Freestone County

Preserving the Past, Building the Future

Traditions

Freestone County is comprised of a land area of 885.2 square miles or 556,528 acres. Freestone County is listed amongst the top ten counties in beef cattle numbers. Our growing season averages 263 days a year. Freestone County is characterized as hot, humid summers and moderate winters. Rainfall is distributed throughout the year with peak accumulations in the spring and fall seasons. Ag commodities that dominated sales are beef cattle, hay, fruits, timber and hunting leases. Current market trends and weather patterns complicate production. Beef cattle and hay production continue to dominate all other ag enterprise in the area.

Facts

Freestone County has approximately 147,821 acres of rangeland, 340,914 acres of pastureland, 16,118 acres of cropland, 17,655 acres of forestland, 250 irrigated acres, 20, 376 acres of public land, and 28,553 acres of misc land. Freestone County is located in Senate Distric 5, House District 8, and Congressional District 5.

What is Extension?

Working hand-in-hand with its Texas A&M System partners, the state legislature, and the communities it serves, the mission of the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service to serve Texans through community-based education has remained unchanged for almost a century.

With a vast network of 250 county Extension offices and some 900 professional educators, the expertise provided by AgriLife Extension is available to every resident in every Texas county. But Extension educators are well-aware that a program offered in Dallas might not be relevant in the Rio Grande Valley. AgriLife Extension custom-designs its programs to different areas of the state, significantly depending on residents for input and program delivery.

The mission of AgriLife Extension is a seemingly simple one: improving the lives of people, businesses, and communities across Texas and beyond through high-quality, relevant education. Carrying out this mission, however, is a massive undertaking. One that requires the commitment of each and every one of the agency’s employees. Through the programs these employees provide, Texans are better prepared to:

eat well, stay healthy, manage money, and raise their children to be successful adults.
efficiently help themselves through preventing problems and using tools for economic stability and security.
improve stewardship of the environment and of the state’s natural resources.

Today’s A&M AgriLife Extension is known for its leadership, dedication, expertise, responsiveness, and trustworthiness. Texans turn to AgriLife Extension for solutions, and its agents and specialists respond not only with answers, but with a significant return on investment to boost the Texas economy.

Freestone County 4-H

You will find all Freestone County 4-H information here: Freestone County 4-H Information

FAQs

I am new to 4-H what do I do?

Visit a 4-H club! Pick a club that works for your schedule and go to a meeting. You will see firsthand what happens at the club meetings, get to meet the volunteers, and see the youth involved. You can ask questions at the club meeting and even get enrolled! If you would rather ask the Extension Agent (Erin Davis) questions give us a call 903-389-3436.

What happens at club meetings?

There are officers of the club (President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer etc) that will be at the front of the room running the meeting. They will call the meeting to order, go over the minutes from the last meeting, treasurers report, announcements (dates and deadlines for things coming up), there will be an educational presentation, recreation (game or activity) and even sometimes snacks!

Make sure you sign in at every club meeting, so the club managers can keep track of how many meetings you’ve attended. (You must attend 4 club meetings to show at Freestone County Fair). Parents please sign in as well.

Club meetings will last 30-45 minutes. It is recommended that parents attend the meetings as well so you can hear the announcements and know what is going on.

I’m interested in a project but need help getting started

Look at the Explore guides and information and the Texas 4-H Website (https://texas4-h.tamu.edu/projects/), if there is a project leader listed reach out to them to find out more. If you have additional questions reach out to Erin Davis, County Extension Agent 903-389-3436 and she can answer your questions and get you started!

Projects Offered:

Citizenship

Consumer Education

Entomology

Fashion & Interior Design

Food & Nutrition

Junior Master Gardener

Leadership

Livestock Judging

Meat Science

Photography/Videography

Public Speaking

Science, Technology, Engineering, Math

Sportfishing

Veterinary Science

Workforce Preparation & Careers

Livestock Project areas:

Beef Cattle
Sheep
Goats
Swine
Rabbits
Broilers

Most common project areas will have information presented at club meetings and there will be livestock project clinics.

Specific project information can be found at: https://texas4-h.tamu.edu/projects/

Contest Opportunities

Information on contests will be posted here: https://agrilife.org/d84h/events-and-activities/

Variety of Fishing opportunities for both teams and individuals
Shotgun shoots (contact the Shotgun coach for info)
Archery shoots (contact the Archery coach for info)
Food Challenge/Food Show
Dairy Judging
Horse Judging
Photography
Fashion Show, Fashion Storyboard, Duds to Dazzle
Consumer Decision Making
Livestock Judging
Meat Judging
Soil Judging
Leaders 4 Life Skillathon
Education Presentations
Public Speaking
Share the Fun
Horse, FCH and Livestock Quiz Bowls
District & State Horse Show
- Some contests are also offered at Major Shows (Fort Worth, San Antonio, San Angelo, Houston, Austin) pay attention to Major show information when posted.

Freestone County Fair Information:

4-H members must attend 4 club meetings to show at the Freestone County Fair

Follow Freestone County Fair Association on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/freestonecofair and on their website: http://fcfar.org

Market Steer validation is the First Saturday in December.
All Market & Breeding Swine, Sheep, Goats & Non-Registered Heifers are to be validated the first Saturday in April from 7-9am at the Fairgrounds. Livestock Superintendent has the right to change the date if there is a conflict and only the Livestock Superintendent can approve an animal not attending Validation (ie: if you have a sick animal, you will need to contact the Livestock Superintendent.)
Market Broilers: Orders are TBD (usually end of March with chicks arriving end of April)
Market & Fryer Rabbits: Validation TBD (usually Mid May)

Home & Garden Show Information: http://fcfar.org

Preparing for County Fair:

4-H Livestock project resources can be found here: Freestone County 4-H Information

If you need help finding a project or help with your project please reach out to Erin Davis-County Extension Agent.

Quality Counts:

Quality Counts (only need to complete once for each age division; Junior 3^rd-5^th grade, Intermediate 6^th-8^th grade, Senior 9^th-12^th grade) correct age division and an active Quality counts number is required for participation at the Freestone County Fair, this must be completed by Monday of Fair Week.

**There is a very important one-pager with detailed instructions of how students should enroll/login to the course. **QC Enrollment
- Exhibitors will first be required to engage in the full learning content before being presented with the verification exam.
  - Please be aware of this in advance as this could take around two hours for most students to complete the full content and test.
- Exhibitors will be able to start and revisit the curriculum as many times as needed.
- Exhibitors will have to complete the test once it is started.
- Exhibitors must achieve 80% or great to pass the exam, but can take it as many times as needed.
- Exhibitors will be exposed and tested on the content potentially three times in their livestock showing career: junior (grade 3-5), intermediate (grade 6-8), and senior (grade 9-12).
- Exhibitors will access the course and exam at: https://www.texaslivestockvalidation.com/qc/qcregister.aspx

IMPORTANT: One thing to be aware of is that login to the curriculum site requires unique email addresses for each user. This is explained further in the attachment. We realize there will be cases of families with multiple youth and limited email addresses. If the family cannot use a parent email, create one, or use a student email address, we will assist on a case-by-case basis.

2027 Freestone County Youth Commercial Heifer Contest

Contest Dates January 8-9, 2027