Thurston County 4-H News
May 2018
Nebraska Extension - Thurston County
Stacey Keys, Extension Assistant, stacey.keys@unl.edu
Upcoming Dates
May 1 - Drop/Add 4-H Projects DUE
May 10 - Northeast Regional 4-H Speech Contest Registration DUE
May 11 - Horse: County ID DUE & District & State Entries DUE
May 14 - Rabbit Tattoo Party
May 14 - Thurston County 4-H Council Meeting
May 24 - Northeast Regional 4-H Speech Contest @ Wayne (2 pm)
May 28 - Office Closed - Memorial Day
May 30 - Dakota-Thurston Sheep & Goat Weigh-In @ Fairgrounds (6-8 pm)
June 8 - Ponca Day Camp Registration DUE
June 11 - Joint 4-H Council Meeting @ Pender (7 pm)
June 13 - District Horse Show - Ord
June 14 - District Horse Show - York
June 15 - All Livestock Affidavits DUE
June 15 - YQCA Deadline
June 15 - Aksarben/State Fair Sheep, Swine, Goat & Feeder Calf DNA/Nominations DUE
June 18 - Ponca Counselor Training
June 19 - Ponca Day Camp @ Ponca State Park
June 20 - District Horse Show - Gordon
June 21 - District Horse Show - Central City
June 22 - District Horse Show - Curtis
June 25-26 - PASE/Life Challenge @ UNL
Need to Know
Busy Programming - Out of the Office
Days we know that we'll both be out of the office are:
Member Information
Summer Workshops
Mark your calendars! Summer is just waiting for us! Sign up here for our summer workshops! https://goo.gl/forms/65U9Lzn4dFgpqa4C2
Babysitting Clinic - May 23rdFashion Fingerprint - May 29th
Wearable Technology - May 30th
Young Entrepreneur Camp - June 4th-7th
Design Decisions Workshop - June 12th
Surprise Workshop - June 14th
Ponca Day Camp Counselor Training - June 18th
Ponca Day Camp - June 19th
Let's Paint Run-A-Ways - June 20th
Clover Kid Camp - June 21st
Let's Get Cooking #1 - July 2nd
Let's Get Cooking #2 - July 3rd
Come Join Us At Ponca Day Camp!!
We are also in need of Ponca Day Camp Counselors. These 14 year old + 4-H members also need to fill out an application at the above website. Please join us in making this a memorable summer experience for these youth.
Workshop Scholarships for 4-H Members
County Fair Info
Entrepreneurship Challenge
We’d like to share with you a brand new state fair class in the entrepreneurship project (ESI)- an Entrepreneurship Challenge! The challenge is open to 4-H’ers enrolled in any of the three units of ESI. 4-H members will create an exhibit showcasing what they learned from the challenge and enter it at the fair. Through the challenge, we are encouraging kids to be entrepreneurial in their thinking and consider entrepreneurship as a career option.
Family Fun Packs
The Dakota Thurston County Fair Board is pleased to announce that "Family Fun Packs" will be on available for purchase at the Fair Manager's Office on Clean-up day Saturday July 21st as well as during Fair week Sunday July 29 thru Friday August 3rd.
Each Family fun pack costs $40 and consists of:
- 2 Tickets to Impact Pro Wrestling - Friday
- 2 Tickets to Dueling Pianos - Friday
- 2 Tickets to Laser Tag - Friday
- 2 Tickets to Kids Day - Saturday
This is a $60 value which will be sold for $40!
Family & Consumer Sciences
4-H Culinary Challenge Contest

Plant Science
2018 Nebraska 4-H Online Horticulture Judging Contest
The 2018 Nebraska 4-H Online Horticulture Judging contest is just around the corner. This year the contest will be available from 8:00 am Friday, June 8th through 8:00 am Monday, June 18, 2018. It is composed of three parts; general knowledge questions, plant part and seed identification, as well as a judging portion. It is open to all 4-H youth, as well as adults, and even Extension individuals. No password needed, the link listed below will take you directly to the contest. The link to participate will be https://go.unl.edu/2018hortcontest
The youth need to fill in all of their information completely. The online contest should only be taken once by each participant. No study materials are to be used. The contest will allow an opportunity for the participant to review the answers prior to submitting. Once submitted, the participants will see their score, but they will not be able to see which questions they missed. After the contest has completed on June 18th, the participants or the county(ies) can request to see the scores and answers.
Study Materials for the Online Horticulture Judging Contest and the State 4-H Horticulture Judging Contest held during State Fair are the same and they can be found at:
Youth Crop Scouting Competition
Nebraska Extension also offers the 5th annual Crop Scouting Competition for Nebraska youth. This contest is at the ARDC near Mead, Nebraska on July 26th, 2018. The event includes indoor and outdoor events. Teams of junior high and high school students (those completing 7-12th grades) are invited to participate.
Clubs or other organizations may enter a team composed of three to five participants. An adult team leader must accompany each team. 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 are eligible for regional competition in August at Nebraska.
Teams are expected to know 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 may 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.
Teams must be registered by July 16th. This program is sponsored by DuPont Pioneer, Nebraska Independent Crop Consultant Association and Nebraska Extension.
Animal Science
Upcoming Livestock Shows
May 21 - 4-H Poultry Clinic - Cuming County Fairgrounds
May 26-27 - Boone County Arama - Boone County Fairgrounds
June 2 - 4-H Beef Progress Show - Phelps County Fairgrounds
June 2 & 3 - Nebraska Jr. Beef Expo - Northeast Community College
June 10 - Hustler 4-H Progress Show - Cuming County Fairgrounds
June 10 - 4-H Horse Show - Wahoo, NE
June 16 - Stanton FFA Progress Show - Stanton County Fairgrounds
June 28 - Wisner Junior Livestock Show 4-H/FFA Horse Show - Wisner River Park Arena
Winners Unlimited Judging Camps
Livestock judging is a great way to install scientific principles and STEM learning using animals as the vehicle, and most importantly, is an event built around strengthening soft skills like communication, problem solving, and confidence. Please forward this information along to anyone you think may be interested. Thanks! Registration is to be postmarked by May 18.
Tractor Safety Training 2018
All youth aged 14 and 15 and working on a farm or ranch other than their own MUST be certified through a Hazardous Occupations Course. Successful completion of the course will allow trained youth to operate a tractor over 20 horsepower, or to connect or is connect an implement or any of its parts to or from a tractor.
Cost for the training is $60.
Closest training is Wayne Fairgrounds, June 19 & 20.
Find it online here.
NEW Quality Assurance = YQCA
Requirements: Online - 3 modules @ $12 total
OR Face-2-Face training @ $3 total Scheduled for June 1st @ 9:30 am, Pender Fire Hall
OR Test Out for Intermediate & Senior @ Free
Thurston County 4-H Council has voted to provide scholarships for these fees after youth fill out a short form. Found here: https://unl.box.com/s/20uwv5vi6jtl4ef55wvmrebkj9kmk1lp
Here are some quick Log In Instructions:
1. Go to yqca.org from your computer browser and select Sign In/Register Tab
2. Sign in and register using the 4-H Online box
3. Select the name of your organization from the pick list Nebraska 4-H Youth Development
4. Use your 4-H Online user name and password to start the process
5. Select the member name taking the course
6. Select the age of the member in the appropriate box
7. When the age is selected the appropriate courses will be selected
8. Select online choice (Instructor led class will be developed by your local instructor)
9. Select payment method credit card or if you have received a coupon code from your Extension Office you will enter it at this time to purchase the courses
10. After completing the three courses be sure to save and print out a completion certificate and take it to your Extension Office
11. For swine exhibitors the number on your completion certificate will be used as the number that will be asked for by swine buyers
12. If you encounter problems you can contact help@yqca.org

Submitting Animal Information into AKSARBEN Livestock Database
2018 State Fair & AKSARBEN Livestock Identification Requirements
Family Responsibilities:
1. Exhibitors will be required to enroll in 4-H and the required projects by the county deadline in 4H Online.
2. Exhibitors showing market animals at State Fair or AKSARBEN must have a signed and sealed official DNA collector with hair samples for DNA verification turned into their county office and have completed the online nomination (www.showstockmgr.com) along with submitting payment online by the appropriate deadline listed in the table. Any animal carrying an 840 EID tag will require the exhibitor to obtain a Premises ID. Contact the local Extension Office for details. (It is recommended that you make a copy or a photo image of completed envelope you turn into your county.)
3. Exhibitors showing breeding beef, breeding sheep and breeding does at State Fair or AKSARBEN will need to complete an online nomination (www.showstockmgr.com) by the June 15 deadline.
4. Exhibitors will be required to complete Youth for the Quality Care of Animals (YQCA) for the enrolled livestock projects by the county deadline.
5. Exhibitors will notify the County Extension Staff of any retags that may occur up to time of check-in at either the State Fair or AKSARBEN show.
6. Exhibitors will select which animal entries they have chosen to show at State Fair on the State Fair pre-entry website. All nominated and validated animals will be automatically listed as a choice option for pre-entry registration.
7. 4‐H and FFA youth participants will declare which youth organization they will show their animal projects by August 10 in ShoWorks.
a. If an animal is shown in FFA at the State Fair, it is no longer eligible for AKSARBEN. If an animal is entered in FFA, but isn’t exhibited, that animal will still be eligible to be exhibited at AKSARBEN.
8. Exhibitors will be required to bring the breed registration association paperwork to check-in at State Fair for animals wanting to show in a breed class. The exhibitors name should be identified on the registration paper.

2018 Nebraska District 4-H Horse Shows
Reminder: All Entries for the State Horse Show must be mailed by May 11, 2018.
2018 4-H Horse Show Dates and Sites
- June 13th - Ord
- June 14th - York
- June 20th - Gordon
- June 21st - Central City
- June 22nd - Curtis
- July 15-19 - State Horse Show - Fonner Park, GI

Nebraska Elite Showman Competition
by popular demand we have added goat showmanship into the mix.
For more information:

