UGA Extension - Banks County

12/07/2025

Homer Christmas Parade—our float theme was “Agriculture Brings Joy to the World!”🎄🐮🐷🍀

12/01/2025

Buying a live Christmas tree this season? Give it a quick check before you bring it home! Chinese Mantises can sometimes lay their egg cases (called an ootheca) on evergreen branches. Native species, such as the European Mantis and the Carolina Mantis, also leave oothecae.

Mantids aren’t the only hitchhikers. Other insects like Spruce Beetles, Spongy Moths, and various adelgids can hitchhike on out-of-state trees, potentially spreading pests or diseases into new areas.

If you find an ootheca or any unfamiliar insects, contact your local extension office or wildlife resources for identification and guidance on what to do next.

A quick inspection keeps your holidays merry, not buggy, and your local forests healthy.

Photo credit: Whitney Cranshaw, Colorado State University, Bugwood.org

11/24/2025

Looking for a Georgia-grown Christmas tree? 🎄
Check out our Christmas Tree Map to find farms across the state growing beautiful, locally sourced trees!

🔗 https://georgiagrown.com/2025-christmas-tree-map/

11/24/2025

The Banks County Extension/4-H Office will be closed Thursday-Friday, November 27-28. We will resume regular business hours on Monday, December 1. We hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

11/24/2025

More details to come!

Mark your calendars! Our 3rd annual Goat and Sheep Production Summit will be held in Athens March 6, 2026. Agenda and registration details will be advertised at a later time.

11/23/2025

🍀 4-H Cloverleaf Project Achievement 🍀
Help us congratulate our wonderful 4th-6th grade students who competed at Rock Eagle for Cloverleaf Project Achievement today! We are so proud of each student and the hard work they put in to prepare for this competition!

1st Place Winners:
Mila Bindyu, International
Bree Ewing, Between Meal Snacks
Hudson Jordan, Sports-Individual
Consuelo Molina, Ornithology
Mitchell Newsome, Entomology
Anna Perry, Sports-Team
Hannah Purcell, Swine
Kyleeann Raffield, Crafts
Reagan Reed, Workforce Preparation & Career Development
Gabby Reeves, Etiquette & Travel
Aela Williams, Communications
Roger Williams, Between Meal Snacks
Kinsley Wiseman, International
Amelia Wright, Etiquette & Travel

2nd Place Winners:
Brooke Brown, Performing Arts Vocal
Savannah Craig, Performing Arts General
Kasey Evans, Beef
Matthew Gonzalez, Earth & Space Sciences
Jaxon Haynes, Computer Information Technology & Data Science
Tara Reeves, International

3rd Place Winners:
Gracelyn Arrowood, Food for Health and Sport
Kalyna Bindyu, Horse
Giuliana Flanagan, Sports-Individual
Alayna McClellon, Performing Arts Vocal
Jacob Ochoa, Between Meal Snacks
Cheyenne Reems, Cat Care

Honorable Mention:
Jacob Andino, Sports-Team
Nathan Bridegroom, Dog Care & Training
Jocelyn Buchanan, Performing Arts Vocal
Autumn Jackson, Sports-Individual
Sawyer Layfield, Sports-Team
Cesar Patino, Sports-Team

11/13/2025

Parents and caregivers are urged to stop using any ByHeart Whole Nutrition infant formula immediately, regardless of lot number or date (all lots are being recalled).

If this formula was used, monitor infants for symptoms: difficulty feeding, weak cry, loss of head control, difficulty swallowing.

Keep leftover formula (if any) for test purposes and contact your state health department if symptoms arise.

Wash all feeding equipment, counters, and surfaces that contacted the product with hot soapy water or run through dishwasher.

For more information and to follow this outbreak, visit: https://www.cdc.gov/botulism/outbreaks-investigations/infant-formula-nov-2025/index.html

11/13/2025

Join the Habersham County Extension office for one, two, or all 3 parts of this series and learn about the role nutrition can play in managing diabetes! Participants will learn about nutrition topics directly related to preventing or managing Type 2 Diabetes, and will get HANDS-ON experience cooking diabetes friendly recipes. There is no charge, but registration is required: tinyurl.com/RightBiteHab25. Contact the Habersham County Extension office (uge1137@uga.edu or 706-754-2318) with questions.

11/10/2025

10/31/2025

10/30/2025

Come hike with your friends!
This new 4-H club will meet once a month to hike and learn about the natural world. Led by experienced naturalist and Ag Agent Joshua Lyon, this will be a fun and informal way to learn about mushrooms, insects, trees, flowers and much more.
Our first hike will be Saturday, December 13th when we will bundle up and venture out to learn about how some plants stay green through the winter! Then, we will make homemade wreaths with some of the plants that we find. We look forward to seeing you there!
Call (706) 363-0573 to register in advance