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.

1. Save the Dates
2. Fall Banquet
3. 4-H Grab and Go Bags
   
4. 4-H Council Volunteer
   
5. Scholarships
   
6. Shooting Sports Sign Up
   
7. Statewide Opportunities
   

• 4-H Enrollment Due: June 15
• 2025 Premier Animal Science Event: Tuesday, June 17 and Wednesday, June 18
• Phelps/Gosper 4-H Fashion Show: July 14
• Phelps County Aerospace Launch: July 14
• Phelps/Gosper 4-H Horse Show: July 19
• Phelps County 4-H Fair: July 20-24
• Gosper County 4-H Fair: July 22-26
• Nebraska State Fair: August 22 - September 1

4-H Online is open for enrollment for the 2024-2025 program year! Instructions to complete enrollment as a new member, returning member, and as a 4-H Adult volunteer can be accessed at the link below. 4-H Enrollment is due on June 15. However, all youth must be enrolled and approved on 4-H online before participating in all 4-H activities. Don't wait enroll today!

4-H Online Website: https://v2.4honline.com/#/user/sign-in

4-H Enrollment instructions: https://4h.unl.edu/enroll

If you are a youth 4-H member and did not get a Phelps County Fair t-shirt this year, please stop by the office to get your shirt! We also have a few 4-H shirts (from 2023) in various sizes left. If you outgrew your previous 4-H shirt or need a replacement, please stop by the Extension Office and pick one up!

Nebraska 4-H has made some changes to the volunteer screening policy and procedures. Beginning October 2024, all 4-H volunteers serving in a direct volunteer role, such as a club leader, project leader, or workshop presenter, will screen every five years based on their anniversary date. With this change, ALL volunteers serving in a direct role will screen during the 2024-2025 program year.

When enrolling in 4-H Online, volunteers will be redirected to the new screening vender, Sterling Volunteers. The new screening is a criminal background history check and will take approximately 5 minutes to complete. The cost of the screening is $16 and is paid during the screening process online. Volunteers must successfully pass their screening in order to serve in a 4-H volunteer role. All returning volunteers need to re-screen by March 15, 2025.

These changes were made to ensure all youth and volunteers are protected through increased volunteer screening level and enhanced user experience.

Important Notes:

• If you completed the Volunteer Orientation piece (40 minute video) last year, you do NOT have to complete the Orientation again this year.
• If you have a current Nebraska Conceal & Carry permit, you may NOT have to complete the screening/background check. We will need a copy of your permit for review.
• If the $16 fee for screening is a hardship, please contact Calvin at the Extension Office.

Phelps-Gosper Extension news and information can be found at https://extension.unl.edu/statewide/phelps-gosper/. The website is currently undergoing some construction. If you have questions, reach out to Phelps County at 308-995-4222 or Gosper County at 308-785-2390.

Reserve your Winter 4-H Grab and Go Bag! This Grab and Go Bag is funded by a Phelps County 4-H Foundation grant. This grant keeps the project free to our enrolled 4-H members. Call the Extension Office by January 8 to reserve your bag for pickup of January 15. Explore the variety of Home Environment projects with 4-H! Choose one, two, or both!

The 2025 plant will be Goldie Husk Cherry. Learn more about the Special Garden Project and how to get started at 4h.unl.edu/sgp.

To reserve your Special Garden Project seeds,

1. Enroll in 4-H at v2.4honline.com.
2. Call the local Extension Office by February 1, 2025 to guarantee your free seeds.

Club Leaders, it’s time to fill out the annual treasurer’s report. Even if your club does not handle money, if your club has an EIN# the form still needs to be signed & turned into the Extension office.

NEW: There is a Club Inventory Report and Club Information Sheet that must be filled out as well.

Forms will be sent via email. Reports are due to the Extension office by January 15th. If you have any questions, contact 4-H Educator Calvin DeVries.

Phelps-Gosper County Extension program photos are now on Flickr! You can view, download, and print all pictures that our team posts at the link below. Photos are currently being posted from the Phelps & Gosper County Fairs in addition to previous school enrichment programs and summer workshops. Stay tuned for more updates and give us a follow!

Phelps-Gosper Extension direct link to Flickr:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/phelps-gosperextension/

Find our Flickr page linked on our Phelps-Gosper Website at:

https://extension.unl.edu/statewide/phelps-gosper/phelpsgosper-4-h/

The Phelps-Gosper 4-H Team has so much to share! Not everything can fit in the Newsletter. Like and follow our Facebook page for the most current information.

https://www.facebook.com/PhelpsGosperExtension

Youth must follow the application instructions available on the Nebraska 4-H Achievement Application webpage. If applying for multiple scholarships, only one Achievement Application should be submitted. An applicant must select the scholarship to which he/she feels qualified.

Phelps County 4-H Foundation Scholarships

The local Phelps County 4-H Foundation supports scholarships for both high school seniors and post-secondary students. Applications are due April 1, 2025. You can find the applications on our website, at your high school office, or in the Phelps County Extension Office.

Gosper County 4-H Council Scholarship

The Gosper County 4-H Council supports two $1500 scholarships for high school seniors. Applications are due April 1, 2025. You can find the applications on our website, at your high school office, or in the Gosper County Extension Office.

Phelps-Gosper Cattlemen

The local Cattlemen provide scholarships for local high school seniors. You can find the scholarships on our website, at your high school office, or in the Phelps County Extension Office. Applications are due April 1, 2025

State Achievement Application

State achievement applications are due January 5th! These applications are used to select National 4-H Congress delegates, National 4-H Conference delegates, and Nebraska 4-H Foundation scholarship recipients. Learn more at 4h.unl.edu/achievement-application.

Nebraska 4-H Foundation Scholarships

The Nebraska 4-H Foundation offers 4-H members the opportunity to apply for scholarships. The Nebraska 4-H Foundation awards up to $22,000 worth of scholarships each year to 4-H’ers from across the state. All scholarship applications must be submitted via the Annual Achievement Application and are due January 5, 2025. For guidelines and more information, go to the Nebraska 4-H Foundation website: ne4hfoundation.org/scholarships.

Cynthia Thomsen Scholarship

The Nebraska Women Involved in Farm Economics (WIFE) is pleased to offer the Cynthia Thomsen Scholarship. Nebraska WIFE is a grassroots organization dedicated to improving profitability in production agriculture. The one-year $2000 scholarship is available to any woman who lives in Nebraska who will begin her FIRST year in a University/Technical/Trade/Community College in a field related to agriculture and must be postmarked by March 15, 2025. The scholarship may be used at the school of the recipient’s choice in Nebraska. To receive an application form or for more information, contact Donna at donnab6519@windstream.net

Gosper County Hot Shots BB Gun Club - The Gosper County 4-H Hot Shots BB Gun Club will resume practices starting in January/February. More details will be shared soon. If you are interested in helping serve as a volunteer to support this program or have youth that would like to participate, please contact 4-H Club Leader Steve Dirgo at sdirgo2451@gmail.com. Please note, youth may only participate in the BB Gun project in one county.

BB-Gun—$10 program fee; Start date—Week of January 6. Six weeks of class. Contest scheduled for Saturday, February 15. Classes meet Tuesday or Thursday nights. Enroll by January 3

https://go.unl.edu/phelps4hbb25

· $10 program fee;

· Must be 8 by Jan 1, 2025

· Start date—Week of January 6.

· Six weeks of class.

· Competition Saturday, Feb 15.

· Classes meet Tuesday or Thursday nights.

Archery—$20 program fee; Start date—Week of January6. Six weeks of class with the contest held during the last week of class. Classes meet Monday, Tuesday or Thursday nights.

https://go.unl.edu/phelps4harchery25

· $20 program fee;

· Must be 8 by Jan 1, 2025

· Start date—Week of January 6.

· Six weeks of class with the contest held during the last week of class.

· Classes meet Monday, Tuesday or Thursday nights.

4-H Air Rifle—$20 program fee; Start date—Week of January 8. Six weeks of class. Contest held the last week of class. Classes meet Tuesday or Thursday nights.

· $20 program fee;

· Youth must be 12 years old for air rifle OR ten years old and have completed two years of 4-H BB Gun.

· Start date—Week of January 6.

· Six weeks of class. Contest held during the last week of class.

· Class meets on Tuesday or Thursday nights.

The Phelps County Shotgun Program will have two options to participate.

County Only 4-H Shotgun

This six-week program offers opportunities for youth to learn safe gun handling skills and sound fundamentals of shooting under the guidance of caring and knowledgeable adult volunteers. Youth practice for six-weeks and compete at a county contest.

Fee for 2025 Season is $20. Register in office or at above link.

**Must be enrolled in Phelps or Gosper County 4-H before allowed to practice.

**Must be at least 10 years old and have 2 years BB Gun

**Starts March -Date TBD

**Meets weekly

2025 Phelps Gosper 4-H Trap Shoot Team

Practice as a team for Local and State trap shooting competitions.

NEW The 4-H Trap team will not be traveling to Aurora for competitions. Fun shoots will be done locally in 2025

**$30 enrollment fee.

** Must be 12 years or older.

**Must have completed Hunter Safety.

**Must be enrolled in Phelps or Gosper County 4-H before allowed to practice.

**Team enrollment fee does not cover competition fees.

Please note, YOU CAN ONLY COMPETE IN ONE COUNTY, you may choose to practice in each county but will not be able to compete in the contest for both.

Gosper County Hot Shots BB Gun Club - The Gosper County 4-H Hot Shots BB Gun Club will resume practices starting in January/February. More details will be shared soon. If you are interested in helping serve as a volunteer to support this program or have youth that would like to participate, please contact 4-H Club Leader Steve Dirgo at sdirgo2451@gmail.com. Please note, youth may only participate in the BB Gun project in 1 county.

Go to 4h.unl.edu/shooting-sports for more information about the Nebraska 4-H Shooting Sports program & to view the calendar of upcoming statewide shooting sports competitions!

In order to run a club, county, or multi-county 4-H shootings sports program, leaders and instructors must be certified by Nebraska 4-H. Volunteers must attend a Leader Certification Workshop designed to cover the needed knowledge and guidelines to become a Certified 4-H Shooting Sports Leader/Instructor. Go to 4h.unl.edu/shooting-sports/instructor for information regarding upcoming leader certification workshops & updates. If you are interested in becoming a certified shooting sports instructor for Phelps or Gosper County 4-H, please contact Lori Swanson, lori.swanson@unl.edu.

*Remember, YQCA Training is REQUIRED for all youth (4-H age 8-18) planning to show beef, swine, sheep, goats, bucket calves, dairy, poultry & rabbits at County and/or State Fair. Clover Kids are not required to take the course.

*New for 2024-25: 4-H members showing bucket calves will now be required to take Quality Assurance training.

Nebraska 4-H requires all youth enrolled in livestock projects to complete annual quality assurance certification through Youth for the Quality Care of Animals (YQCA). YQCA is a national multi-species quality assurance program focused on three core pillars: food safety, animal well-being, and character development. Requirements

YQCA certification is required for all 4-H members enrolled in any of the following projects:

· Beef (bucket calf, feeder calf, breeding beef, market beef)

· Dairy Cattle

· Goat (breeding meat goat, dairy goat, meat goat)

· Poultry

· Rabbit

· Sheep (breeding sheep, market sheep)

· Swine (breeding swine, market swine

YQCA is required annually.

Face-to Face Training In-person YQCA training courses cost $3 per individual regardless of age. Dates to be determined. Be watching your 4-H Newsletter!

Web-based Training at https://yqca.learngrow.io/Account/Login. The online YQCA course costs $12 per individual regardless of age.

Test-out options are only available to youth in the first year of Intermediate (age 12) and Senior (age 15) age levels. There is no test-out option for Juniors. Participants will have only one chance to take the test-out option. If youth fail, they will not be provided with another opportunity to test out of that age level.

Test-out costs are:

Intermediate: $36 ($12 x 3 years of certification) Senior: $48 ($12 x 4 years of certification).

YQCA TIPS

4-H Families will register and pay online

https://yqca.learngrow.io/Account/Login

4-H’ers use their 4-H Online Account

Phelps and Gosper counties will offer several in-person training courses this spring.

Continue to watch the newsletter for upcoming in-person trainings in Spring 2025.

Market Beef Weigh Dates

Optional: Market beef only needs to be weighed for the optional county rate of gain contest. There will be two Beef Weigh Dates this year in Phelps and Gosper Counties. During weigh-in, this is also a great time for families to tag/re-tag and collect DNA samples for beef projects planning to exhibit at the 2025 NE State Fair. Please RSVP by contacting the Phelps or Gosper County Extension office prior to each event.

The deadline to identify and nominate market beef for County or State Fair is June 15.

January 4, 2024

11138 County Rd 740, Holdrege, NE 68949

37 Cattle Company (north of Holdrege)

10am-Noon

February 8, 2024

73847 Rd 434 Smithfield, NE 68976

Forster Farms (rural Smithfield)

10am-Noon

With the possibility of bad weather please check Facebook and your email for cancellations!

We are excited to announce that we have producers committed to sponsor lottery goat and lottery hogs to exhibit at the 2025 Phelps or Gosper County Fair! Please note, youth may only exhibit their projects in one county. A minimum of 5 youth must sign-up from each county in both species to host the class. Lottery animals will participate in their own special class for each species.

To help our team organize with each producer, please complete the short survey below to indicate your family's interest in either project by Wednesday, January 15. Following this date, our staff will connect with each producer to finalize prices for each species and determine a date for lottery animal selection. We anticipate hosting Lottery Hog Selection in Elwood at the Gosper County Fairgrounds on Saturday, March 29. Lottery hog projects will be $175 each. Lottery Goat Selection will likely take place in April with prices and a date TBD near Holdrege. Please contact 4-H Educator Calvin DeVries if you have any questions. We look forward to watching this program grow!

2025 Phelps-Gosper Lottery Animal Sign-Up: https://go.unl.edu/2025phelps-gosperlotteryanimalsignup

We are now accepting registrations for the 2024 Farrowed & Owned Swine Cohort! Registration closes on Thursday, February 1. 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. **NEW for 2025**: Exhibit their Farrowed and Owned project animals at any Nebraska county fair. Exhibiting at the 2025 Nebraska State Fair is optional. All cohort members will participate in an interview at the 2025 Nebraska State Fair. Join the first session in February for more details! Visit 4h.unl.edu/farrowed-owned to get started.

4-H members ages 8-18 are invited to apply for the 4-H Collection to be shown at the Omaha Design Center on February 26, 2025. Garments must have been exhibited at the County Fair in 2024 and should be fashion-forward, runway appropriate, and display high-quality construction.

To apply, complete the online application by December 20th. Visit https://go.unl.edu/25ofw for event details and application process.

Note from , CC Swanson, the Recruitment Specialist for the UNL College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources (CASNR). “Last year, I started a webinar series called “Zoom In To CASNR” in hopes of reaching prospective college students across the state who have outstanding questions regarding the college decision process, or a desire to learn more about CASNR academic programs. I also invite current CASNR students and staff in the prospective students’ academic majors to join the webinar to serve as another resource.”

Please feel join the sign-up link below, This is for any students or parents who might be interested.

https://go.unl.edu/vb2s

Calvin DeVries, Extension Educator

calvin.devries@unl.edu

Lori Swanson, Extension Assistant

lori.swanson@unl.edu

Tyler Kroll, Extension Assistant

tkroll2@unl.edu

Noah Renken, Office Manager - Phelps

noah.renken@unl.edu

Sandy Dannehl, Office Manager - Gosper

sdannehl5@unl.edu

Phelps County Extension Office

1308 2nd St Holdrege, NE 68949

(308) 995-4222

9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.

Monday-Friday

Gosper County Extension Office

507 Smith Ave Elwood, NE 68937

(308) 785-2390

8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

Tuesday-Thursday

WEBSITE

https://extension.unl.edu/statewide/phelps-gosper/