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Published: 21 July 2016 21 July 2016

The 2016 New Mexico State 4-H Conference was held in Las Cruces, NM on July11-14th and Grant County 4-H was in attendance. The State Conference provides youth from around the state the opportunity to compete in contests, attend workshops, attend dances and make new friends from around the state. Only 4-H'ers that are in the senior age group are eligible to go to the state conference. Several leadership workshops aimed at developing new leadership skills as well as workshops concentrating on goal setting and STEM were offered. Other workshops offered dancing lessons, water balloon fights and capture the flag which was very fun for the youth in attendance. The 4-H'ers also had an exceptional time at the dances that are held every night of the conference.

While the conference was fun it was also about competition as well. Grant County 4-H competed in events such as Hippology, Horticulture Judging, Impromptu Speech, Land Judging, Livestock Judging, Livestock Skill-a-thon, Wildlife and the Talent Contest. Davis Atwater competed as an individual in the Livestock Skill-a-thon where participants evaluated several different aspects of the livestock industry. The contest is comprised of several different sections. First the contestants must take a quiz pertaining to the entire livestock industry. Then they must identify different breeds of cattle, sheep, swine and goats. Next, they must identify and rank different retail cuts of beef, pork and lamb. Following the meats portion the youth must rank sheep fleeces on quality and answer questions. The quality assurance portion is next where contestants demonstrate how to read a medicine label, calculate withdrawal times, complete a treatment record, and make responsible management decisions regarding quality assurance. Lastly, participants must identify different types of feed and their corresponding nutrient groups and accurately read a feed label and answer questions pertaining to that label.

 

Trent Kasten competed in the Impromptu Speech Contest and did very well. Impromptu contestants are given a topic and then given three minutes to prepare a speech on that topic from memory. Additionally, the contestants are then asked questions pertaining to their speech. Christopher Morgan was 4th high point individual in the musical category of the Talent Contest playing his acoustical rendition of the National Anthem on the guitar.

The Livestock Judging Team was one of the top ten teams in the state. The team was led by Clell Bays, the highest scoring member of the team, followed by Colton Watkins and Kolby Taylor. Participants in the Livestock Judging Contest are required to place classes of market lambs, goats, hogs steers as well as breeding classes of heifers and ewes. The contestants were also given a scenario and a class of Brangus heifers and were asked to evaluate the genotypical Expected Progeny Differences (EPD's) of the heifers as well as their phenotypical attributes and rank the heifers on suitability to the scenario. After the placing of the livestock, contestants must then present four sets of oral reasons from memory to a judge as to why they placed the classes the way they did.

Katy VanDran, Jadelyn Gutierrez and Tayler Lamb represented the Horticulture Team placing 11th in the overall competition. The Horticulture Contest is comprised of three different sections, identification, judging and information. In the identification sections contestants must identify a mix of 40 flower and indoor plants, landscape ornamentals, fruits, nuts, berries and vegetables. Next they must judge four horticulture classes ranking them on quality. Lastly, they must complete the information section where they must answer 50 multiple choice questions formulated from the National Junior Horticulture Association. Katy VanDran was the highest scoring individual on the team followed by Jadelyn Gutierrez and Tayler Lamb.

Grant County had two Wildlife Judging Teams. Riley Brabson, Jordan Gonzalez and Ty Dalton were on Team 1. Trent Kasten, Mary Thuerauf, and Levi Dalton represented Team 2. Both Grant County teams did very well in the contest. Participants in the competition are evaluated on four different activities. First, they must identify different species of wildlife. Next, they are tested on their overall wildlife knowledge including more wildlife identification, wildlife foods, aerial photos, wildlife management concepts and terms and wildlife management practices (WMP's). As a team they are then asked to make a plan and recommendations on a wildlife habitat for a specific region. Additionally, each team member must individually describe their wildlife plan and answer the judge's questions.

Mary Thuerauf competed in the Hippolgy contest placing 4th high individual. Hippology is the study of horses and the contest consists of three phases. The first phase is the examination phase consisting of a written exam, slides for identification of breed, color and color pattern, anatomy identification of external, skeleton and internal organs The station phase requires contestants to identify various types of saddles, tack, bits, bridles, horse shoes, tools and equipment, and assemble specific parts of various pieces of equipment. Youth must also identify grains and forages used in equine rations including various forms of methods of preparation and identify internal and external parasites based on actual samples, pictures, life cycle charts and/or damage. Contestants must also be able to recognize blemishes and unsoundness as well as age equines based on teeth. The contest also requires contestants to use pulse rate, respiration rate, temperature and dehydration levels to assess horse health as well as measure wither height and shoe size. Lastly, the judging phase requires contestants to place at least four classes consisting of two halter or conformation classes and two performance classes.

Kolby Taylor was the big winner of the week. Kolby was high point individual in the Land Judging Contest. Contestants in the Land Judging Contest must examine 4 pits, and texture two soils (top and sub). Then they must measure the slope of the land, measure the depth of a pit, find erosion of the soil and figure out the permeability of the soil based on the sub surface texture. Land Judging offers skills in understanding basic soil differences, how soil properties affect crop growth, and why soils respond differently to management practices, as well as the influence of land features on production and land protection.

We are very proud of the hard work and effort put in by the 4-H'ers and their coaches. We are also grateful to the parents and the community for their continued support of the youth of Grant County. We are already making plans for attending the state conference next summer and are hoping to take several teams to the competition next year. If you or someone you know is interested in competing in 4-H or would like to be a volunteer to our youth programs and contests, please feel free to contact Jessica Swapp at the NMSU 4-H/ Agriculture Extension Office located at 2610 N. Silver St. or call us at 575-388-1559. You can also keep up with all the fun 4-H activities by liking our Facebook page Grant County 4-H.