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MSU Extension reports 2025 activity in Cass County: 4-H enrollment steady at 656; partnerships and programming highlighted
Summary
Michigan State University Extension staff updated the Cass County Board on 2025 programming: 656 youth enrolled in 4‑H, nearly 900 residents served across extension programs, 180 volunteers, and partnerships with local schools, the Pokagon Band and community organizations.
Michigan State University (MSU) Extension staff told the Cass County Board of Commissioners that extension programming has remained active in 2025, with the county-supported 4-H coordinator and regional educators reporting sustained youth participation, volunteer engagement and multiple community partnerships.
“Nearly 900 residents have participated in 66 of our extension programs to date,” the MSU Extension district director said during the presentation, noting that the total excluded some 4‑H-specific counts tracked in a separate database. The district director identified that the figure covered programming delivered across MSU Extension’s four institutes.
Hillary Hunt, the Cass County 4‑H program coordinator, told commissioners the 4‑H program had 656 youth enrolled in 2025 and that more than 180 volunteers support 24 clubs and two leader councils in the county. Hunt described spring classroom embryology projects, fair-related “buyer thank-you” kits, club visits, leadership and officer training and a planned tractor-operator farm safety course that will offer federal certification to participating youth.
MSU Extension staff also provided counts and program summaries from other institutes: the Health and Nutrition Institute delivered 39 nutrition programs to more than 500 residents in 2025 and partnered with 18 local organizations, including a cooking-matters class held with the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians. The agriculture team performed seven pork quality-assurance site assessments and led crop- and pest-management updates attended largely by county farmers.
Staff said their county memorandum of agreement (MOA) funds the 4‑H coordinator position and half of a county support staffer; district staff emphasized that county funding pays for the local presence that supports soil tests, fair logistics and in‑office services. The district director reiterated that detailed line-item breakdowns of the county payment go to salaries and office support: “In a nutshell, it goes towards salary… the 4‑H program coordinator… and the 50 percent effort for our county support staff is also from the county,” the district director said.
Commissioners asked for an itemized breakdown of how county funds are spent; MSU Extension staff said copies of the program update and contact information would be provided and that a more detailed accounting of expenditures is available upon request. Commissioners also asked whether 4‑H enrollment was up or down: staff said the 656 enrollment figure was essentially unchanged from the 2024 annual report.
Public comment from Zelda Cloud, a Cass County Fair board member, added local fair participation figures: she reported roughly 744 youth exhibitors (including open-youth participants) across livestock, still exhibits and other categories and urged the board to consider program use and continuation in light of enrollment and participation data.
MSU Extension staff asked commissioners to consider continued support for the MOA-funded positions and said they would provide additional documentation on program activities and contacts if the board or the public requested further detail.
