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Extension and Outreach

The Southwest Virginia AREC offers field days, tours, and educational events related to our research activities throughout each year.  We also host events such as livestock handling demonstrations, and various agricultural judging contests that are 4-H and FFA related.

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Recently the Southwest Virginia AREC hosted 67 youth from three states for the First Annual Youth Agriculture Leaders Summit. This event was for 4-H or FFA members, age 9-18, from Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina.

Workshops and tutorials took place on Friday and Saturday, with a competition held on Sunday. The educational sessions included agricultural advocacy; exhibiting leadership and character through agriculture; livestock judging; meats evaluation and judging; hay evaluation and judging; understanding performance data; and animal health conditions.