Lincoln County is battling a $1.2 million budget deficit.
That puts some non-mandated programs on the chopping block.
One of the programs that has been rumored to be on that block is the 4-H program.
County officials reviewed potential cuts and asked the county's UW Extension program to trim $200,000 from its budget.
County Chair Don Friske said the conversation then turned to 4-H.
"Right away the University of Wisconsin, right away went to 4-H," he said. "Now why they would target 4-H? I have no idea. We certainly didn't. We didn't have that discussion on 4-H. Our discussion was on the University of Wisconsin Extension."
Friske said 4-H has '100% support from the county' and the cuts ultimately will come down to what U-W Extension is willing to part with.
News 9 reached out to multiple sources with UW Extension and went to the Merrill office, but did not receive a response.
