• 4-H Enrollment Deadline
• Hamilton County 4-H Exhibitor T-Shirt Sign Up
• Clover Kid Club
• Summer Reading Program
• Nebraska State 4-H Camp
• 4-H Summer Camp
• Animal ID's and Project Registration Date
• State Fair Livestock Deadline
• Livestock Achievement Program
• Family Ag Night, Grand Island
• Come Learn With Carla
• FCS DAY
• Pre-Fair Entry Deadline
• Summer Workshop Info
• PASE
• PCE
• STEM Cares - Slime Engineering
• Horticulture Event
• Youth Crop Scouting Competition
• Diamond Clover
• YQCA
• Adams County Rabbit & Poultry Show
• Papio Valley Livestock Show Pre-Entry
• Wildflower Week Events
• Plant & Insect Identification Contests
• I Belong Awards
• May Highlights

You must be enrolled and signed up for projects in 4honline.com by June 15th in order to show at the 2023 Hamilton County Fair and to be eligible for the Nebraska State Fair.

What’s the difference between 4-H projects and fair exhibits?

A 4-H “Project” is an area of interest you want to learn more about (like a hobby). This is what you sign-up for during enrollment in 4-HOnline (i.e. cooking, wood working, dogs, photography, etc.). A project is intended to help you explore, learn, and practice skills in your areas of interest. Youth must choose their projects at the time of enrollment so they have plenty of time to learn about or practice with their project area before the fair. You can sign up for as many as 50 projects!

A County Fair “Exhibit” is what you actually take to the fair – like the zinnias you grew, the animal you trained, or the rocket you built while exploring and learning about your projects. There are always things you do while exploring your project area that you do not take to the fair as exhibits and that is ok. Remember: the point of the project is to learn how to do something new and better and an exhibit will help you do that!

Every youth exhibiting, both livestock and static, at the Hamilton County Fair can sign up for a free t-shirt! Exhibitor t-shirts are REQUIRED for all youth participating in in-person contests (livestock shows and shooting sports contests). These shirts are provided by a generous donation by the Hamilton County Farm Bureau.

An email was sent on May 15 with a sign up link. Please be sure to sign up through the link provided. The last day to order shirts will be June 15!

The Animal ID's are due June 15, 2023!

Animal ID sheets are where you tell us about any animals that you may be bringing to the fair and give us their tag numbers or ear notches for swine. An animal must be ID'd to come to fair. But just because the animals are on the ID sheet, you don't have to bring them to the fair. You do not have to ID poultry or rabbits. Vaccination papers for dogs and cats are also due June 15th.

For forms or any other information on registration please check out our website at extension.unl.edu/statewide/hamilton/2023-hamilton-county-fair/

You may also reach out to the Hamilton County Extension office or call us at 402-694-6174 or email Hillary at hillary.fuhrman@unl.edu.

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 and/or breeding beef, feeder calves, market and/or breeding swine, market and/or breeding sheep or market and/or breeding goats at State Fair must have a signed and sealed official DNA envelope with hair samples for DNA verification. Every animal nomination (this includes all breeding animals and feeder calves) will require a DNA submission. DNA must be turned into their county office and have completed the online nomination with payment in Show Stock Manager by June 15. 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 the completed envelope you turn into your county.)

3. Exhibitors will be required to complete Youth for the Quality Care of Animals (YQCA) for the enrolled livestock projects by the August 10.

4. Exhibitors will confirm that the ear tattoo and/or identification tag matches the animal nomination submitted by June 15 for confirmation of legibility and/or accuracy.

5. Exhibitors will notify the County Extension Staff of any retags that may occur up to time of check-in at the State Fair.

6. Exhibitors will select which animal nominations they have chosen to show at State Fair on the State Fair entry

website by August 10. All nominated and validated animals will be automatically listed as a choice option for entry registration.

7. Exhibitors will be required to bring the breed registration association paperwork to check-in at State Fair for Show Stock Manager.

County Staff Responsibilities:

1. Submit an 840 EID tag order for beef and swine animal projects.

2. Schedule and publish weigh-in and/or tagging dates if offered in your county.

3. Request, distribute and collect DNA collectors for families. 840 EID tags should not be distributed without the premise ID being recorded in 4H Online. It is optional but recommended to record on the DNA envelope.

4. Inform families of the Youth for the Quality Care of Animals (YQCA) training options available to them (in person and online).

5. Collect all beef, swine, lamb, and goat DNA envelopes by June 15. Families will submit payment online in Show Stock Manager. Copy all DNA envelopes for your county records and mail all completed DNA envelopes to the Aksarben Stock Show office by June 23.

6. Remind families to confirm that the ear tattoo and/or identification tag matches the animal nomination submitted by June 15 for confirmation of legibility and/or accuracy.

7. Collect Premises ID numbers from exhibitors and input those into 4H Online.

8. Review and validate all online livestock nominations in Show Stock Manager for each exhibitor by July 1.

9. Input nomination edits in to Show Stock Manager for your families. Edits will be corrected by the Show

Coordinator. For retags, directly notify Brandy Schulze bschulze@unl.edu and/or input the change in Show Stock Manager.

10. Inform families that all nominations have been validated and are available for entry at the Nebraska State Fair entry website https://www.statefair.org/ when the system is open.

Additional Information

County offices can accept paper ID sheets for their own record keeping but these will not be accepted as a form of identification for State Fair. Each exhibitor may nominate a total, between 4-H and FFA, as follows: Market Beef (20), Market Lambs (20), Market Swine (40), and Market Goats (20).

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

Members of Excellence are recognized within each 4-H livestock project area, including:

• beef
• sheep
• meat goat
• swine
• dairy cattle
• dairy goat
• rabbit
• 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.

At the beginning of the 4-H year, youth must apply to participate in the program. Upon acceptance into the program, participants plan what to accomplish. At the end of the 4-H year, they report on their completed accomplishments. Additionally, participants must complete their annual 4-H Online enrollment process, YQCA requirements, and project record books in order to receive a Member of Excellence distinction.

• Youth must be currently enrolled 4-H members and be enrolled in the livestock project through which they plan to participate in the Livestock Achievement Program.
• Youth must be 10-18 years of age as of January 1 of the current year.
• Youth may participate as Intermediates, ages 10-13, or Seniors, ages 14-18.
• Youth must designate at least one 4-H livestock project through which they will participate in the Livestock Achievement program. Youth may participate through any of the following project areas: beef, sheep, meat goat, swine, dairy cattle, dairy goat, rabbit, or poultry.
• All activities must be completed during a single project year. Points received for completing activities do not carry over from year to year.
• Youth may participate in the Livestock Achievement Program multiple times and in multiple projects.
• Points for a single activity may be counted towards a single project emphasis. For example, a member participating in the program through the beef and poultry projects during a single year will need to complete separate activities for each project.

Check out the livestock achievement page for more information and how to apply:

4h.unl.edu/livestock-achievement

Pre-fair entry is when you tell us what “Exhibits” you are actually taking to the 2023 Hamilton County Fair – like the basil you grew, the dog you trained, or the bird house you built while exploring and learning about your projects.

You will need to give us the Division and Class numbers from the fairbook and, for static exhibits, a short description. Pre-fair entry will be available online beginning Friday, June 16, at https://hamilton.fairwire.com.

You may also print pre-fair entry forms from our website and turn those in to the Extension Office. All pre-fair entries are due, either online or paper forms, Monday, July 10th at noon.

We are very excited to interact with your youth this summer as we explore a wide variety of topics. This is a reminder that payment for workshops is due to the Extension office before the workshop to hold your youth's spot. Please contact the Extension office with any questions.

The Premier Animal Science Event (PASE) is a two-day event designed to help you learn about issues related to the animal industry, explore career opportunities that are available, compete with other teens from across the state and have FUN!

Eligibility

PASE is open to any current 4-H participant who is at least 10 years old before Jan 1st, 2023.

Opportunities at PASE include:

• Livestock, Meats and Poultry Judging Contests

• Livestock Skill-a-thon (Requires a team)

• Livestock Quiz Bowl (Requires a team)

• Chicken BBQ Contest

You can participate in more than one as your schedule allows. In addition, you will

have chances to explore East Campus, meet with faculty members and current

college students, and have FUN with your friends!

When and Where:

It will be held June 21 & June 22, 2023 on University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s East

Campus.

Additional Information

Please reach out to the Merrick County Extension office at 308-946-3843 or Kara Wells (kara.wells@unl.edu) to get pre-registered.

Also check out the PASE website at: 4h.unl.edu/pase

*Note*

Youth who did not compete on a county level, but would like to compete in Impromptu or Video Communication are welcome to do so. They need to contact the Extension office before June 1st to register.

Do you know what it takes to pick the best fruit and vegetables out at the grocery store? Or do you know what judges are looking for when they judge your plants at the county fair? Have you ever wondered, what plant is that!?! We are excited to offer the opportunity to learn these and other important horticulture skills through the Online Horticulture Contest. The contest will be available June 2-16, 2023 at: https://go.unl.edu/online4hhortcontest.

Horticulture judging contest consists of three parts. The first is identification of plant material. Participants identify the plants by common name from a plant list. Specimens may be alive or preserved plant parts like stems, twigs, leaves, flowers, seeds, fruits, roots, bulbs, tubers, or plant products.

The second is a knowledge portion, usually in the form of a true/false or multiple choice quiz. Questions will test the contestant's knowledge of cultural practices for horticultural crops, plant science, pesticides, horticultural careers and other topics related to the production, processing and consumption of horticultural crops.

The last portion is judging or placings. This is where four different plants, plates of vegetables, or containers flowers are ranked from best to worst based on a set of criteria. Classes are judged on the basis of condition, quality, uniformity, true-to-type, and size.

More information about the Nebraska State contest along with a list of study materials can be found in the Fairbook https://4hfairbook.unl.edu/fairbookview.php/contests/45. Here you can find the written study materials for the knowledge portion, follow links to plant pictures for help with identification, and read how judging of plant material is done.

More details at: https://4h.unl.edu/online-horticulture-judging-contest

YQCA certification is required for all 4-H members enrolled in any of the following projects:

• Beef (bucket calf, feeder calf, breeding beef, market beef)
• Goat (breeding meat goat, dairy goat, meat goat)
• Poultry
• Rabbit
• Sheep (breeding sheep, market sheep)
• Swine (breeding swine, market swine)

Annual Training

Nebraska 4-H members ages 8-18, who are enrolled in any of the livestock projects listed above are required to participate in an annual YQCA training. Annual training requirements may be satisfied by completing either an online web-based training course or a face-to-face instructor-led training course.

Web-Based Training

Web-based annual training is available through the YQCA learning management system. The online YQCA course costs $12 per individual regardless of age.

Each session purchased includes three modules - a knowledge builder, a skills lab, and a quiz. The knowledge builder is where content is delivered. The skills lab provides an opportunity to apply the content. The quiz test knowledge. To receive certification, 80% must be achieved on the 10-question quiz. These modules, completed in their entirety, will provide 2-3 hours of experience. Features of the online modules include:

• Characters at each age level to guide youth through the course.
• Free navigation within the course so youth can spend as much or as little time on a particular topic based on their personal needs.
• Variety of learning opportunities to accommodate various learning styles and modalities.
• Audio button on each slide so youth can listen to audio rather than read the on-screen text.

Face-to-Face Training

Face-to-Face YQCA training is also available to satisfy annual training requirements. Please note that these training courses must be facilitated by a YQCA Certified Instructor. In-person YQCA training courses cost $3 per individual regardless of age. After you attend the in-person training, 4-H Council will provide you with a $3 coupon to pay for the training.

Current in-person class is set for Friday, July 7, 1 pm in the Extension Office. Please call us at 402-694-6174 to let us know if you are coming.

If any clubs want to schedule an in-person class they must contact the office before July 1st, 2023.

Youth interested in applying for this award will submit the application along with a picture of the

exhibit to their respective Extension Office. Deadline for youth to apply are due by the start of their

county fair. All youth who participate will receive a Certificate of Achievement. Counties can

award this during the county fair or their 4-H Awards program in the fall.

Youth can submit application one of two ways:

1 – Paper copy to their local Extension Office. County Offices will need to submit the

application electronically on their behalf by August 30th.

2 – Online at https://go.unl.edu/ibelongaward4h

County contact will receive a confirmation email about each application,

submitted from their respective county.

Judging:

All applications will be submitted to the NAE4-HYDP Diversity Committee for judging.

Awards will be given to the top applicants from across the state. Applications are due by

August 30th. All applications are submitted from each county.

Each application will be judged on the following criteria:

• Applicant demonstrates inclusivity, diversity, and self-realization concepts.

• Exhibits allow youth to grow and strengthen their personal attributes and talents.

• Applicant promotes a sense of belonging to the Nebraska 4-H program for all youth.

• Answers are complete and demonstrate correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling.

Judging will be conducted by the Diversity Committee Members and winners will be announced

during National 4-H week.