The selected design was created by Bryan Finch of Farmington and approved by unanimous vote of the commissioners.

A panel of anonymous judges reviewed the drawings from 35 states and 34 counties. They narrowed it down to their top three picks and presented them to the county commission last week for their selection.

The commission plans to contact the designer to make some changes.

The 35 states included in the seal design contest were Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas , Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

The 34 countries included in the competition were Australia, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, England, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, l India, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Reunion, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, South Africa, Sweden , Turkey, Ukraine and Vietnam.

In other cases, the committee approved the annual call for tenders for the computer service for office supplies.

The commission approved the transfer of maintenance of Doss Road to the City of Park Hills. Clay Copeland, superintendent of roads and bridges, said all property on Doss Road is within the city limits of Park Hills.

The tender for a new bridge over Wolf Creek on Old Fredericktown Road was awarded to Brockmiller Construction for $729,876.13. The bridge is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

Kendra Graham, Livestock Specialist for University of Missouri Extension, presented the quarterly extension report.

“Kayce Amsden is our young 4-H associate,” she said. “…She took kids to the (State) Capitol and they had a STEM 4-H day. They taught anyone in the Capitol Rotunda who sat and listened how to program little spheres to do an obstacle course. They managed to capture the attention of some lawmakers, including Dale Wright. She did it with Janet Braun who is associated with 4-H in Ste. Comté de Geneviève.

Graham said a few kids went to the Ag Innovators conference. “It teaches them to think critically about issues related to agriculture.”

Three volunteers trained in 4-H shooting sports with shotgun, pistol and rifle are currently available for shooting sports. Graham said 19 children participated in the program.

Graham and Amsden worked on a series of animal husbandry education: biosecurity, meat quality, internal/external parasites, and preparing children for the county fair. Amsden also has a poultry project where 35 children will raise meat poultry.

“It’s a project that has exploded because we have a lot of kids who don’t live on a farm and want to take care of animals,” Graham said.

Amsden and nutrition program associate Alyssa Bowyer organize a 4-H gardening club with 35 students.

“These kids are growing plants and will be planting two garden plots at the Farmington Community Garden.”

The Show Me Select Heifer program will have a sale May 6 at Fruitland and May 13 at Farmington Regional Stockyards with approximately 160 heifers consigned to each sale.

On March 7, Graham hosted Tony Hancock from the Missouri Department of Agriculture who spoke to producers about how cattle are graded at the sales barn with over 60 people in attendance.

Graham also talked about the Show-Me Quality Assurance training program for 4-H members.

“It’s about educating young people to raise animals appropriately to teach them proper techniques for different aspects of animal production,” she said.

St. Francis County hosts a regional pasture school May 24-26 at Mineral Area College.

Graham ended his report by talking about Bowyer teaching nutrition in area schools.

“Over the past three months, it has reached nearly 2,900 children,” she said. “She sees these children many times. It’s amazing what she can feed a child. It’s stuff I wouldn’t eat, she’s really good at what she does.

The next meeting of the St. Francis County Commission will be held Tuesday at 10 a.m. on the third floor of the Courthouse Annex in downtown Farmington.