Sioux County 4-H Newsletter

Jan. 1 - Happy New Year, Office Closed

Jan. 11 - Panhandle Best Competition in Rushville

Jan. 12 - Virtual Club Leader Training at 5:30 pm

Jan. 19 - Martin Luther King Day - Office Closed

Jan. 25 - Panhandle Best Competition in Harrison

February is 4-H Month!!

Feb. 1 - Panhandle Best in Hyannis

Feb. 8 - Panhandle Best in Mullen

DEADLINE DATES:

Jan. 31 - Club Leader Year End Reports due

Feb. 15 - Special Garden Project Registration deadline

They are integrating the volunteer orientation videos within the 4-H Online platform for easier viewing for members. Members will also be able to come back to the videos instead of watching them all at one time. However with these changes coming into affect, if volunteers register after January 5th, they will have to watch the videos again. If you are a club leader or council member please visit 4-H Online prior to January 5th in order to avoid rewatching these videos this year.

If families are interested in potentially showing their beef animals at other county fairs, you can attend the Dawes, Sheridan, or Box Butte weigh-ins. If members are planning to exhibit their beef at the Nebraska State Fair, they must pull DNA and nominate the animal by June 15th. Weigh-ins are places that can help you pull DNA. You will find the details below.

• Box Butte: January 11th at the Box Butte Fairgrounds from 11 am to 1 pm
• Sheridan: February 1st at the Sheridan Livestock Auction from 1 pm to 3 pm
• Dawes: February 7th at Crawford Livestock Auction from 9 am to 11 am.

This session is ideal for new or prospective 4-H club leaders looking to build a strong foundation and make a positive impact on youth through 4-H.

As the New Year begins people set resolutions or goals they hope to achieve the upcoming year. It is also a great time to set your 4-H goals for the upcoming year. A tool that can help youth members with setting their goals is the Diamond Clover Program. This program is a non-competitive program where members set their goals for the year and then in September recap how they accomplished them. Below is the link to the Diamond Clover webpage to download the form and start setting goals today. Youth members can only complete 1 level per year and they can start at Level 1 or the level closest to their age group.

The 2026 Special Garden Project will focus on the Alumia Vanilla Cream Marigold. This marigold produces creamy, yellow flowers on compact plants. This variety not only has a unique color, but it also has a very long bloom time.

To get the seeds, please contact the Extension Office prior to February 15th.

We are now accepting registrations for the 2026 Farrowed and Owned Swine Cohort! Registration closes on January 30th!

This opportunity is designed to enhance the educational value of the traditional 4-H swine project by focusing on swine production, accurate record keeping, and industry knowledge and engagement by the 4-H member.

Exhibit their Farrowed and Owned project animals at any Nebraska county fair or the Nebraska State Fair. Exhibiting at the 2026 Nebraska State Fair is optional. All cohort members will participate in an interview at the 2026 Nebraska State Fair. Exhibiting your animal at the Nebraska State Fair is not a requirement for the record book and interview portion of the cohort. Join the first session in February for more details!

Visit 4h.unl.edu/farrowed-owned to get started.

Families can reenroll in 4-H for the 2026 Fair Season now! Visit 4honline.com to get started. As a reminder, if you plan to participate in Shooting Sports or the Horse project, you need to add those projects and sign the consents. Other projects are not mandatory to add. Please contact the Extension Office for assistance.

As the year starts to wind down, it is time to think about your end of year club reports. These reports need to be completed and turned into the office by January 31st. The information required is year end treasurer report, inventory, and list of club volunteers. A form below is provided.

We had a great turnout for the Holiday Maker Day Event on December 19th. A huge thank you to Annette Monserrate, Marilyn Wright, Amanda Anderson, and Kassie Barrera for helping with the event.

Email: mmracek2@unl.edu
Website: go.unl.edu/siouxcofair
Location: PO Box 277 Harrison, NE 69346
Phone: (308) 668-2428
Facebook: facebook.com/UNLSiouxCounty