Sheep and Goat Camp will be hosted on June 7 and 8. This year we are happy to welcome Derrick Brown as the clinician. Derrick is currently an FFA instructor in Texas. Derrick has worked very closely with several successful breeders in the sheep and goat industry and raised some of his own. Derrick has also accumulated a successful judging resume with shows at the State and National level. Derrick has been a speaker at ShowRite clinics hosted by Glen Martin. We are excited to welcome Derrick and he’s excited to share his knowledge with you.
If you are interested in attending this event, please fill out a registration form and deliver it to the extension office or email it to Bailey Schilling. Registration will be completed when it is coupled with a payment. We have a few spots left, so please register as soon as possible.
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:
Speaker
Topic
Time
Livestock Sale Committee
Info for Junior Livestock Sale
8:00–9:00 a.m.
Dr. Terry Engle
Basics for Ruminant Nutrition
9:00–10:00 a.m.
Dr. Robert Delmore
Understanding Meat Animal Evaluation
10:00–11:00 a.m.
Milehigh Repro Solutions
Advances in Reproduction Technology
11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
Bailey Schilling
Livestock Ethics
12:00–1:00 p.m.
Livestock Sale Committee
Info for Junior Livestock Sale
1:00–2:00 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.
All participants who are enrolled in a livestock project and are housing an animal at a location other than the primary address listed in v2.4HOnline.com will need to fill out an Animal Care and Housing Document. Email or mail the hard copy of the form to the extension office, and upload it to 4HOnline under County Required Forms. You will also upload this form onto 4-Honline under County Required Forms. If you are already submitted your enrollment, email it to Pam Heeney and she can will upload the document for you. Click here for the form.
This document does not take place of Premise IDs. Premise IDs are still required to be turned in to the office. Members can always check with the extension office to see if they have a number. Remember even if a member has received a premise ID it’s easy and free to obtain a Premises ID. You can register by calling 303-869-9130 or https://ag.colorado.gov/animals/colorado-location-identification-lid-registration-premises.
The first Poultry Workshop will be Tuesday, January 24 at 6:30 p.m. in the Loveland Room at the McKee Building at The Ranch.
Please plan to come and hear the latest update on Avian Influenza (HPAI). It is still a concern so please continue to follow biosecurity practices. We will also be discussing a variety of other topics.
When ordering your market birds make sure not to order more birds than your family can use or sell.
As you are all well aware the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza is still active around the area. A large number of cases have been expected to come from wild birds. Please review the information found at the link below for further HPAI information, guidance and biosecurity practices. Commingling of poultry is still highly discouraged under the current guidance from CDA and the State Veterinarian’s Office. The guidance attached encourages increased biosecurity practices and indicates that the decision to have poultry events is still tentative and that responsibility currently resides with local authority.
The 4-H office and The Ranch are mindful of the increasing presence of the HPAI virus in domestic poultry as they consider future 4-H poultry activities, including embryology work. We ask that all families practice increased biosecurity should poultry events be planned and delivered at the county level. Please refer to the following Colorado Department of Agriculture link for more information and updates regarding HPAI.
Anyone who is in the sheep project or interested in the sheep industry is encouraged to attend this free online seminar on January 10 at 6:00 p.m. Dr. Travis Hoffman, the Sheep Extension Specialist for North Dakota State University and the University of Minnesota, will lead a discussion on how to target market lamb carcasses to increase profit margins. Dr. Hoffman is a well-known judge who has been a part of the show industry for many years and also spends an extensive amount of time working with producers in the commercial industry.
Horse and livestock owners are urged to read the following link provided. The FDA and the Colorado Department of Agriculture are cautioning livestock owners (more particularly horse owners) from feeding Top of the Rockies alfalfa cubes that were produced with date codes 111222, 111322, 111422, 111522, and 111622. If owners are feeding this product and are unsure of the date, they are encouraged to discard the feed for safety purposes and clean all bins and storage units. Proper cleaning techniques can be found in the linked information.
Larimer and Weld County along with the Colorado Junior Swine Association will be putting together the 6th Annual Jingle Bell Jackpot Show on December 3, 2022 at Island Grove Regional Park in the Beef Barn. Please feel free to reach out to the contacts provided on the flyers for any questions.
