Chase County 4-H Newsletter
March 2026
4-H enrollment for 2026 is open. Visit 4-H Online to complete the enrollment process before June. 15. Youth ages 8-18, as of Jan. 1, may enroll in the 4-H program. Youth ages 5-7 may enroll as Clover Kids.
**New for 2025: no enrollment fees!**
4-H Members need to be enrolled before they participate in 4-H activities.
Horse participants, complete your 4-H enrollment by April 1 and receive a FREE 2026 Horse Show & Judging Guide from the Chase County Extension Office.
The QR code will take you to 4-H Marketplace where you can buy a copy.
All 4-H members planning to exhibit livestock at the Chase County Fair must have Livestock ID Sheets turned in by the deadline in order to be eligible to show. ID Sheets are due on the deadline by 4 PM.
Horse: May 15
Beef/Sheep/Swine/Goat: June 1
Livestock Affidavits are available online or can be picked up at the Extension Office.
Tags are available at the Extension Office. Chase County ID requirements may also be found on the Nebraska Extension in Perkins and Chase Counties website.
**All MARKET livestock must submit a photo of the tag (4-H, EID or Scrapies) in the ear(s) of the animal(s) listed on the ID Sheet. Photos may be printed and turned in with the ID sheet or emailed to the office (dstamm3@unl.edu). Market Beef who participate in the Beef Weigh in do not need to submit pictures.
Youth for the Quality Care of Animals (YQCA) certification is required yearly for all 4-H youth participating in the 4-H and FFA livestock shows.
Age divisions for YQCA certification are based on 4-H member age as of Jan. 1.
Exhibitors are required to complete training in-person or online. If the class is taken online, exhibitors must provide certificate copies (print or digital) to the Extension Office in their county by July 1.
Those who do not complete the training will not be eligible to exhibit livestock at the Chase County Fair or the Nebraska State Fair.
In-person trainings for YQCA will be held:
March 9, 10-Noon--Perkins County Extension Office
April 24, 10-Noon--Chase County Fairgrounds
May 27, 10-Noon--Chase County Fairgrounds
May 28, 10-Noon--Perkins County Extension Office
June 3, 10-Noon--Wauneta
July 1--ALL YQCA TRAININGS COMPLETED. CERTIFICATES TURNED IN IF CLASS WAS TAKEN ONLINE.
Dates will be announced soon for this year's BB Gun & Air Rifle and Pistol practices.
Pistol participants must have completed Hunter's Education before taking part in practices. More info on Hunter's Education can be found at Nebraska Hunter Safety Course | Hunter-ed.com™ Participants only need to certify once.
The Special Garden Project gives 4‑H members the opportunity to try growing a new and unusual vegetable or flower each year. The project allows experienced 4‑H gardeners to grow something fun and exciting while letting those who are newer to gardening get their feet wet in the horticulture project area with a guided project experience.
Contact the Extension Office (882-4731 or email dstamm3@unl.edu) to reserve your seeds for the 2026 Special Garden Project, Alumia Vanilla Cream Marigold.
More information on this year's Special Gardening Project can be found at Special Garden Project | Nebraska 4-H | NebraskaProject Resources
Contact the Extension Office (882-4731 or email dstamm3@unl.edu) to reserve your seeds for the 2026 Special Agronomy Project, popcorn.
In the sixth year of the special agronomy project, youth will explore TWO varieties of popcorn! The first is an heirloom variety that was discovered and developed by a farmer in eastern Nebraska, called Nebraska Red. The second is a commercial variety, Robust 997.
Here are a few tips for this year's project:
- Be sure not to plant sweet corn in your garden with popcorn to prevent cross-pollination, as it will impact the flavor of the sweet corn. The reason it affects sweet corn is that both are flint corns and they readily cross-pollinate.
- Both popcorn varieties when planted on the same day should not cross-pollinate, as they have different times of pollination.
- Field corn will not impact the pollination of popcorn.
More information on this year's Special Agronomy Project can be found at Special Agronomy Project | CropWatch | Nebraska
2026 4-H Horse Stampede Dates: Saturday, April 25 – Sunday, April 26, 2026
Entries must be submitted online by Wednesday, April 15, 2026
Find more information at NE 4-H Horse Stampede. More details will be shared in the coming weeks, but we wanted to make sure this exciting update is on your annual 4-H calendar.
4-H Judges Clinic:
Dates: January 31
Contact: Dr. Kathy Anderson kanderson1@unl.edu
4-H Horse Stampede:
Dates: April 25-26
Contact: Makayla Burg mburg2@nebraska.edu
State 4-H Horse Show:
Dates: July 11-15
Contact: Cindy Wolverton cwolverton3@unl.edu
State 4-H Rodeo:
Dates: TBA Fall 2026
Contact: Wyatt Clark wclark8@nebraska.edu
Link to the Chase County Extension Office's Google calendar to stay up to date with events.
Upcoming:
- March 9, 10-Noon--YQCA, Perkins County Extension Office
- April 12 , 2 p.m.--Perkins/Chase Premier Communications Event
- April 24, 10-Noon--YQCA, Chase County Fairgrounds
- May 1, 4 p.m.--Chase County Enrichment Scholarships due
- May 15, 4 p.m.--Horse IDs due
- May 25--Memorial Day, Extension Office closed
- May 27, 10-Noon--YQCA, Chase County Fairgrounds
- May 28, 10-Noon--YQCA, Perkins County Extension Office
- June 1, 4 p.m.--Livestock IDs due, DNA due
- June 3, 10-Noon--YQCA, Wauneta
- June 15--4-H Enrollment deadline
- July 1, 4 p.m.--YQCA deadline
- July 3--Extension Office closed
- July 29, 8:30 a.m.--Chase County Clothing Day, HUB 308
- July 29, 6 p.m.--Chase County Public Style Show, HUB 308
Debbie Kuenning, Extension Educator, debbie.kuenning@unl.edu
Diane Stamm, Office Manager, dstamm3@unl.edu
Website: https://extension.unl.edu/statewide/perkins-chase/
Location: 490 East 5th Street, Imperial, NE, USA
Phone: 308-882-4731
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chasecounty4H