Delaware Junior Dairy Futurity
As per the revised show schedule for the 2020 Delaware State Fair, the Delaware Junior Dairy Futurity is currently scheduled for Saturday, July 23rd at 6:00 pm at the Delaware State Fair. If you have entered the futurity, you will be receiving an email with a questionnaire about the exhibitor so that we can complete the script for the event. Please return this completed document to Susan Garey truehart@udel.edu by July 10th.
National 4-H Dairy Conference Canceled
The planning committee for the 2020 National 4-H Dairy Conference has determined that in the interest of health and safety, it is best to cancel the National 4-H Dairy Conference that was scheduled for the end of September. This follows the announced cancelation of the World Dairy Expo which is one of the highlights of a conference delegate’s week. This marks the first cancellation of National 4-H Dairy Conference since its inception in 1954. The conference planning committee looks forward to seeing delegated again in September of 2021.
DSF Livestock Exhibitors- Note Schedule Changes for the 2020 DSF
Changes to All Show Schedules, Animal Arrival and Departure Schedules, Weigh-Ins and Barn Meetings – All dates and times have been modified so that only one species is in the barn at one time. Please check the schedules very carefully as the duration of livestock presence on the grounds is being shortened thus creating the need for new and in the case of some species several move-in and move-out dates. Every department is impacted so please review the department pages for each species that you plan to show and compete.
- • To view the updated Beef Cattle premium book click here
- • To view the updated Dairy Cattle premium book click here
- • To view the updated Goats premium book click here
- • To view the updated Horse & Pony premium book click here
- • To view the updated Sheep premium book click here
- • To view the updated Swine premium book click here
Market Animal Exhibitors- DSF Junior Livestock Auction Photos Due July 10th
The 2020 DSF Junior Livestock Auction will be conducted in a virtual format from Friday, July 31 at 9:00 AM and lots will begin to close on Friday, July 31 at 6:00 PM.
There are two VERY important tasks you as a market animal exhibitor must accomplish to do your best at the 2020 Junior Livestock Auction.
Contact Potential Buyers. CLICK HERE to view buyer instructions that you can share with your potential buyers. Please note that all buyers MUST pre-register prior to the auction regardless if they have been a buyer in the past. This is a new system and new information is needed for ALL buyers.
You are required to upload 3 digital photos and 1 60 second video of your animal. CLICK HERE to view how to upload your photos and video. You must upload your photos and video by Friday, July 10 at 5:00 PM or your lot will image will be blank. Please make sure to put the animals’ ear tag number in the entry description when uploading so we know which animal that
is a picture/video of. If you tagged more than 2 market animals per species please take your best guess at which two you think you might show and email the premiums staff with the photos and videos of the additional animals so we have them to swap out for you if needed.
The following are the logistics of how the Junior Livestock Auction will be held:
- The auction will be held virtually only, there will not be a live in-person auction like we are accustomed to attending.
- For ease of computation and on-line auction presentation, all sales will be by the head and not by the pound.
- Each species will have a minimum bid amount and minimum bid increments as follows
Steers: $750 Minimum Bid and $50 Increments
Swine: $500 Minimum Bid and $25 Increments
Lambs: $300 Minimum Bid and $25 Increments
Goats: $300 Minimum Bid and $25 Increments
- Each lot will close 1 ½ minutes apart. If there is a bid placed within the last 30 seconds of the lot closing all lots will extend for 1 minute.
- On their first bid for each lot they bid on, buyers will have to select one of the following destinations:
Buyer Takes Possession of the Animal
Donate the Animal 50% to the 4-H Foundation ad 50% to the FFA Foundation
Donate the Animal to the 4-H Foundation
Donate the Animal to the FFA Foundation
If you have questions please contact the fair office at 302-398-3269 ext. 7002 or email at premiums@thestatefair.net.
There was a Zoom webinar held on Thursday June 25th that explained the virtual auction process in more detail as well as the buyback process for this year. If you were unable to participate, the recording of this webinar will be posted to the state fair Livestock webpage for viewing on demand.
Harness Racing Activity Boxes Available from HHYF
While the Harness Horse Youth Foundation may have canceled their summer programs for 2020, the opportunity to learn about harness racing and the care of harness horses is still available to interested youth. Nothing replaces braiding a foretop, sweeping the aisle, or jogging a horse on the track – we know that! But, in an effort to still provide some education and a whole lot of fun, HHYF will be offering “Activity Boxes” this summer – four boxes in all. These boxes can be ordered individually or as a set.
The boxes contain games and to-do projects all related to horses and harness racing. The activities have each been carefully intertwined with the usual subjects of art, math, science, language arts, history, social sciences and even some vocabulary words.
Because the usual audience of campers is usually 10-year-olds and older, the box content is geared for ages 10 to 13 but, of course, older teens will find most of the material entertaining too.
Box 1- “Harness Racing 101”- This activity box includes all of the basics of Harness Racing! Learn about all aspects of the sport, and the career opportunities involved.
Box 2- “Before the Track”- This activity box focuses on young horses – from the time they are foaled through training for their first race. Learn how to successfully bring a baby along to their first start behind the gate.
Box 3-“At the Track”- This activity box focuses on the excitement of actually racing a Standardbred! Learn what happens on race day – and a sneak peak at the winner’s circle! Plus, you will receive your own lucky horseshoe!
Box 4- “It’s All Related”- This activity box explores the variety of careers and related businesses that make up the racing world – how great would it be to combine a love of horses with your future job? Dream big…it can happen!
For more information on these activity boxes and to order please visit: https://hhyf.org/activity-boxes/
NEW AQHA Learn- FREE Online Learning Modules for Youth Ages 8-18
The American Quarter Horse Foundation and the American Quarter Horse Youth Association have partnered on these virtual programs to support the education of youth! AQHLearn is a free educational platform for ages 8-18 and the connected knowledge contest AQHAchieve will award $15,000 in scholarships plus prizes!
AQHLearn has been developed to provide free resources for youth to learn more about horses from the comfort of their own home, anywhere in the world. The knowledge and resources from this program will allow youth to grow as horse enthusiasts and young equine leaders without horse ownership or previous experience being a barrier to participation.
The educational materials will feature topics that pertain to all aspects of horses, including horse health, history and basic knowledge. These topics will have materials for beginner, intermediate and advanced learning levels to allow all different ages to gain the most knowledge from these resources.
Youth have the opportunity to brush up on their skills by taking quizzes at the end of each section to prepare for AQHAchieve, a new online knowledge contest launching July 1, the registration deadline is July 15. This contest will test the horse knowledge of AQHYA members, including some of the information contained in the AQHLearn program. View the rules and guidelines for the contest before entering.
The AQHAchieve contest consists of two age divisions, Senior (ages 14 to 18) and Junior (ages 8 to 13). AQHAchieve will award $15,000 in scholarships and prizes to the winners of the
contest. All participants in the AQHAchieve contest must be AQHYA members. If you aren’t a member, join AQHA or renew your membership at www.aqha.com/join.
Visit www.aqhlearn.com to sign up today!
Horse101 – Basics of the Horse- Free Online Course from the University of Nebraska Lincoln
Check out this new online offering from UNL Equine Extension: Horse 101 – Basics of Horses! This is a three “Part” online course covering everything from history, breeds, conformation, behavior, nutrition, exercise, health, reproduction, genetics and more! Each of the three “parts” has 4 to 5 Units and each unit has two lessons. If you want, you can check what you’ve learned and get a certificate for each course! Even better, as an introductory offer – the course is at NO CHARGE initially! Check it out at: https://go.unl.edu/pbnu For more information, contact Kathy Anderson at kanderson1@unl.edu.
Note: You will need to make a “free” account on https://campus.extension.org/ to access the course. Just follow the instructions under “Is it your first time here?”
Part One
Unit 1- Horses Then and Now
Unit 2- Horse Breeds and Uses
Unit 3- Horse Identification
Unit 4- Horse Conformation and Selection
Part Two
Unit 5 -Horse Senses, Behaviors and Body Language
Unit 6 – Horse Nutrition – Part 1
Unit 7 – Horse Nutrition – Part 2
Unit 8 – Equine Exercise Physiology
Part Three
Unit 9 -Horse Health Part 1
Unit 10 – Horse Health Part 2
Unit 11 – Horse Reproduction and Breeding
Unit 12 – Genetics
Unit 13 – Environmental Management
Animal Related State 4-H Judging Contest Going Virtual
The Delaware 4-H judging contests in the areas of poultry, dairy, livestock and horse will be held online via the livestockjudging.com website in late July through mid-August in conjunction with the Delaware FFA Program. The Danish system will be utilized to provide recognition of
individual performance in these judging contests. Participation will be open to any who wish to try these contests this year. Please stay tuned for additional details.