Congratulations to our 2023 Gage County 4-H Seniors!

Colton Bales - Tri County

Autumn Bartlett - Beatrice

Shelton Crawford - Beatrice

Kendra Caudill - Tri County

Dallas Donovan - Southern

Jaden Guernsey - Beatrice

Shaylee Keslar - Wilber Clatonia

Kate Kostal - Diller-Odell

Avery Kraus - Syracuse

Jeffrey Lohse - Home School

Hannah Parde - Beatrice

Trevor Parde - Freeman

Natalie Trauernicht - Southern

Kaden Van Winkle - Tri County

Parker Witulski - Beatrice

Cole Young - Freeman

We are so glad that 4-H has been a part of your journey and we applaud you for all of your outstanding achievements. We hope you have enjoyed and learned from your 4-H experiences and activities, many of which have been across and outside the state of Nebraska. We wish you the very best in college and/or your career!

Start your own business!

Gage County 4-H has partnered with Beatrice Community Hospital & Health Center and NGage to offer a one-day Babysitting Clinic to train the next generation of childcare providers!

May 31, 2023 | SCC Beatrice, Academic Excellence Center | 9:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Click Here to Register by May 15

Ages: 10 & Older

Cost: $50 per participant (includes lunch, curriculum materials, supplies and Babysitting Kit)

Participants will work through curriculum, learn about safety, basic childcare, child development, entertaining children, nutrition, and starting a babysitting business. Basic First Aid and CPR (not certification) will be taught.

To sign-up for these projects, enroll in Gage County 4-H on 4HOnline (v2.4honline.com). Log-in as the 4-H member who is going to take the project then locate the "Events" tab on the left side of the screen, select the project name and fill out the required information. Must be enrolled in 4-H for the current year and enrollment fee paid. *Note: The Extension Office has to approve your enrollment before you can register - please don't wait until the last minute to enroll!

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.

Now that the 2023 Fairbook is available, we want to draw your attention to some changes that have been made for 2023:

General:

• Livestock can begin arriving on grounds starting Tuesday, July 25th at 7:30 pm. There will be no security or barn duty that evening so you may bring them at your own risk.
• After much discussion, we are discontinuing the choice award system. We will be moving towards banners, plaques, and medals for champion and reserve champion awards for both static and livestock.
• There will be no materials used to restrict the airflow of the open-air barns. Any materials used (I.e., pegboard, plywood, rubber) will be limited to 6 inches tall around the bottom of the pens.

Poultry/Rabbit:

• Broilers will be weighed for the Broiler show.
• Eggs for egg display will be checked in during poultry check in on Wednesday morning. Egg display will be judged at the beginning of the broiler show on Wednesday. Eggs will be cracked.
• Keep an eye out for a Poultry/Rabbit Skill-a-thon contest this summer. More details to come! ***Scheduled for July 20th

Horse:

• Linden Tree will now be called Linden Tree Superhorse and will be based upon the top score in four set categories including: Halter (required), pick one class each from 3 categories (Performance, Pattern, Timed Events). You must use the same horse for all 4 of the events selected. Points will be awarded based on ribbon placings in the selected classes in each category. Junior, Intermediate, and Senior Divisions (Walk-trot not eligible) – must enter classes through ShoWorks by July 15th.
• High Point Exhibitor Award (previously called “Linden Tree”) will continue using the same rules as previous years: Showmanship is required, youth can select 2 other classes. Exhibitor may use more than one horse for this. Halter may not be used as a class. Points will be awarded based on ribbon placings in the selected classes. Junior, Intermediate, and Senior Divisions (Walk-Trot not eligible)– must enter classes through ShoWorks by July 15th.
• The age limit for walk-trot is being removed. If you enter for walk-trot, you can only do walk-trot classes.
• Hunter Under Saddle and Hunt Seat Equitation will no longer have age divisions. All ages will show in each class.

Companion Animal: Show moving to Sunday morning.

Meat Goat: The Best Dressed Goat class will be added back to the goat show.

Beef: Going back to a split beef show. Wednesday - Bucket Calf, Thursday - Stocker Feeder, Friday - Showmanship, Market Beef & Breeding Beef.

Bucket Calf:

• The Bucket Calf project will now be required to submit a records sheet, complete an interview prior to the bucket calf show on Wednesday (sign-up for a time starting at 2:00 p.m.), and show their calf during the Bucket Calf show.
• Record Book and Project manual have been updated and are available at https://extension.unl.edu/statewide/gage/gage-county-4-h-council1/#tab8
• Bucket calf participants are eligible to show their calf during showmanship of the Beef Show.

Swine Show:

• Registration papers will be required on hogs showing in purebred classes.

Breeding Gilts:

• Will be shown by breed (order): Berkshire, Chester White, Duroc, Hampshire, Hereford, Landrace, Poland China, Spotted, Tamworth, Yorkshire, All Other Breeds, Crossbred.
• Any breed with less than 3 animals exhibiting in their breed will show in the All Other Breed Class.
• Purebred breeding gilts will be shown by age.
• Crossbred breeding gilts will be shown by weight.
• Breeding Gilts are required to be born on or after December 1, 2022.
• Champion and Reserve Champion of each purebred and crossbred breed will come back for Champion and Reserve Champion Overall Breeding Gilt.

Market Hogs:

• Will be shown by weight in the following Divisions: Purebred, Crossbred Market Gilt, Crossbred Market Barrow.
• Purebred (barrows and gilts show together, classes divided by weight, not breed)
• Crossbred Market Gilts (classes divided by weight)
• Crossbred Market Barrows (classes divided by weight)
• Market hogs weighing less than 200 lbs are not eligible for Champion/Reserve Champion.
• Champion and Reserve Champion of each division (purebred, crossbred market gilt, crossbred market barrow) will come back for Grand Champion and Reserve Champion Overall Market Hog.

Announcement from the state horse program:

Beginning in 2023, participation in a District 4-H Horse Show will not be required to participate in the State 4-H Horse Show. This is also similar to the process used by other state livestock events (i.e., State Fair, AKSARBEN, etc.) and will allow more youth the opportunity to experience the State 4-H Horse Show. *The age eligibility update does not apply to the Fonner Park State Horse Show.

Being able to provide more opportunities for learning through workshops and clinics will allow youth to increase their skills and further develop with their project horse(s) in preparation for the State 4-H Horse Show. The State 4-H horse program is offering Come Learn with Carla Clinics. Clinic dates will be held:

• June 2nd - Central City, NE - Merrick County Fairgrounds
• June 3rd - Lincoln, NE - Lancaster Event Center
• June 4th - Albion, NE - Boone County Fairgrounds

Clinic Pricing (Non-4-H youth can enrolled in 4-H at your local county extension office)

• 4-H Enrolled Youth (8-18 years old) - $40
• Non-4-H youth (8-18 years old) - $80
• Adult (19+) - $80