Dakota County 4-H News

DAKOTA COUNTY OFFICE STAFF

Angela Abts—4-H & Youth aabts2@unl.edu

Julie Boyle—Food Nutrition and Health julie.boyle@unl.edu

Tammy Dunn—Office Manager tpeterson3@unl.edu

Brenda Sale—SNAP-ED bsale@unl.edu

Email: dakota-county@unl.edu
Website: https://dakota.unl.edu
Location: 1505 Broadway Street, Dakota City, NE, USA
Phone: 402-987-2140
Facebook: facebook.com/UNLDakotaCounty
Twitter: @NEDakota4HExt

Facebook: Nebraska Extension in Dakota County

Instagram: NE Extension Dakota County

JULY

4 - Office closed - Independence Day

12- 16 - Fonner Park State 4-H Horse Show

16 - ALL County Fair Fair pre-entry deadline

July 16 - YQCA Deadline

July 26 - Pre-Fair Clean Up @ Dakota-Thurston Fairgrounds

July 27 - Cat, Dog, & Companion Animal Show - Thurston Community Hall, Thurston, NE; 1:30 PM

July 28 - 4-H Clothing Day Judging - 1:00 PM

July 29 - Rabbit Show - Dakota-Thurston Fairgrounds ~10:00 AM start~

July 30-Aug 3 - Dakota-Thurston County Fair

DAKOTA~THURSTON COUNTY FAIR - July 30th - August 3rd, 2025

NEBRASKA STATE FAIR - August 22nd - September 1st, 2025

AUGUST

Aug 10 - State Fair Animal and In Person Entries DUE

Aug 11 - Thurston 4-H Council Meeting

Aug 18 - Thurston Extension Board Meeting

Aug 20 - State Fair Exhibits; Grand Island, NE

Aug 22-Sept 2 - NEBRASKA STATE FAIR

Aug 22-24 - 4-H Weekend @ State Fair

Aug 8-Sept 1 - FFA Weekend @ State Fair

SEPTEMBER

Sept 1 - Office Closed – Labor Day

Sept 8 - Joint 4-H Council Meeting TBD

Sept 25-28 - Aksarben Stock Show

HARD COPIES OF THE FAIRBOOK ARE PRINTED AND AVAILABLE IN THE EXTENSION OFFICE.

July 16th, 2025

Fair pre-entry deadline

Each Dakota County has received a entry packet in the mail. ( I 9x12 manilla or white envelope, check your mail.)

We are not using Showorks online entries this year as it has become to costly. Tammy created online forms using Microsoft forms. You can access all of the forms at:

https://extension.unl.edu/statewide/dakota/4-h/dakota-county-fair-state-fair/

Please be patient, this was a learning curve for Tammy,. Hopefully it is user friendly and easy to understand.

If all else fails, paper entry forms are available on our website at the link above.

Late Entry policy: 4-H members are to pre-enter their projects for exhibition at the fair. Entries that are submitted past the deadline will be accessed a $10 fee per individual. Entries will be accepted up to one week past the deadline, as long as the late fee has been paid.

STATE FAIR DEADLINES ARE HARD AND FAST, NOT EXCEPTIONS WILL BE MADE.

PLEASE READ THIS INFORMATION CAREFULLY AS THINGS HAVE CHANGED THIS YEAR!

Poultry Exhibitors - When you enter your animals Wednesday, July 30th, from 6:00 –8:00PM we are asking that you check your animals in with either the superintendents or Extension Staff. We want to try and ensure that our show programs are accurate. Your assistance on this will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Rabbit Exhibitors - The Rabbit Show is on Tuesday, July 29th. Check-in is from 8:00 - 9:30 AM - Showmanship starts at 10:00, and the show starts at 10:30 AM.

Bedding - The fair board will be supplying bedding for livestock projects. If you have special needs for your projects, it is your responsibility to bring the supplies or contact the Fair Board.

Stalling Horses - The Dakota~Thurston County Fairboard voted in 2010, That if a horse is showed, it must be stalled. No veterinarian excuses will be accepted. This applies to all horses exhibiting at the 4-H Horse Show, no expectations. All horses must be stalled and checked in at the fairgrounds with the Superintendents or Extension Staff on Wednesday, July 30th from 6:00-8:00PM.

Livestock Check-in - Wednesday, July 30th from 6:00 - 8:00 pm is check-in day at the fair. Please check-in your animals at the respective livestock scale. This will help us with making sure we have the right exhibitors and livestock that are on the fairgrounds and help with correct stall assignments and correct show programs. Reminder: Swine ear tags need to be purchased for $3.00 each at the time of check-in.

No early release of animals - Please refer to the fair book for the following rule: All live animals, 4-H/FFA, Open Class (except cats, dogs, household pets/birds) will remain on the grounds for the duration of the fair. No early releases. Also see the following statement from the Fair Board: Penalty– Premiums will be pulled for exhibits leaving the fairgrounds prior to the aforementioned release time.

Cat, Dog, & Ferret Exhibits - Vaccinations are required for cats, dog (and ferrets) shown at the Dakota - Thurston County Fair. Please submit proof of vaccinations with your animal entries that are due on July 17th. Forms are available here: https://extension.unl.edu/statewide/dakota/4-h/dakota-county-fair-state-fair/#tab-item-cat,-dog-&-companion-animal-12100

Bucket Calves - Record books for the Bucket Calf project are due to the Fair Livestock Office by Noon on Thursday, July 31st. Interviews will be from 1-3 PM that same day! There will also be a sign up sheet for Bucket Calf Interview times in the Livestock Office on Wednesday evening!

Click here for more info: https://extension.unl.edu/statewide/dakota/4-h/dakota-county-fair-state-fair/#tab-item-beef,-sheep,-swine,-&-goats-12095

if you have not completed YQCA training, time is running out. Nebraska 4-H requires all members enrolled in a livestock meat animal project (beef, sheep, swine, goat, poultry, rabbit) to complete annual quality assurance certification through the Youth for the Quality Care of Animals program. The program has recently moved to a new online system available at

YQCAProgram.org. Learn more about YQCA requirements and find help documents at

4h.unl.edu/yqca

.

YQCA must be completed by July 17th.

Deadline to place order for the 2025 Dakota County 4-H t-shirt is July 7th. this guarantees delivery by County fair.

Congratulations to Charlee Bylsma for submitting her idea for a 4-H shirt. She will receive a shirt for her efforts!

Create a Door sign. Stop by the Extension Office to pick up your blank door sign. Pay a deposit of $5, this will be returned to you when you bring it as an entry to the County Fair.

Complete this as a club project, do it as a workshop with the Extension Office, create one with your family.

Be creative, use principle of design rules, neatness counts!

It will be really fun to see all the different designs!

These are still available, please stop in and pick up !

Are you enrolled in a 4-H Clothing & Textiles Project? (If you aren't, there is still time by June 15th!)

Remember all sewing, knitting, crocheting, quilting and modeling projects are entered by July 17th. The judging or Clothing Day is Monday, July 28th at the Dakota~Thurston County Fairgrounds, in the Expo Building.

Need some help with your sewing projects? Angela and Tammy are both pretty good seamstresses.

Do you love to shop and show off your bargain shopping savvy?

Enter a project in the Outfit Challenge. (If you enroll in a sewing project, you'll receive information about Clothing day and entering your Outfit Challenge.)

Outfit Challenge

Sewing & textiles Information

The wristbands will be given to each 4H youth that are exhibiting during fair week. These will be handed out to Dakota & Thurston Extension kids starting Wednesday July 30th during Static entry check in and the additional wristbands can be handed out to kids as they pick up backtags in the livestock office. The wristbands allows them to get into the following events for free:

· Thursday - Tractor Pull

· Friday - Figure 8 Racing, Kids Day Activities, and Laser Tag

· Saturday - Kids Day Activities, Extreme Bull Riding

On behalf of Dakota and Thurston Counties 4-H Councils, we wish to thank you for your support of the 4-H Program in our community. 4-H offers our youth numerous opportunities. 4-H’ers gain self-

If you are willing to donate a trophy or trophies for the top winners. Trophies are presented at the 2025 Dakota-Thurston County Fair at a cost of $25.00 each.

Please complete a donation form and mail/return to the Dakota Cunty Extension Office

Donation form

2025 Entry & Nomination Dates:

DNA Envelope Order Window: May 1st - June 26th
Broiler Order Window: May 15th - July 15th
DNA Nominations must be completed and Envelopes Postmarked: July 1st
Entry Window: August 1st - September 5th

ATTENTION: You must purchase envelopes BEFORE completing the online nomination process. After you get your envelopes you will log in and complete the nomination in the nomination portal. Please read the Nomination Process document below for complete instructions. Reminder: Official nomination and DNA submission is required for market and breeding beef, feeder calves, market and breeding goats, market and breeding sheep, and market and breeding swine.

Ak-Sar-Ben Stock Show

This webinar series, sponsored by Nebraska Extension and delivered via Zoom, is a great opportunity to join experts from Nebraska Extension to learn and ask questions! All programs are on the second Wednesday of the month from Noon-1 pm CT.

Check out the website to learn more and find past program recordings - https://hles.unl.edu/lawn-garden/gro-big-red/

Nebraska Extension is a Division of the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln cooperating with the Counties and the United States Department of Agriculture. The 4-H Youth Development program abides with the nondiscrimination policies of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and the United States Department of Agriculture.