AJ McKimmey, Braxton Hathorn, Colter Meeks, Darrington Krebs, Emily Nelson, Hadleigh Hoos, and Mia Skinner.
4-H Scholarship Recipients
The following High School Senior was selected to receive scholarships:
- Hadleigh Hoos, daughter of Judd & Brandy, is presented a $500 4-H Sheridan County Scholarship.
Again this year we will be holding mandatory tagging for pigs, sheep, and goats with weigh-in being optional at the Sheridan County Fairgrounds. If you are planning to bring a market pig, lamb, or meat goat to the 2023 Sheridan County Fair you MUST attend one of the weigh-ins offered:
Sunday, May 21, 2023 from 9 am - noon
Animals can be tagged on the trailer if you choose not to unload your animal(s).
Sheep & Goats should have a USDA Scrapies tag from your flock or from your Breeders flock.
If you have questions please contact the Extension Office or a Superintendent.
Youth who are interested in participating in a livestock animal project including rabbit, poultry, swine, beef, sheep, and goat; must complete the Youth for Quality Care of Animals training prior to June 1st. After families enroll online at v2.4honline.com, they can visit https://yqca.learngrow.io/Account/Login and log in with their 4-H Online account information. Youth have the option of completing the training in person or online. The online training costs $12 per person and the in-person training only costs $3. In-person training will be held:
May 21st, 1:00 - 2:00 pm - Sheridan County Fairgrounds
Youth will need to go online to register for the training prior to this date. For help, you can email help@yqca.org or contact Marie Nelson at mnelson82@unl.edu.
All volunteers (teens and adults) and staff who work directly with youth are required to complete the volunteer screening. Volunteers are screened in order to ensure a safe, positive, and nurturing environment for all youth involved with Nebraska 4-H programs and provide protection for the child, volunteer, educator, 4-H Council, Extension Board, and Nebraska Extension. Initial screening of volunteers will occur when they sign up to volunteer. Re-screening for volunteers will be done every five years by the district regardless of when the original screening was completed. Currently, the cost of the screening is $5.00. Sheridan County is up this year!
Repeat Screening Rotation
2023 – Panhandle District: Banner, Blaine, Box Butte, Cherry, Cheyenne, Dawes, Deuel, Garden, Grant, Hooker, Kimball, Morrill, Scotts Bluff, Sheridan, Sioux, Thomas
WHEN enrolling as a VOLUNTEER for the 2022-23 year, please select "Program Volunteer - Selected for Required Screening". All new volunteers in these specified counties must also select this volunteer type
If you have any questions or would like to start the process, email sheridan-county@unl.edu.
SUMMER PROGRAMS RELEASED!
We are SO EXCITED to share our summer programs with you! We released our programs in April and they are starting to fill up.
Things to keep in mind:
- Youth do not have to be in 4-H to attend workshops.
- Workshops are subject to cancellation if minimum participation is not reached; we will notify accordingly.
- Most workshops have a maximum number of participants. All workshops fill on a first come, first serve basis.
Sheridan County Extension is excited to extend an invitation to Jenny Nixon’s retirement celebration. Please join us as we celebrate on Thursday, May 11 from 4:30-6:30 pm. We will have cookies and drinks.
Jenny Nixon has been a part of Nebraska Extension for more than 38 years. She graduated from UNL with a BS in Animal Science. Shortly afterward, she started as an Extension Assistant managing the 4-H youth development program in Scotts Bluff County. Soon after she moved to Sioux County as an Agriculture Educator and completed her MS in Range Management. Through the years she has maintained her home base as the Sioux County Extension office but has moved and changed positions as Nebraska Extension changed. She saw the move from Extension Agents to Educators, county-based agents to EPU (Extension Programming Unit) faculty to serving a 15,000 square-mile Accountability Region the size of four small states. Each change has brought new challenges and rewards. Most recently Jenny has served as a Rural Prosperity Nebraska Educator coaching rural communities to plan for the future and engage citizens to increase economic opportunity, attract new residents, and improve quality of life. Jenny has appreciated the opportunity to grow and develop professionally and she has been privileged to work with many awesome faculty and colleagues over the years.
Cards may be mailed to Jenny at:
Jenny Nixon
104 Linn Street
Crawford, NE 69339
Nebraska State Fair 4-H/FFA Livestock Nominations - Due June 15
Show Stock Manager Information (NOW Open for 2023! - https://showstockmgr.com/
The 2023 Step-by-Step Nomination Instructions can be found on the public page: https://4h.unl.edu/livestock-id. All resources including the State Fair 4-H schedule can be found here: https://4h.unl.edu/state-fair
Starting in 2023, all livestock in contention to exhibit at the Nebraska State Fair will be required to submit a DNA nomination. This includes all 4-H and FFA breeding livestock, market livestock, and feeder calves. Any DNA nomination submitted through Show Stock Manager will also be eligible for exhibition at the Aksarben Stock Show. DNA nominations will be $7.00 per animal. All animals will automatically be eligible for both breeding and market–no additional fees or double payments will be required. DNA nominations for the Nebraska State Fair are due on June 15, 2023.
Big Red Camps
Tuition rates increase after May 12! Big Red Camps allow students to develop new skills, prepare for college, stand out in applications, explore potential careers, and meet like-minded peers in a safe and structured environment. Get started at 4h.unl.edu/big-red-camps.
Summer Camps
Livestock Achievement
The Livestock Achievement Program is an advanced opportunity for youth interested in diving deeper into and expanding upon their current livestock project and establishing themselves as leaders in their project area. The program encourages youth to engage in a variety of activities related to their project and recognizes Members of Excellence across all 4-H livestock project areas. Applications are now open. Learn more at 4h.unl.edu/livestock-achievement.
Online Horticulture Judging Contest
Do you know what it takes to pick the best fruit and vegetables out at the grocery store? Or do you know what judges are looking for when they judge your plants at the county fair? Have you ever wondered, what plant is that!?! We are excited to offer the opportunity to learn these and other important horticulture skills through the Online Horticulture Contest. The contest will be available June 2-16, 2023 at: https://go.unl.edu/online4hhortcontest
More information about the Nebraska State contest along with a list of study materials can be found in the Fair book https://4hfairbook.unl.edu/fairbookview.php/contests/45. Here you can find the written study materials for the knowledge portion, follow links to plant pictures for help with identification, and read how judging of plant material is done.
Tractor Safety Training
Tractor and farm equipment safety courses are now open for registration!
Teens 14 or 15 years of age who work on farms, or others who are interested in learning about tractor and farm equipment safety practices, can register for a safety training course offered at seven locations across Nebraska from May 22 through June 8.
Learn more at go.unl.edu/2023tractorsafety.
4-H Youth Leadership Conference (YLC)
High School students (ages 14-18)! We are inviting you to join us for the 4-H Youth Leadership Conference, June 19-21, 2023, at Camp Comeca in Cozad, NE. Learn more and register at 4h.unl.edu/leadership-conference by June 4th to claim your spot in this amazing experience. The cost for YLC will be $250. We’ll be taking advantage of some traditional camp activities while integrating leadership workshops, speakers, and an overall topic of influencing the future through leadership to bring together and develop the leaders of Nebraska 4-H!
PASE
The Premier Animal Science Event, held June 21-22 in Lincoln, features our state-level Livestock Judging, Meats Judging, Poultry Judging, Livestock Skillathon, and Livestock Quiz Bowl Contests. Registration is open now through June 1 and must be completed through local Extension offices. Learn more at 4h.unl.edu/pase.
Premier Communication Event
The NEW Premier Communication Event, held June 23 in Lincoln, will feature our state-level Prepared Speech, Radio Public Service Announcement, Illustrated Presentation, Impromptu Speech, and Video Communication Contests. Registration is open now through June 1 and must be completed through local Extension offices. Learn more at 4h.unl.edu/pce.
Note: Some events you must have competed at the county level to attend.
Youth Crop Scouting Competition
The Youth Crop Scouting Competition will be held at the Eastern Nebraska Research & Extension Center near Mead, Nebraska on August 2, 2023. Teams of students (those completing 5-12th grades) from across Nebraska are invited to participate. Cash prizes for the 1-3rd place teams. More information and instructions on how to register a team are available online at cropwatch.unl.edu/youth. Register at: https://go.unl.edu/cropscoutingreg Registration due July 15. This program is sponsored by Nebraska Independent Crop Consultant Association, Ward Laboratories, the Nebraska Soybean Board and Nebraska Extension.
These people are YOUR voice! Please contact any of them if you have an idea for a new or existing event or activity, have concerns with the program, or just want to have input in the decision-making process.
David Russell, Wendy Andersen, Michelle Heck, Nicole Janssen, Jake Scott, Kami Scott, Marie Nelson, Melissa Mracek
4-H Council:
President - Ryan Paul
Vice President - Jake Elwood
Secretary - Jackie Simonson
Treasurer - EJ Frink
Members at large: Candace Nelson, Megan Grossman, Zach Kearns, Clint Vincent, Jace Stumpff, Brad Beguin
Youth Members: Austin Child, Colton Archibald, Wyatt Fedderson, Kyler Vincent
Extension Board:
President - Matt Albrecht
Vice President - Caleb Peters
Secretary/Treasurer - Jacob Tejral
Members at large: Trevor Ginkens, Paige Stumpff
Nebraska Extension - Sheridan County Office
Email: mnelson82@unl.edu
Website: https://extension.unl.edu/statewide/northernpanhandle/educational-programs/northern-panhandle-4-h/
Location: 800 S Loofborrow Street, PO Box 329 Rushville, NE 69360
Phone: 308-327-2312
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UNLSheridanCounty
Twitter: @SheridanCounty