MQA

Livestock Weigh Days, Tagging, and MQA for 2024

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Market Livestock Members: Mark these dates on your calendar now! Weigh days and tagging are REQUIRED to be eligible to show at the Larimer County Fair. If you can’t be there, you must arrange for someone to bring your animal.

Weigh Days will be held at the Youth and Community Building at The Ranch. Tagging supplies for swine will be available at the extension office starting on April 1.

Members enrolled in any market and/or breeding livestock project for the first time MUST attend a Colorado 4-H Meat Quality Assurance (MQA) program, regardless of age. 4-H members must attend a Colorado 4-H MQA program a minimum of twice during their 4-H career, once as a junior and again after becoming a senior 4-H member.

Watch for more information coming in January from the extension office for your project. And if you have any questions, please ask!

Schedule Changes for May 17–20, 2023

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There are multiple changes to the calendar for the next day or two. Here’s a quick listing:

• Horse Ride Night is CANCELED on Wednesday, May 17.
• Sheep & Goat Safe Management Practices MOVED from Wednesday, May 17 to Friday, May 19 during MQA.
• Dog Agility Workshop is CANCELED on Thursday, May 18.
• Beef Systems Workshop MOVED from Thursday, May 18 to Friday, May 19 during MQA.
• The Desperados Gymkhana Fun Day on Saturday, May 20 has been CANCELED and will be rescheduled.

• The Scrapbooking Workshop on Saturday, May 20 has been CANCELED.

Livestock Field Day / February 25, 2023

/ MQA, Workshops /

From Bailey Schilling
4-H Youth Development Livestock & Shooting Sports Agent
schillbw@co.larimer.co.us

I am excited about the opportunities offered at this year’s Livestock Field Day on February 25 at the McKee Building at the Ranch. We will have a series of speakers that will offer some great learning opportunities about different aspects of the agricultural industry. We also have an opportunity in the morning and in the afternoon to meet with the Larimer County Junior Livestock Sale Committee to review paperwork and information that will be required for youth to participate in the Larimer County Junior Livestock Sale. This is also a great opportunity to find out how you can become involved in helping the Livestock Sale Committee either as a volunteer or as a Junior Junior Livestock Sale Committee member. 

Below you can find a schedule for the speakers along with the hours of the MQA workshop:

SpeakerTopicTime
Livestock Sale CommitteeInfo for Junior Livestock Sale8:00–9:00 a.m.
Dr. Terry EngleBasics for Ruminant Nutrition9:00–10:00 a.m.
Dr. Robert DelmoreUnderstanding Meat Animal Evaluation10:00–11:00 a.m.
Milehigh Repro SolutionsAdvances in Reproduction Technology11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
Bailey SchillingLivestock Ethics12:00–1:00 p.m.
Livestock Sale CommitteeInfo for Junior Livestock Sale1:00–2:00 p.m.

Meat Quality Assurance Training (MQA)

MQA Training will be available from 8 a.m.–3 p.m.

This training is required for all livestock projects except Cat, Dog, and Horse. This includes all Rabbits (Companion, Breeding/Show, and Market) and All Poultry (Breeding Chickens, Market Chickens, Breeding Ducks, Market Ducks, Breeding Geese, Market Geese, Breeding Turkeys, Market Turkeys, and Pigeons).

If this is your first year in a livestock project, you must attend. You must attend once as a Junior member ages 8–13 and once as a Senior member ages 14–18 as of December 31, 2022. All 8-year-olds and all 14-year-olds must attend this year. 

This is an in-person event. You will have the opportunity to go through a series of exercises and learn about various management practices and how they benefit your project. This process will take between 1–1 ½ hours to complete. 

Livestock Field Day and Meat Quality Assurance Training

/ MQA, Projects, Workshops / 
From:
Bailey Schilling
4-H Youth Development Livestock & Shooting Sports Agent
schillbw@co.larimer.co.us
970-498-6022

Next weekend, on Saturday, February 19, we will be hosting the Livestock Field Day in the McKee Building at the Ranch from 9 a.m.–4 p.m. This is not only a great opportunity to complete your MQA (Meat Quality Assurance) training, but you will have the opportunity to listen to some of the best livestock minds.

I have invited professors from the Animal Sciences department at CSU to speak about certain topics, along with a graduate student, Ashley Schilling, to discuss livestock sustainability. Not only are these great opportunities to learn more about the livestock you are working with, but these discussions can spark career interests you may decide to pursue after graduating from the 4-H program. For those members who are thinking about continuing education, this is a great opportunity to meet with some professors to discuss the possibility of becoming a student at CSU and the opportunities not only in the Animal Science realm but also in the College of Agriculture. 

Schedule

9:00–10:00 a.m.: Poultry Biosecurity and Disease (CSU Avian Team) – Fort Collins Room
11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.: Evaluating Meat Animal Performance (Dr. Bob Delmore) – Berthoud Room
2:00–3:00 p.m.: Basics of Ruminant Nutrition (Dr. Terry Engle) – Berthoud Room
3:00–4:00 p.m.: Livestock Sustainability (Ashley Schilling) – Berthoud Room

MQA Training will occur from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in the Exhibit Hall. You must arrive by 2:30  p.m. so we can be done by 3:30 p.m.

This training is required for all livestock projects except Cat, Dog, and Horse.

This includes all Rabbits, including Companion, Breeding/Show, and Market and All Poultry, including Breeding Chickens, Market Chickens, Breeding Ducks, Market Ducks, Breeding Geese, Market Geese, Breeding Turkeys, Market Turkeys, and Pigeons.

If this is your first year in 4-H or your first year in a livestock project you must attend. You must attend once as a Junior member (ages 8–13) and once as a Senior member (ages 14–18) as of December 31, 2021. All 8-year-olds and all 14- year-olds must attend this year. 

This is an in-person event. You will have the opportunity to go through a series of exercises and learn about management practices and how they benefit your project. This process will take between 1 and 1 ½ hours to complete. 

If you have any questions please contact me at: schillbw@co.larimer.co.us or contact Pam at heeneyps@co.larimer.co.us or 970-498-6012.

I couldn’t be more excited to see you there!

Notes from the May Club Meeting

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Project Manuals

Project manuals are in and available to pick up from Cindy.

Meat Quality Assurance (MQA)

Meat Quality Assurance (MQA) is this Friday, May 14 between 2:00–7:00 p.m.

First-time livestock members in any market and/or breeding livestock projects must attend a Colorado 4-H Meat Quality Assurance (MQA) program. And members are required to attend a Colorado 4-H MQA program a minimum of twice during the course of their 4-H career, once as a junior and once again within one year after becoming a senior 4-H member. 

Fair Parade

The fair parade will be on Saturday, July 31 and the theme is “Better Together.” The club voted to have a float, and we’ll plan to build the float in the evening on Friday, July 30.

Congratulations to Club Members

These club members sold the most tickets in the county for the 4-H Carnival drawing:
1st: Lexi Grundy
2nd: Liam Babcock
4th: Dawson Leypoldt
5th: Tie—Walker Cameron and Willow Cameron

Also, Lexi Grundy won the “Horse Demonstration or Illustrated Talk” for Intermediates.

Great job!

Emails from info@hch4h.org

We will be sending club information from info@hch4h.org in the future, so please add the address to your contact list so emails don’t go to your junk mail. You don’t want to miss announcements in the next few months!

Livestock Field Day 2019

/ Events, MQA /

Livestock Field Day will be on Saturday, February 23. This is the best opportunity for Livestock members to complete their MQA training.

MQA training is required by the State Office for all Livestock members. This includes all Rabbits including Companion, Breeding/Show and Market and All Poultry, including Breeding Chickens, Market Chickens, Breeding Ducks, Market Ducks, Breeding Geese, Market Geese, Breeding Turkeys, Market Turkeys and Pigeons, Breeding & Market Beef, Breeding & Market Goat, Dairy Goat, Pygmy Goat, Breeding & Market Sheep, Breeding & Market Swine, and Dairy Cattle.

You need to attend once as a Junior Member (ages 8–13) and once as a Senior Member (ages 14–18). If you are new to livestock or if you turned 14 in 2018, then you will be required to attend the MQA training. If you do not attend MQA you will not be allowed to show at the 2019 Larimer County Fair.

There will also be project workshops during the day:

  • 9:00–9:45 a.m. General Session, Ethics Workshop
  • 10:00–10:45 a.m. Poultry Selection & Showmanship
  • 10:00–10:45 a.m. Basic Rabbit Information, Health & Nutrition
  • 10:00–10:45 a.m. So You Want to Show a Dairy Goat?
  • 10:00–10:45 a.m. Record Book Basics
  • 10:00–10:45 a.m. Sheep Nutrition & Selection
  • 11:00–11:45 a.m. Poultry Health & Disease Prevention
  • 11:00–11:45 a.m. Basic Rabbit Information, Selection & Showmanship
  • 11:00–11:45 a.m. Swine Nutrition & Selection
  • 11:00–11:45 a.m. Record Book Basics
  • 11:00–11:45 a.m. Beef Nutrition

MQA Training will begin at 10:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m. Please arrive by 2:30 p.m. at the latest to complete the MQA Training by 3:00 p.m.

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