Teaching youth about safe, responsible ATV use
Over the past five years, Extension’s Minnesota 4-H ATV Safety Program has reached youth through farm safety events, static displays and youth trainings, including one in Elk River (pictured). Participants become certified through the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to ride on public trails and land, with trained volunteers like Matthew Savage, using DNR and 4-H curriculum. They learn about responsible off-road vehicle operation, risk awareness, proper safety protocols and how to be a good steward of the land on which they’re riding. More than 350 youth have become DNR ATV safety certified through this program.
“Generous support from Polaris will significantly expand our safety education efforts and allow us to bring our increasingly popular 4-H Outdoor Education programming to new audiences,” said Jennifer Skuza, associate dean, University of Minnesota Extension and Minnesota 4-H state director. “We anticipate a three- to four-fold increase in youth participation across Minnesota and are excited to help pilot this program in Utah and Wisconsin as well.”
Highlights
- The Otsego 4 Leaves 4-H Club partnered with Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery to donate fresh, snack-sized packages of cheese curds to the CAER Elk River Food Shelf. 4-H youth from dairy farms that ship milk to Ellsworth helped make the connections.
- The Minnesota Irrigator Program (MIP) offered two days of training for Certified Crop Advisers that covered the soil-plant-water relationship, irrigation scheduling for soil and crops, how to incorporate nutrient management and irrigation best management practices.
- U of M Farm Family of the Year: The Herbold family (2026)
- The Master Gardeners in Sherburne County are on-site at farmers markets in Elk River year-round.
- SuperShelf locations: Big Lake Community Food Shelf, CAER Food Shelf
- In collaboration with the Initiative Foundation, the Climate Adaptation Partnership enabled the creation of a new staff position focused on community preparedness and resiliency across the central Minnesota region.
Sherburne County office
Extension has 14 regional offices supporting all 87 counties in Minnesota.
Sherburne County partners with Extension to deliver practical education and research you can use at home, at work and in your community. More about Extension in our county.
About the Minnesota 87 project
Spend time in any Minnesota county, and you will almost certainly encounter University of Minnesota Extension. Our faculty and staff, volunteers, participants, alumni and partners are woven into the fabric of rural, urban and suburban Minnesota life. This project showcases Extension in action through photos, stories and a sampling of the many ways Extension has touched the lives of people in every county.