglers of East Dixfield.

Phillips waited by the showing ring with Ashley Walker, one of her club members, and her cow, Clover. The involvement with the children is what she enjoys, she said.

“It was just natural to continue” working with 4-H, she said.