The University of California’s 4-H program, which has operated since 1914, continues to play a significant role in shaping the state’s agricultural sector by engaging youth in hands-on learning and leadership opportunities. Administered by UC and other land-grant universities, 4-H targets children aged 5 to 18, offering activities related to agriculture, livestock, food, and community service.
Tracy Schohr is one example of a 4-H alumna whose career reflects the program’s impact. Now a UC Cooperative Extension advisor, Schohr works with ranchers in Plumas, Sierra, and Butte counties on issues such as wildfire management and wolf predation. She also organizes community events and has testified before Congress about agricultural workforce needs. Schohr attributes her career path to skills developed through 4-H: “Everything you do in 4-H has some element of a team putting together an activity, or a fundraiser,” she says. “You learn about agriculture and the community you live in, but you also have leadership opportunities, like planning community service or leading a meeting using parliamentary procedure from a very young age.”
Schohr participated widely in 4-H activities including cooking groups and livestock showing. Her family’s ranch in Gridley has been raising cattle and growing rice for over a century. After earning degrees at California State University, Chico and UC Davis, she joined UC Cooperative Extension—a statewide division that provides research-based support for California’s farmers and ranchers.
“Cooperative Extension takes the science and knowledge that is developed at the university and puts it in the hands of the people on the ground,” Schohr explains. “And it’s not just research from the University of California; we’re pulling in research from all across the nation to help land managers, farmers, and ranchers in California address the challenges they face, while conducting research in our own local communities, too.”
UC Cooperative Extension operates throughout all 58 counties with nearly 200 advisors providing outreach that supports California’s position as the top agricultural state by revenue.
Recently Schohr has focused on mediating between ranchers and wildlife officials following the return of gray wolves to Northern California after an absence of eighty years. This work involves analysis of predator impacts on cattle herds as well as economic support for affected ranchers. She also coordinates wildfire response efforts—drawing on networks formed during her time in 4-H.
“Extension is really about being boundary spanning,” says Schohr. “We can work with different people in different places to try to find that common ground by bringing in economics, natural resources and social sciences, while tying in research and trying to find a solution that can balance all of these challenges that are happening out in the environment.”
Another former member is Ariel Rivers from Livermore. Rivers began managing sheep at age nine through her local 4-H club: “I felt like I could control them better than a giant steer,” she recalls. “I basically became a little sheep entrepreneur.” Rivers credits her involvement with developing skills such as public speaking and fundraising—abilities she used later when pursuing higher education.
Rivers attended UC Davis before earning a Ph.D. from Penn State University. She now works with the National Association of Conservation Districts where she supports advocacy for conservation efforts across California.
“Growing up in the Bay Area, you see millions of people…and then…it’s all agricultural land,” Rivers notes. “I realized we need more conversations about what’s happening in these different places — there can’t be this dichotomy of urban versus rural.”
Rivers now gives talks aimed at bridging gaps between urban populations and those involved with agriculture: “For those of us connected to farming or ranching…that’s 2% of the population now. So we have a lot of challenges…there’s a lot of jobs that just don’t get filled because people don’t know they exist.”
Both Schohr’s and Rivers’ careers demonstrate how early experiences within UC’s 4-H program can foster long-term engagement with agriculture—and contribute solutions to contemporary challenges facing California farming communities.
Learn more about UC Agriculture and Natural Resources’ programs at their official homepage.
