Congrats to the Blue River Club youth that attended UNL Chick Days and the Quizbowl team consisting of Edynne Chace, Norah Ahlschwede, and Reagan Pfeiffer.

Camp Renegade (ages 8-10) and Camp Venture (ages 10-12) are overnight camps hosted at Camp Jefferson, 2.5 miles south of Fairbury. To attend, register by Monday, May 29 by 11:59 p.m. All registrations must be done online. Links for registration are linked below. Youth do not have to be a 4-H member to attend Camp Renegade or Venture.

Livestock Judging Clinic - June 15, 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. (Ages 8-18) Extension Office

STEAM It UP! - June 20, 9:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. (Ages 8-18), Extension Office

Soft Pretzel Workshop - June 22, 9:00 a.m. - noon (Ages 8-18), Extension Office

Poultry Clinic - June 26, 10:00 a.m. (Ages 8-18), Poultry/Rabbit Barn

micro:bit Workshop - June 28, 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. (Ages 8-18), Extension Office

Home DIY Day - June 29, 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. (Ages 8-18), Extension Office

Clover Kids Day Camp - July 10, 9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. (Ages 5-7), Extension Office (Register by June 26th)

One t-shirt per youth will be free, sponsored by Gage County Farm Bureau. There is also the option to purchase additional shirts online for $12. These are the shirts that you will wear on livestock show days July 27- July 31 (excludes horse show unless otherwise permitted). Any of these shirts are permitted to be shown in. Shirts from previous years will still be allowed. Free t-shirt must be selected with size using promo code: 4HROCKS. If you have multiple exhibitors, you must place an individual order for each 4-Her.

Pickup at the Extension Office starting July 17

*There will be a very limited amount of shirts available for purchase after this deadline.

Please make sure to include or update your child's t-shirt size! This is the sizing guide we use to order the Exmark t-shirts for county fair! It is not a required field so can often be missed.

Updated help guides can be found on our website.

Enrollment fee is $12 for each 4-H youth to be paid online or in the office. There is no fee for Clover Kids or adults. We will not be accepting enrollments until we have received payment.

We are excited about the 2023 Gage County Fair, but we need your help to make it a success! If you would like to help with 4-H events at the fair, please see sign up links below.

If you have something specific that you would like to help with, but prefer not to use the Sign-ups, please call the office to make arrangements.

4-H Building Sign-up: https://go.unl.edu/23gcf4hbuildingsignup

Fashion Show, Table Setting & Performing Arts: https://go.unl.edu/23contestsignup

Large Animals: https://go.unl.edu/23gcflargeanimal

Small Animlas: https://go.unl.edu/23gcfsmallanimal

Questions? Contact the Extension Office (402-223-1384). Thank you in advance!

Youth Crop Scouting Competition - Connecting Youth with Crops

Looking for a fun club project? Want to unite your club members? Running out of ideas for club meetings? If you answered, “yes” to any of these questions, help is on the way! Nebraska Extension is pleased to present the 10th annual Crop Scouting Competition for Nebraska youth. Youth interested in crops can learn about crop growth & development and basic crop scouting principles.

Don’t know a lot about crops? Ask a local agronomist to assist by providing a short lesson on crop production. You can have the agronomist meet with youth a little during each meeting or outside of the meeting. This is one way to engage those youth interested in crops.

This contest will be held at the Eastern Nebraska Research & Extension Center near Mead, Nebraska on August 2, 2023. The event will include both indoor and outdoor events. Teams of junior high and high school students (those completing 5-12th grades) from across Nebraska are invited to participate. This event is limited to the first ten teams who sign-up!

Clubs or other organizations may enter a team composed of three to five participants. An adult team leader must accompany each team of students. Team leaders could be FFA advisors, crop consultants, extension staff, coop employees, etc.

Top-scoring teams win prizes: $500 for first, $250 for second, $100 for third place. Top two teams will be eligible for regional competition held in Nebraska this year on September 18, 2023.

Teams will be expected to know the basics of scouting corn and soybean fields. This includes crop staging; looking for patterns of crop injury; disease, insect and weed seedling identification; etc. Other topics many include but are not limited to, pesticide safety, nutrient disorders, and herbicide injury.

More information about the crop scouting competition and instructions on how to register a team are available online at cropwatch.unl.edu/youth. Register at: https://go.unl.edu/cropscoutingreg

For more information and show rules visit https://go.unl.edu/23invdairyshow

Livestock Achievement Program is an additional opportunity for enrolled livestock project youth, is designed to promote all educational aspects of 4-H livestock projects including selection, production, leadership, and exhibition by recognizing youth striving to improve in their livestock project knowledge and leadership.

The program recognizes Members of Excellence across all 4-H livestock project areas, including: beef, sheep, meat goat, swine, dairy cattle, dairy goat, rabbit, and poultry.

The program consists of two levels that require 4-H members to plan and report a broad range of age-appropriate and project-related accomplishments. For each level, the Livestock Achievement Program provides a list of accomplishments from which 4-H members choose their goals. Each accomplishment is worth a specific number of points. Intermediates, ages 10-13, must complete 100 points worth of activities to receive the distinction of Intermediate Member of Excellence. Seniors, ages 14-18, must complete 150 points worth of activities to receive the distinction of Senior Member of Excellence. The Plan and Reports, linked on the webpage, show examples of the project related accomplishments they can choose, or they can identify their own with approval of their local educator.

Applications/Sign up are due June 15th through the application form link on the website. Participants should work on their yearly plan and set their goals at the beginning of starting the program. Plan and Reports, as well as Project Records are due August 1st and sent to 4hlivestockachievement@unl.edu *note this is a change in process from previous years. Youth completing the achievement program and receiving member of excellence recognition in the various species will be recognized during the Parade of Champions, 4-H weekend at the Nebraska State Fair.

For more information, including program instructions and additional resources, or to apply, go to: Livestock Achievement Program | Nebraska 4-H (unl.edu)

Ashley Benes ashley.benes@unl.edu

Brett Kreifels brett.kreifels@unl.edu

Cole Meador cmeador2@unl.edu