Community News: 2016 RICE COUNTY MINNESOTA 4-H STATE FAIR RESULTS

2016 RICE COUNTY MINNESOTA 4-H STATE FAIR RESULTS

LIVESTOCK ENCAMPMENT – Minnesota 4-Hers from 86 counties arrived with over 2800 animals at the 2016 “Great Minnesota Get-Together” for this year’s 4-H livestock encampment held August 25-28^th.  Education is integral in the “learn by doing” philosophy of 4-H.  As part of the educational component, Minnesota 4-H requires every youth exhibiting an animal to also participate in knowledge tests, skill-a-thons, and personal interviews directly related to the animal species they are exhibiting. Along with interviews, all 4-H youth livestock exhibitors complete the

Livestock Quality Assurance and Ethics (LQA&E) Training. Through this certification, youth are educated on bio-security, educating the public on the role of livestock, and caring for their animal’s welfare. Other learning opportunities include over 40 exhibits featuring the “Science of Animals” and over 200 youth demonstrating safe and flavorful ways to grill the best of Minnesota Meats.

INTERVIEWS – Animal Science Interviews at the State Fair are designed to further enhance educational opportunities for young people exhibiting livestock. The interview process offers a visual philosophy of recognizing 4-Hers who have utilized their livestock project to grow and develop as young people. Livestock Interviews emphasize many life skills such as communication, responsibility, decision making, and problem-solving. The interview process is seen as a step to help insure the stability of youth livestock shows as a positive form of youth development. Interview Finalists will receive a polo shirt donated by AgStar. Interview Winners will receive a chair sponsored by Minnesota Livestock Breeders Association.

Finalist – Judd Saemrow, Dairy; Riley Donkers, Sheep; Lexi Wetzel, Sheep; Jarrett Malecha, Swine

Winner – Jack Saemrow, Dairy; Elizabeth Oys, Meat Goat; Nicholas Flom, Sheep

DAIRY SHOWCASE – Special recognition and scholarships were awarded to 25 outstanding participants based on their dairy industry knowledge, 4-H dairy project involvement, along with state fair dairy show results.  Placing in the Dairy Showcase:

Jack Saemrow achieved 17^th place in the Showcase.  Jack is the son of Gordon & Hindy.  He will receive $1,200 from Quality Liquid Feeds, Sysco MN.

MLB PURPLE RIBBON AUCTION – Participating in the Auction were:  Beef – Jordan Hoover, Goat – Max Johnson, Sheep – Kyra Flom, Hannah Wetzel, Lexi Wetzel.

RURAL YOUTH SCHOLARSHIP – Scholarships are awarded to youth with leadership, community service and livestock involvement throughout their 4-H career.  Recipients from Rice County were Riley Donkers and Ryan Donkers.

GENERAL ENCAMPMENT – 4-H’ers from 86 counties brought over 2,600 exhibits, delivered over 200 demonstrations and participated in any of several performances at the State Fair. General encampment for Rice County was August 28-30th.  Throughout the year 4-H youth select project areas that reflect personal areas of interest and pursue hands on learning that is both self-directed and guided by adult volunteers. The results of their learning is exhibited at county fairs across the state and then the best from each county fair is brought to the Minnesota State Fair.  Exhibiting project work at the state fair provides youth an opportunity to both showcase their achievements as well as continue the learning through the interactive and group-based conference judging.  2016 also saw an intentional increase in the number of 4-H members who experienced 4-H at the State Fair for the first time, bringing fresh perspectives, energy and diversity to the 4-H Building.

JUDGING CONTESTS

GENERAL LIVESTOCK

*Senior Team #1 placed 2nd Overall and 1^st in Beef, 3^rd in Swine and 2^nd in Reasons.  Team members Riley Donkers placed 7^th Overall Individual, 1^st in Beef; Cal Schultz placed 8^th Overall Individual, 2^nd in Reasons and Lexi Wetzel placed 3^rd in Beef.  Also on the team members was Hank Schultz.  Coached by Mark Purfeerst.

*Senior Team #2 placed 9^th Overall.  Teams members were:  Kyra Flom, Maxwell Johnson, Tar Tut and Mikayla Wetzel.  Coached by Mark Purfeerst.

*Intermediate Team placed 3^rd Overall, 1^st in Swine.  Team members Nick Flom placed 9^th Overall Individual, 3^rd in Swine.  Other team members were:  Taylor Landrum, Mason Pagel and Hannah Wetzel.  Coached by Eric Kinsley.

DAIRY

*Senior Team Goodhue/Rice #2 placed 7^th Overall and 6^th in Reasons.  Members on the team from Rice County were Garrett Johnson and Judd Saemrow.  Coached by Mary Liebenstein and Emily Pieper.

*Intermediate Team Goodhue/Rice #1 placed 1^st Overall and 1^st in Reasons.  Rice County team members Kelsey Kuball placed 4^th Overall Individual  and 5^th in Reasons, Jack Saemrow placed 4^th in Reasons.  Goodhue/Rice #2 placed 7^th Overall, 7^th in Reasons and Goodhue/Rice #3 placed 10^th Overall, 8^th in Reasons.  Also participating from Rice County was:  Emma Kuball. Coached by Mary Liebenstein and Emily Pieper.

RABBIT

*Annie Ponder participated as an individual and placed 3^rd Overall.

SHARE-THE-FUN – Clubs prepare and perform a play, dance, musical, or other act.  Both clubs performed during Livestock Encampment.

*Big Giants members participating:  Ashley Almen, Kayla Ballstadt, Alex Flom, Mackenzie Hohrman, Olivia Hohrman, Bode Jenrich, Maddie Jenrich, Ty Jenrich, Franklin Johnson, George Johnson, Gunner Johnson, Maxwell Johnson, Samual Johnson, Jenny Koester-Flom, Carter Schmidt, Isabella Schmidt, Olivia Scmidt, Tary Turene and Nick Wagner.

*Wheatland Wheaties members participating:  Jaylie Braun, Vicky Erickson, Chrystal Gangloff, Ella Horejsi, Josephine Hyde, Hannah Kraft, Natalie Kraft, Charolette Thompson, Nora Thompson, Evelhyn Winget and Marisa Winget.

Here are the Livestock and General Encampment judging results:

BIG GIANTS – Club Banner, Blue; Ballstadt, Kayla – Chickens Breeding Pen-Blue, Photography-Purple; Beedle, Cameron – Holland Lop Sr Doe-Blue; Berndt, Connor – Wildlife-Purple; Hohrman, Cody – Prospect Heifer Calf-Red, Shop-Blue; Jenrich, Madison – Ducks Market Pen-Blue, Flower Gardening-Blue, Poultry BBQ Contest-Yellow, MN Meats Goat Team-Yellow; Jenrich, Ty Reserve Champion Poultry BBQ-Int Division, MN Meats Goat Team-Yellow; Johnson, George – Chickens Market Pen-Red, Foods-Blue; Johnson, Maxwell – Doe Meat Market Goat Hvywght-Blue, Champion Overall Meat Market Doe, Food Preservation-Red; Johnson, Samual – Doe Sr Meat Breeding Doe-Blue, Photography-White; Kamen, Daniel – Electric-Blue; Kyllo, Morgan– Turkeys Market Pen-Blue; Laue, Nicole – Breeding Ewe Wether Dam Black Face Lamb-Purple; Liebl, John – Aerospace-Blue; Mechura, Tate – Dairy Goat Recorded Grade Sr Doe Kid-Red; Mikulecky, Allyson – Vegetable Gardening-Red; Ponder, Annie – Netherland Dwarf Sr Doe Blue, Food Preservation-Purple; Ponder, Samantha – Photography-Red; Prior, Kortney – Dog Exhibit-Blue.

BIG WOODS – Albers, Courtney – Market Lamb Black Face-Blue; Albers, Morgan – Market Lamb Black Face-Blue; Bauer, Matthew – Commercial Fall Calf-Blue; Boudreau, Lynsey – Crafts-Blue; Donkers, Abigail – Breeding Ewe Dorset Reg Yrlg-Purple, Reserve Champion Reg Dorset Yrlg Ewe; Donkers, Chester – Breeding Feb Gilt Reg Berkshire-Purple, MN Meats Beef Team-Yellow; Donkers, Jason – Breeding Mar Gilt Reg Other Breeds-Purple, Reserve Champion All Other Breeds Gilt; Donkers, Riley – Breeding Ewe Reg Dorset Feb Lamb-Purple, Champion Breeding Ewe Showperson Adv, Champion Reg Dorset Ewe Lamb; Donkers, Ryan – Market Barrows Crossbred-Purple; Flom, Kyra – Market Lamb Black Face-Purple; Flom, Nicholas – Breeding Ewe Wether Dam Black Face Lamb-Purple, Reserve Champion Overall Wether Dam, Reserve Champion Wether Dam Ewe Lamb; Koester-Flom, Jenny – Netherland Dwarf Sr Buck-Blue, Indoor Gardening-Blue; Malecha, Griffin – Dairy Goat Oberhasli Dry Yrlg Doe-Blue, Champion Oberhasli Jr Doe, Reserve Champion Sr Showmanship; Malecha, Jarrett – Reg Market Gilt-Blue; McDonald, Simon – Aerospace-Blue; Pagel, Mason – Hereford Reg Spring Calf-Blue; Schultz, Cal – Meat Market Goat Hvywght-Purple, Champion Sr Market Goat Showmanship, MN Meats Beef Team-Yellow; Schultz, Henry – Prospect Steer Calf-Purple, Champion Prospect Steer Calf, Reserve Grand Champion Prospect Steer Calf, MN Meats Beef Team-Yellow; Tut, Tar – Black Angus Reg Spring Calf-Purple; Wetzel, Hannah – Market Lamb Black Face-Purple, Reserve Champion Market Lamb Showperson Inter, Flower Gardening-Blue; Wetzel, Lexi – Market Lamb Speckle Face-Purple, Reserve Champion Market Lamb Showperson Adv, Reserve Champion Speckled Face Market Lamb; Wetzel, Mikayla – Shorthorn Reg Jr Yrlg-Purple.

FULL-O-PEP – Hohrman, Abigail – Prospect Steer Calf-Red, Photography-Blue; Hohrman, Chevelle – Poultry BBQ Contest-Yellow, MN Meats Goat Team-Yellow, Shop-Red; Hohrman, Gretchen – Chickens Breeding Pen-Blue, Consumer Education-Blue; Hohrman, Michelle – Mini Rex Sr Buck-Purple, Reserve Champion Mini Rex, Food Revue-Blue; Hollister, Rebecca – Holland Lop Sr Doe-Blue; Hoover, Jordan – Market Beef Reg Steer Limousin-Purple, Champion Limousin Steer, MN Meats Beef Team-Yellow; Hoover, Kylie – Market Beef Reg Steer Limousin-Blue, Reserve Champion Limousin Steer, Fine Arts Grades-Blue; Hoover, Makaila – Fine Arts Grades-Purple; Lawrence, Izabella – Meat Market Goat Midwght-Blue; Lawrence, Kaitlyn – Meat Goat Doe Jr Meat Breeding Doe-Purple, Photography-Blue; Little, Cole – Safety-Blue; Little, Ethan – Water/Wetlands-Red; Oys, Elizabeth – Meat Market Goat Hvywght-Purple, Champion Adv Market Goat Showmanship; Walters, Sydney – Home Environment-Blue.

WARSAW WILLING WORKERS – Club Banner-Blue; Braun, Rachael – Flower Gardening-Red; DeGrood, Breanna – Milking Shorthorn Jr Yrlg-Blue, Shooting Sports-Blue; Gehrke, Jessica – Polish Sr Buck-Blue, Pets Exhibit-Purple; Gehrke, JoHannah – Cat Exhibit-Red; Hoover, Amber – Prospect Heifer Calf-Blue; Johnson, Garrett – Holstein Reg Spring Jr Yrlg-Red, Shop-Blue; Karsten, Jacob – Robotics-Red; Kuball, Emma – Needle Arts-Blue; Kuball, Kelsey – Self Determined-Red; Landrum, Taylor Veterinary Science-Blue; Radatz, Brianna – Crafts-Blue; Saemrow, Jack – Holstein Gd Spring Jr Yrlg-Blue, Veterinary Science-Blue; Saemrow, Judd – Crossbred /Other Breeds  Sr Yrlg-Blue; Thompson, Hannah – Commercial Jr Yrlg-Purple, Reserve Champion Commercial Heifer, Performing Arts-Purple.

WEBSTER WILLING WORKERS – Meger, Rebecca – Satin Jr Buck-Blue, Performing Arts-Blue; Sirek, Megan – Cow/Calf Commercial-Blue.

WHEATLAND WHEATIES – Club Community Pride-Blue; Erickson, Vicky – Chef for a Day-Yellow, Citizenship-Red; Hyde, Josephine – Self Determined-Blue; Mitchell, Brian – Shop-Blue; Nelson, Denver – Chickens Breeding Pen-Blue; Vikla, Megan – Needle Arts-Blue.

In addition to growing in their knowledge and skills in specific project areas, 4-H youth have opportunities to develop 21^st Century skills such as communicating, problem solving, collaboration and decision making.  4-H not only produces purple ribbon projects, but more importantly is focused on producing purple ribbon kids! Congratulations to all the youth that participated at the 2016 Minnesota State Fair.

The 4-H program is funded through a partnership of federal, state, county and private resources and is part of the University of Minnesota Extension.