For generations, 4-H has appealed mostly to white, rural American children who came from a farming background.
However, at Indiana county fairs this year, there are likely to be displays on robotics not far from the prize-winning cows.
State 4-H Program Leader Renee McKee says that's because the program has had to re-brand itself in recent years as the American population continues to urbanize.
Data from the U.S. Census Bureau and from 4-H itself suggest keeping the organization vibrant is an uphill battle. There are about the same number of five to 17-year-old Hoosiers now as there were in 2000, but they now make up a smaller percentage of the population. However, the percentage of Hoosiers participating in 4-H is shrinking even faster.
McKee says she's not worried.
"I have to compare apples to apples," Mckee says. "We serve young people grades three to 12 and those are the numbers we look at as we're doing that comparison."
The total number of 4-H members statewide is down by about two thousand in the last 15 years.