LIBERTY COUNTY 4-H Newsletter

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1 LIBERTY COUNTY 4-H Newsletter July 2015 Hi Everyone, Fair time is almost upon us. I hope all of your projects are coming together nicely. Please be sure to look over the calendar in your Marias fairbook that was included in your first packet. There is a lot of important information and many changes were made from last year s calendar. Thank you to all the volunteers that signed up for the various jobs during the fair. Be sure to recognize and thank all the helpers you see throughout the week. The fair couldn t happen without the wonderful volunteers that help out. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to call the office at or during the fair you can call Jesse at and Julie at Good Luck in all your endeavors! Jesse and Julie Don t forget.. The Exhibit Building Committee is requesting funds from clubs to help purchase more chairs and a chair trolley for the Exhibit Building The Marias Fair Exhibit Building Silent Auction will be managed by the Ag Committee this year. Proceeds will support the committee, which oversees the dog, rabbit, poultry and cat shows at the fair. The Ag Committee is requesting that every club in the four counties donate an item to the silent auction. Please bring your items to your local Extension office or the Fairgrounds on cleanup day, July 11. Pre-fair clean-up day is Saturday, July 11th. All members are encouraged to attend Post-fair clean up day is Monday, July 20th. All members are encouraged to attend. FAIR PACKETS ARE NOW READY TO PICK UP AT THE EXTENSION OFFICE Open Class Entries Western Leader s Forum What to Bring What to Wear Tips to minimize shrink Club Donations Needed Goat/Sheep Barn Work Day 4-H Camp Contact Us Jesse Fulbright Liberty Co Extension Agent PO Box st St East Chester MT (406) liberty@montana.edu Julie Gagnon Administrative Assistant

2 Tips for Minimizing Shrink in Your Livestock Animal Going to the fair is stressful, especially on the animals! When they are taken to a new environment with new people, sounds, and other animals, it s stressful and the animal can stop drinking or go off feed, which also means they ll weigh less than they did at home. Before the fair, load up your animal and take them to another location so they get experience with a trailer ride and new surroundings. At the fair, your animal may not drink the water due to the chlorination, so bringing some 5-gallon bottles of water from home will help keep your animal drinking. Or, you can also mix Gatorade (or any flavoring) into the water at home and also at fair so the taste and smell is similar. Providing your lamb or steer long-stemmed hay a couple hours before the show will give them a full appearance and also help relax them as they can chew their cud during the show. A hand sprayer with water can be used to mist your pig off with before you go in the show to keep them relaxed as well. Remember, all market livestock need to be in their stalls by 3 p.m. Wednesday, July 15, weigh-in starts at 5 p.m. with lambs, hogs, then beef. By Kari Lewis/Glacier Co. Ext. Agent ATTENTION 4-H CLUBS: The 4-H Club entering the most Open Class entries in the Marias Fair will win an ice cream party. Entries are easy & DO NOT need to be entered in advance & are free. (barn fees do apply) For entry information and the schedule please find the Open Class Premium book (online at If you have any questions please call Julia Arnold at 406) For other general Fair questions please call the Marias Fair Office at Marias Fair Horse Committee 1/2 Hog Raffle $5 a ticket or 5 for $20 Drawing will be held Sunday July 19 after the freestyle competition (do not have to be present to win) Raffle tickets are available at the Extension Office Sheep & Goat Barn Fix-Up Continues Thanks to all who helped with the Sheep and Goat Barn Fix-Up Day on June 20 at the Marias Fairgrounds, and to Albertsons and Angie Welker for supplying lunch! There are still some finishing touches needed to finish up the project, particularly, painting, which will be finished on Clean-Up Day, July 11. Please stop by the Sheep and Goat Barn on Clean- Up day to help get this project finished up. Thanks to the Curry Comb 4-H Club for their lead on the project! Any questions can be directed to Art Rooney at Correction: The Marias Fair Livestock Committee donated $500 to Curry Comb 4-H Club to match their People Partner Grant they received to fix up and upgrade the sheep & goat barn at the Marias Fairgrounds. North to Alaska! - Western Regional 4-H Leaders Forum 2016 Save the date for the 2016 Western Regional 4-H Leaders Forum on March 2-4 in Fairbanks, Alaska. Workshop proposals are due June 1. The proposal forum and other information is available on the event at their website, One of the cool things about the forum is that the end of the forum is the start of the Iditarod. That is definitely a once in a lifetime experience!

3 Attention all campers: - Here are some tips of additional supplies you might want to bring to help with animal displays & exhibits (compiled by Dena Fritz). Markers/Pens/Pencils/Hi-lighters/Scrap paper/scissors (make sure to bring a notebook to the livestock judging contest for your reasons notes!) Thank You poster for livestock buyer pre-made Wire ties/wire/wire cutter (you ll need to hang your animal s sign) Calculator (you ll need to calculate your animal s daily gain, etc.) Safety pins/straight pins/tacks/staplers--big and small (you ll receive an exhibitor number that will need to be pinned on your shirt) Tie straps/bungee cords Tape, Rubber bands, glue Spare batteries Hammer/Screw drivers/pliers Extension cord/3 prong adaptors Ruler/Tape measurer Laundry bag there ll be lots of dirty clothes! Water, water, water! Flash light Paperclips Needle/Thread/Buttons Memo board - An easy Communications Center in your camper for who needs to be where each day Bill of Sale/beef and Travel Permits/sheep What to Wear? Casual clothes are ok for working with animals, unloading, etc. but you should wear clean, neat dress clothes for interviews, demonstrations, showing your animal, the sale, etc.. When working the Food Booth, you should wear jeans or long shorts, a clean baseball cap, closed toe shoes, and a clean shirt (4-H club t-shirts are great!) A pink shirt for Tough Enough to Wear Pink on Saturday is appropriate for the sale if it s a dress shirt. Remember clothes for Sunday s water fight, and muck boots to wash animals in. Closed toe leather shoes MUST be worn for all livestock activities including weighing-in, washing, etc. Always bring extra clothes, as they get dirty quickly, and make sure to try them on the week of fair too. My family will always remember the year my sister showed her second steer in white tennis shoes as the polished boots that had fit earlier that summer simply did not fit come show day, which resulted in a red ribbon on steer showmanship! By Kari Lewis/Glacier Co. Ext. Agent

4 4-H CAMP Lily Wickum, Sydney Hawks, Kyla Mansfield, Emma Wickum, Martin Fulbright, John Dahlin, and Sebastien Mansfield attend multi-county 4-H camp.

5 JULY H Congress in Bozeman 11 - Marias Fair Clean-Up Day Marias Fair 20 - Post Fair Clean-Up Day 28 - Carcass Awards Show 6:30 Cut Bank 29 - Carcass Awards Show 6:30 Shelby The MSU Extension Service is an ADA/EO/AA/Veteran s Preference Employer and Provider of Educational Outreach. Making a Difference in Liberty County