Contest Opportunities at the Major Livestock Shows

Many people associate the major livestock shows with only exhibiting animals, but there are numerous other opportunities available for youth. Listed below are a few of the contests some of you may want to consider participating in, a few in which Travis County 4-H members have participated in the past. If any of the contests seem of interest or you plan to participate in a contest, you will need to register for the event and pay for the entry fee by the major show deadline of November 12th (or noted otherwise on a couple of the other contests) with the Travis County Extension Office. Entry forms may be found on www.travis4h.com. Look under the tab "4-H Livestock and Animal Information". Click here to go directly to the page.

San Antonio Livestock Show and Rodeo: Show website
Consumer Decision Making - $40 per team (3-4 member team)
Food Challenge - $25 - individual contest/event
Livestock Judging - $40 per team (3-4 member team)
Horse Judging - $40 per team (3-4 member team)
Horse Quiz Bowl - $40 per team (3-4 member team)
Skill-a-thons: Sheep, Beef, Swine and Horse- $25 - individual contest/event
Shotgun Shoot - separate entry deadline - Entry Fee has not yet been disclosed.

San Angelo Livestock Show: Show website
Consumer Decision Making- $10 per person
Agriculture Product ID contest - $10 per person
Livestock Judging - $10 per person
Horse Judging - $15 per person



Houston Livestock Show: Show website
Livestock Judging - $15 per individual or $40 per team (3-4 member team)
Agriculture Product ID Contest - $10 per team (3-4 member team) can only send 3 teams
Shotgun Shoot - Entry deadline different - first come first serve -  $125 per person
Ranching and Wildlife Poster Contest - deadline January 14th
 
Star of Texas: Show website
Livestock Judging  - $40 per team

Please ask questions if you have any: cmtalley@ag.tamu.edu

Aggiefest Horse Judging Workshop

Aggiefest Horse Judging Workshop

The Horse Judging Workshop is intended to give youth an opportunity to practice judging horses in a low stress environment. The workshop will include a basic idea of what to look for when judging individual performance classes and halter. English and western classes, as well as a halter class, will be provided for youth to judge. Placings, cuts and critiques will be discussed following each class.

Coaches and parents are welcome and encouraged to attend.  Cost is only for each youth participant.
Where: Freeman Arena – College Station, TX (see attached map)
When: November 16, 2013
Time: 9:00 a.m.
Pr-registration: Register online  - Must talk with Cory
Registration fee before November 13, 2013: $15/person
Registration fee after November 13, 2013: $20/person
Note: Online registration requires one consolidated entry for each FFA Chapter or County 4-H group.

Workshop Contact: Teri Antilley, Horse Program Specialist, at tjantilley@ag.tamu.edu

• Topics
• Reasons Format
• English Classes
• Western Classes
• Halter Classes
• Practice Reasons (optional)

Virtual 4-H Volunteer Conference

The Texas 4-H & Youth Development Program is pleased to announce that we will be sponsoring a VIRTUAL 4-H Volunteer Conference, with sessions offered on a quarterly basis throughout the 2013-14 4-H year. Each of the one-hour workshops will be conducted during the day and evening hours using AgriLife Extension's TTVN WebMeeting system. The training dates are: 

·        November 7th and 12th

·        February 25th and 27th

·        May 5th and 6th

·        July 31st and August 5th

Training topics, times, and workshops descriptions, as well as participation instructions (for those new to Centra) are posted on the Volunteer Conference website, which is: http://texas4-h.tamu.edu/volunteer_conference.  All sessions will also be recorded for viewing at a later time. AgriLife Extension employees are also welcome to participate in any of the training sessions.

Rodeo Austin Junior Leader Prgoram

Rodeo Austin is currently accepting applications for its Junior Leaders program.  Attached is a flyer with additional information on this program. Click here for the flyer and additional information.

Fort Worth Livestock Show Entries

If you plan to exhibit an animal at the Fort Worth Livestock Show in January, entry forms and fees are due to the Travis County Extension office by November 1st.  The entry form may be found at the link below.

Click here to obtain the entry form

This form is located at www.travis4h.com under the tab "4-H Livestock and Animal Information"

Junior Leadership Retreat - November 8-10, 2013

Junior Leadership Retreat is the premiere youth teaching youth statewide leadership retreat for junior and intermediate level 4-H members! Members of the Texas 4-H Council coordinate and conduct all of the educational workshops and recreational activities. It is a great weekend of learning and exploring, don’t miss out!

When? November 8-10, 2013 at the Texas 4-H Conference Center in Brownwood

Deadline to Register is November 4


Cost? $105 for youth and $70 for Adult Chaperones. This includes two nights lodging in the dorms (bring your own linens), four meals, two evening snacks and all the program supplies.

What to expect? Arrive Friday night between 6:00 and 8:00 pm; we’ll start with recreation and getting to know one another through ice breakers and other activities. Saturday there will be five concurrent educational workshops for participants. You’ll learn about 4-H projects and activities . Other workshops on teambuilding and leadership round out the day’s program. Saturday night — we’ll have a Costume Party! Check back later for the theme. Sunday it’s rise and shine and then we’ll wrap up all the activities. You’ll be on your way home by 11:00 am

Click Here to Register

4-H Food Challenge - November 19th

The 4-H Food Challenge is a contest that allows 4-H members to demonstrate their culinary knowledge and skills. From a set of predetermined ingredients provided, teams of 3 to 5 4-H members must develop a recipe and prepare the dish within 40 minutes. Teams then make a presentation to a judging panel, explaining the preparation steps, serving size, food safety concerns, nutrition value and cost of the dish.

Click Here for Food Challenge Rules
Click here for Food Challenge Registration Information

Houston Livestock Show Horticulture and Photography Contests

The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is offering some unique contests that involves horticulture as well as a horticulture- photography contest. For more information, check out the flyers below.

Horticulture Photography Contest Flyer
Horticulture Competitions Flyer

Pedernales Electric Coop - Youth Tour - Essay Contest

For the 32nd year, Pedernales Electric is joining other electric cooperatives across the country to participate in the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association’s Youth Tour program. For PEC's 2014 Youth Tour Contest and in honor of our 75th anniversary, we are asking area high school students to write essays from the perspective of someone 75 years ago, when electricity first illuminated the rural Hill Country.


Ten semifinalists will be chosen to interview with three independent judges who will select the final six winners of an expense-paid June 2014 trip to Washington, D.C., to tour historical sites and meet local political representatives.

Every student who enters the 2014 Youth Tour Contest will be eligible to win an iPad mini! Please read our contest guidelines before submitting your essay and application online. The deadline to enter is Wednesday, Oct. 23.

2014 Texas 4-H Foundation Scholarship Application

Attention high school seniors, graduating in May 2014, the Texas 4-H Foundation Scholarship guidelines and application have been released. If you are interested in applying, email Cory at cmtalley@ag.tamu.edu . A scholarship workshop will be held on Thursday, December 5th at the county extension office.

Travis County Youth Show Entries

If you plan to participate in the Travis County Youth Show, get with your 4-H club manager to get your entry form and fees in. The entry form may be found on the link below. Club managers will be submitting entries by November 1st.
http://travis-tx.tamu.edu/4-h-programs/4-h-livestock-information/

October Edition of the Texas 4-H Standard Newsletter

Texas 4-H Standard Newsletter has been posted, there is a lot of great information that 4-H youth and volunteers should check out.
http://origin.library.constantcontact.com/download/get/file/1102776233283-400/TX4H_Standard_October_2013.pdf

Lone Star Cattleman Foundation's - Sportsman Soiree

Greetings!

I  am writing you regarding our largest fundraiser of the year...the Lone Star Cattlemen Sportsman Soiree 2013 being held on October 18, 2013 at the Texas Disposal System Exotic Game Ranch in Creedmoor, Texas. The evening will feature various wild game appetizers, a Bar-B-Q dinner, and live entertainment by The Rankin Twins.  There will also be a live auction and other exciting raffles throughout the evening with approximately 800-1000 guests in attendance.

The Lone Star Cattlemen Foundation is a non-profit 501 (c)-3 buyer's group whereas 100% of the money raised throughout the year goes directly to the youth of our community who spend countless hours preparing their livestock and other special projects for competition in local and county shows throughout Central Texas.  To date, the Lone Star Cattlemen Foundation has raised over $750,000 for the youth of Texas thus giving these kids the means to earn funds for their future college educations.

Please see the invitation below for more details.

Your involvement in this worthy cause allows us to continue helping our Central Texas youth.  Please consider purchasing a table and/or tickets to the Soiree by visiting www.lonestarcattlemen.com . I want to thank you in advance for your consideration and support in helping to make a difference in these student’s lives. It is because of special people like you that make our organization so successful!

Thank you for supporting the Lone Star Cattlemen Foundation’s mission: Benefiting Texas Youth Through the Purchase of Show Animals.   

Sincerely, 

Craig Teykl - Board Member

4-H Connect Registration

If you have not registered on 4-H Connect, please do that as soon as possible for youth to be considered 4-H members and for adults to be approved as volunteer leaders.

Click here for access to the 4-H Connect Registration.

Maps and Apps Workshop - Wednesday, October 9th

Youth in grades 4th-8th are invited to participate in the 4-H Maps & Apps Workshop on Wednesday, October 9, 5:00-7:00 pm, at Philips in San Marcos. This workshop is being conducted on 4-H National Youth Science Day, a national event designed to engage hundreds of thousands of American youth in a single science project focusing on important issues. This is an exciting national rallying event to celebrate 4-H Science programming.

This workshop, sponsored by Philips, will turn young people into geospatial thinkers as they design and map their ideal park, use GIS mapping to solve community problems and contribute data about their community to the United States Geological Survey.

This is a free workshop, but participants must pre-register by Monday, October 7. More details and a link to the online registration can be found on the Hays County 4-H blog at http://hays4-h.blogspot.com/. All supplies are provided.