Jefferson County 4-H

Molly Hansmire

The 2026 Jefferson County Fair dates are July 8-12, 2026.

The theme is "There's No Place Like Fair".

The2026 4-H/FFA fairbook and fair entry forms are available at our office or online at at Jefferson County Fair Resources. All livestock and food entries are due by Monday, June 15th.

NO LATE ENTRIES WILL BE ACCEPTED!!!!

Please make sure to let us know of any questions!

Jefferson County 4-H'ers & FFA members will need to complete an order form for T-Shirts this year and return them to the Extension Office by MAY29th! NO LATE ORDERS ACCEPTED!

These t-shirts will be the only ones 4-H'ers may exhibit in this fair! If you don't order a shirt, you will not have one to show in during the fair. Any one planning to exhibit at the fair is eligible for one shirt donated by our sponsors, Clover Kids are included. This is also the time to order extra shirts.

Please sign up today! We are in the process of setting up a new way to communicate and send notifications with our 4-H families and leaders. Please sign-up for the Sports You app online or download the app. There is a QR code below with the access code or you can look at the PDF attached to the newsletter to sign up. Please contact us if you need assistance! We are excited to try this new way to contact you all directly to your phone!

It’s time to get enrolled in 4-H for the 2026 4-H year! To enroll, visit: https://v2.4honline.com/. For returning families, please do not create a new account; rather use your log-in credentials for 4honline used in previous years. Instructions can be found here: https://4h.unl.edu/enroll/returning-member. Enrollment instructions for new families can be found here: https://4h.unl.edu/enroll/returning-member

Family Responsibilities:

FAMILIES MUST PULL DNA FOR ALL MARKET AND BREEDING ANIMALS, AND FEEDER CALVES FOR THE STATE FAIR.

1. Envelopes must be picked up at the Extension Office or from FFA Advisor.
2. Exhibitors showing market animals, breeding animals, and feeder calves at State Fair must have a completed and signed official DNA hair sample for verification turned into our office by June 15. NAMES OF ALL YOUTH WHO COULD POSSIBLY EXHIBIT EACH ANIMAL MUST BE LISTED ON THE DNA ENVELOPE AND ALL YOUTH MUST SIGN THE ENVELOPE.

1. Nomination website is OPEN!
2. Exhibitors must complete online nominations for all DNA samples pulled for potential 4-H and FFA animals to be exhibited at the state fair. This includes market and breeding animals for all species, feeder calves, cow/calf pairs, etc. using the www.showstockmgr.com site along with submitting online payment for DNA no later than June 15. DO NOT MAKE YOUR ONLINE NOMINATIONS AT THE LAST MINUTE AS THE 15TH IS A WEEKEND AND OFFICE STAFF WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE TO HELP IF YOU ENCOUNTER ISSUES. Follow these instructions for online nominations: https://go.unl.edu/stockshowmgrnominationinstructions
3. EACH YOUTH WHO COULD POTENTIALLY EXHIBIT THE ANIMAL MUST BE LISTED ON THE ONLINE NOMINCATION.
4. Female animals may be nominated as both breeding and market but can only be entered in ONE show division (4-H or FFA) for State Fair. No animal can be shown in both 4-H and FFA. Do not create two nominations, simply check both check boxes for market and breeding.
5. Each State Fair nomination will be $7.00 per animal and must be paid at time of nomination. Failure to pay online will result in you not being eligible for State Fair.
6. Any animal carrying an 840 EID tag will require the exhibitor to obtain a Premise ID and have the number of file at the Extension Office by June 15.
7. NOMINATIONS DO NOT SERVE AS AN ENTRY FOR THE NEBRASKA STATE FAIR. NOMINATIONS ONLY MAKE THESE ANIMAL ELIGIBLE FOR ENTRY. ENTRY IS A SEPARATE PROCESS.

The Nebraska 4-H Livestock Achievement Program is back for its fifth year, recognizing youth who go above and beyond in their livestock projects! This program promotes learning in selection, production, leadership, and exhibition across all livestock species.

🔹 Open to enrolled 4-H livestock youth
🔹 Species include beef, sheep, swine, meat goat, dairy, rabbit, poultry.
🔹 Three achievement levels: Junior, Intermediate, Senior

🗓 Apply by June 15
🗂 Plans & Reports due August 1
🏆 Members of Excellence will be recognized at the Nebraska State Fair Grand Drive.

👉 Learn more & apply here: https://go.unl.edu/lap

We are looking for ideas for workshops in 2025-2026. We would like to hear ideas of what you would be willing to attend. We would also like to hear from you regarding what times would work best for most people, after school, 1⁄2 days when school is out, etc. Please contact the Extension Office 402-729-3487 and let us know what YOU are interested in.

Just as a reminder, check out our Facebook page! The page name is "Jefferson County Extension & 4-H Youth Development". Along with our newsletter, we will be using this page to update our members about upcoming events, activities, and deadlines. We also hope to use this page to provide information about community outreach opportunities, scholarships, and research that is important to our followers. The staff will do our best to keep this updated and inform you all of what is going on at the office, Jefferson County, and in Nebraska.

May

1 - Camp Renegade Counselor Applications Due

19 - Camp Renegade Registrations Due

29 - Fair T-Shirt Orders Due

June

3 - Babysitting Clinic, JCH&L, Fairbury

15 - Fair Entry Deadline

15 - DNA Envelopes and Online Animal Nominations Due

23 - Watercolor Workshop, Extension Office

25 - Grape Jelly Workshop, Grace Lutheran Church, Fairbury

July

8-12 - Jefferson County Fair

28 - Farm Safety Day

Email: darci.pesek@unl.edu
Website: jefferson.unl.edu
Location: 517 F Street, Fairbury, NE, United States
Phone: 402-729-3487
Facebook: www.facebook.com/jeffersoncountyext

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 Sates Department of Agriculture.

Nebraska Extension educational programs abide with the nondiscrimination policies of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and the United States Department of Agriculture.

©2026