Livestock Quality Assurance

Youth planning to exhibit any livestock, poultry or rabbit projects at the county fair are required to complete Livestock Quality Assurance (LQA). This includes: beef, sheep, swine, rabbit, poultry, meat and dairy goats and dairy cattle. Three options for completing this requirement are out-lined below.

1. A hands-on training for Cherry County 4-Hers will be held in conjunction with the Livestock Judging Contest on June 20 at Valentine Livestock Auction at 4:00 PM, CT. Attention new families: This is by far the easiest option, mark your calendars and plan to attend!

Youth NOT attending the class offered in conjunction with the Livestock Judging Contest must complete either the online LQA (all ages) or the Written Test Out Option (ages 12-18).

2. Youth for the Quality Care of Animals (YQCA)

The new LQA Online Curriculum called Youth for the Quality Care of Animals (YQCA) is available at yqca.learngrow.io. Cost of the course is $15.

• You will use your 4HOnline login (email address) and password information to access the courses for the ACTIVE youth in your family.  Only ACTIVE members will show in the drop down menu for access to the course.
• If you have forgotten your password for 4-H Online, use the 4-H Online program to make a password change.  Then log into YQCA.
• Google Chrome browser works best for this program.
• All registration questions with YQCA should be directed tohelp@yqca.org. There will not be local support for the YQCA program.
• All 4-H’ers need to use the 4-H tab and not the FFA tab even if they are members of both organizations.
• Youth are required to complete three (3) modulesin the YQCA Online Course by July 24 in order to complete this year’s LQA requirements. To receive credit for the modules, youth will need to pass the module’s associated quiz with a score of 80% or higher. If youth do not pass a quiz on the first try they will have the option to return to the materials and review them again prior to attempting the quiz, or choose a different module instead.
• Please print the certificate of completion from YQCA and bring it to the Extension Office when complete or email to jdexter3@unl.edu.

3. Testing-Out
   Intermediate and senior level youth are eligible to test-out by taking a written test at the Extension office to fulfill Quality Assurance age level requirements.  To test-out of Quality Assurance, please contact the Extension office at 402-376-1850 for more information and/or to schedule a testing time.

All training and/or testing must be completed by July 24.

 

Cherry County 4-H Livestock Judging Contest & Livestock Quality Assurance

The Cherry County 4-H program invites all 4-H families interested in spending time together and evaluating livestock to attend the Cherry County 4-H Livestock Judging Contest on June 20. This is an awesome opportunity for inter-generational interaction.

Livestock judging allows 4-H & FFA members to improve their basic livestock evaluation and selection skills as well as provide a good foundation for decision making skills.

The contest will be held at the Valentine Livestock Auction beginning at 5:00, CT on Tuesday, June 20.

The Livestock Quality Assurance hands-on training will take place before the judging contest at 4:00 CT. Quality Assurance is required of all 4-Hers showing livestock, poultry, rabbit and dairy projects at the fair. 4-Hers that are unable to attend the hands-on session, please see the Cherry County 4-H Alert about Livestock Quality Assurance for other options to complete this requirement.

 

DATE:                    Tuesday, June 20

TIME:                    Livestock Quality Assurance: 4:00 pm

Contest Registration: 5:00 pm

Contest: 5:15 pm

LOCATION:         Valentine Livestock Auction

Livestock Judging Divisions will include Clover Kid (5-7), Junior (8-10), Intermediate (11-13), and Senior (14-18).

Market Beef ID’s due April 15

A reminder that Market Beef ID sheets are due April 15.

County only exhibitors will need to tag and have ID sheets turned in to the Extension Office by April 15 to be eligible to show at county fair. Tags and ID sheets are available at the Extension Office.

Exhibitors that plan to show at State Fair or Ak-Sar-Ben will need to have EID tags, DNA collected and ID sheets submitted to the Extension Office by April 15. Verification will need to take place by a livestock committee member or Extension Staff.

Youth Quality Assurance

Nebraska 4-H has a new Quality Assurance Curriculum called Youth for the Quality Care of Animals (YQCA) and is now active.

Every 4-H member that will be exhibiting beef, sheep, swine, goat, dairy, rabbit and/or poultry projects need Quality Assurance training each year. Members must have completed the training to be eligible to exhibit at County Fair, State Fair or Ak-Sar-Ben.

Anyone who has not registered for the LQA online course for 2017 using the old system should now navigate to the NEW online YQCA course at yqca.learngrow.io. You will use your FAMILY 4HOnline login and password information to access the courses for the ACTIVE youth in your family.  Only ACTIVE members will show in the drop down menu for access to the course.

All registration questions with YQCA should be directed to help@yqca.org. There will not be local support for the YQCA program. All 4-Hers need to use the 4-H tab and not the FFA tab even if they are members of both organizations. There is a button for families that have forgotten their password. 4-Hers that have started their QA training in the LQA site will be able to complete their modules and print off their certificate of completion and take it to their Extension Office. The YQCA site is user friendly and should make it easy for 4-H families to complete their QA training for this year.

There will be a free hands-on Livestock Quality Assurance training held in conjunction with the Livestock Judging Contest on June 20^th (time TBA) at the Valentine Livestock Auction. 4-Hers can complete the online courses or take part in the local training.  Online courses will need to be completed by July 24^th which is the same date as county fair entries are due.

Market Beef ID’s due April 15

The Cherry County 4-H Livestock Committee has made a few changes concerning Market Beef projects for 2017. There will not be a Rate of Gain Contest for market steers and heifers. Consequently, there is no longer a mandatory county ID and weigh-in.

County only exhibitors will need to tag and have ID sheets turned in to the Extension Office by April 15 to be eligible to show at county fair. Tags and ID sheets are available at the Extension Office.

Exhibitors that plan to show at State Fair or Ak-Sar-Ben will need to have EID tags, DNA collected and ID sheets submitted to the Extension Office by April 15. Verification will need to take place by a livestock committee member or Extension Staff.

Market Beef update

The Cherry County 4-H Livestock Committee has made a few changes concerning Market Beef projects for 2017. There will not be a Rate of Gain Contest for market steers and heifers. Consequently, there is no longer a mandatory county ID and weigh-in.

County only exhibitors will need to tag and have ID sheets turned in to the Extension Office by April 15 to be eligible to show at county fair. Tags and ID sheets are available at the Extension Office.

Exhibitors that plan to show at State Fair or Ak-Sar-Ben will need to have EID tags, DNA collected and ID sheets submitted to the Extension Office by April 15. Verification will need to take place by a livestock committee member or Extension Staff. Stay tuned for further updates about requirements for State Fair weigh-in. If you plan to show at State Fair or Ak-Sar-Ben please contact the Cherry County Extension Office so we can keep you updated on all the requirements.

Youth Livestock Projects and the VFD Regulation

Effective January 1, 2017, all livestock producers that use antibiotic medicated feeds to prevent, treat or control animal health issues will be required to get a written order or Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD) from a Veterinarian to purchase and feed these feeds.  The regulation will only affect antibiotics administered in feed or water for livestock.

Antibiotics are important to both human medicine and animal health, to reduce the risk of antibiotic resistance in both areas; producer must follow the FDA Approved Labels.  These labels determine what animal health issues can be treated with that specific antibiotic, dosage and proper administration.

The first step youth producers should take is to develop a Veterinarian-Client-Patient Relationship by visiting with their veterinarian.  Within this discussion, producers need to review their herd/flock health plan and evaluate vaccinations and treatment plans for the animals they care for.  If you determine that medicated feeds should be used, plan on how to acquire a VFD Order from the veterinarian.

Copies of the VFD must go to you and your feed supplier/dealer before you can purchase or feed these feeds.  Youth Livestock Participants may visit with their feed supplier/dealer to plan a nutrition/feed program prior to getting their project animals to discuss if medicated feeds should be used and if a VFD is required.

For more information visit the Nebraska BQA VFD Webpage at: http://bqa.unl.edu/veterinary-feed-directive   Or Contact Rob Eirich, Extension Educator/Director of Beef Quality Assurance via email at: reirich2@unl.edu

Catch a Calf

The National Western Stock Show Catch-A-Calf Program is designed to promote youth development and understanding of the cattle industry. Youth who choose to participate in the contest may have a range of experiences raising, feeding and showing beef cattle, all are encouraged to apply.

To apply applicants must be between the ages of 12 and 18 as of December 31, 2016 and be enrolled in 4-H at the time of application. Successful catchers must have adequate facilities available to house their steer as they are responsible for the care, feeding, and handling of their animal. The applications to participate in this year’s Catch-a-Calf program at the NWSS are now available on line at http://nationalwestern.com/livestock-shows/catch-a-calf-contest/. Applications must be postmarked by December 1, 2016!

Youth who catch a calf are to pick up the calf at the National Western Livestock Center in May of 2017, and start the calf immediately as a 4-H project.  Calves must be exhibited and sold at the 2018 National Western Stock Show.  (Calves the past two years have come from Nebraska Sandhill Ranches.)

Livestock Set-up

There will be a livestock set up to get prepared for the County Fair on Sunday, August 7 at 5:00 PM, CT.

This year, all livestock shows and the sale will be held in the pavilion on a trial basis. Help is needed setting up the hog and sheep pens in the wash barn, tie out pens, and panels to get the livestock to and from the pavilion. Dads and teenagers are especially needed. Many hands make light work!

County Fair Livestock Reminders

Livestock Quality Assurance (LQA)

If you plan to exhibit livestock at the fair and did not attend the LQA training held after the Livestock Judging Contest or have not “tested-out” you will need to complete the on-line certification. To enroll and complete the course go to http://4h.unl.edu/qualityassurance. The enrollment key to log into the course is “Nebraska.” Complete instructions can be found on the website. Certificates may be dropped off at the Extension Office or e-mailed to jdexter3@unl.edu. The course must be completed before fair entries are due, July 25. To date, no Cherry County 4-Hers are listed as completing the on line course.

County Fair Entries

All 4-H fair entries are due Monday, July 25. Entries may be mailed, dropped off at the Extension Office or emailed to jdexter3@unl.edu. We have a drop box (mailbox) near the front steps of the building if you cannot get here during business hours.

Entries for everything except what goes to the Exhibit Hall is pre-entered including:  Shooting Sports, Horse, Dog, Beef, Sheep, Swine, Companion Animals, Poultry, Rabbit, Clover Kid Small Animals, Bucket Calves, Goats and Dairy. Include Team Fitting on the Beef entry form.

Static exhibits may be pre-entered if you would like to have entry tags waiting for you on entry day of the fair. It is not required, but it will speed up check-in.

The $10 late fee will apply to all entries not received by July 25. Late entries will not be accepted after July 28.

All entry forms and the 4-H Fair schedule can be found at http://cherry.unl.edu/cherrycounty4h or stop by the Extension Office to pick them up.

Sandhills Production Class

Improvements have been made to the Sandhills Production Class. Be sure to check out the information, changes and record keeping requirements at cherry.unl.edu/cherrycounty4h. Records will be turned in when you check your heifers in at County Fair. Be sure to let the Extension Office know if you prefer a hard copy and we will get it sent to you.

4-H & FFA State Fair Livestock Entry Information

FFA and 4-H are sharing an online entry system and are allowing exhibitors/parents to submit their entries. Go to http://www.statefair.org/p/getinvolved/4h-ffa to submit your entries.

4-H and FFA exhibitors and their families are responsible for submitting all State Fair livestock entries online. This includes:

• 4H and FFA Livestock entries
• 4H Companion Animal entries
• 4H Dog entries
• 4H Dog Skillathon entries
• 4H and FFA Premier Exhibitor entries

Registration is now open. All livestock entries must be submitted no later than 5:00 PM, CT, August 10, 2016. A credit or debit card is required to submit entries.

Ethics Affidavit & Statement of Disclosure

All 4-Hers that have animals going through the sale need to turn in the Ethics Affidavit & Statement of Disclosure at check-in/weigh-in.  This is to ensure that you are a responsible food producer and that your animals have not received any non-approved drugs and that approved drugs are not within any withdrawal time relative to administration. The affidavits can be found under Fair Entry Forms at http://cherry.unl.edu/cherrycounty4h.

 

Livestock Sale Reminders

4-Hers may sell two units with no more than two of any species of livestock. A market hog, goat or sheep is ½ unit. A market steer or heifer is 1 unit.

Market animals must meet the following weigh requirements to be eligible to sell in the 4-H & FFA Livestock Sale:

Market Steers: 1100 -1500 lbs.

Market Heifers: 1050-1400 lbs.

Market Hogs: 230-300 lbs.

Market Lambs: 110-170 lbs.

Market Goats: 50-100 lbs.

 

Fair Schedule

The 4-H Cherry County Fair schedule can be found at cherry.unl.edu/cherrycounty4h under 2016 Cherry County Fair Schedule. Hard copies are available at the Extension Office.