4-H Animal Lines Newsletters

May 1999

4-H Animal Lines

MAY 1999

"It's better to discover you've made a mistake after trying, than to never have tried at all."

Sources of Project Animals Page................................... 2
Contests, Workshops, & CampsPage............................. 3-4
Sr. State Livestock & Dairy Judging Results Page......... 4-5
1999 District Show Results Page................................... 5-6
1999 Dixie National Sale Of Jr. Champions Page.......... 6-7
1999 Dixie National Horse Bowl Results Page.............. 7
Mississippi Jr. Round-Up Results Page......................... 7-17

SOURCES OF PROJECT ANIMALS Many sales are coming up soon that would be good sources of project animals. We will keep you informed on dates, locations, etc. of sales. The following are sales already announced.

RECRUITING NEW MEMBERS & CONTEST AWARENESS Spend some time promoting the 4-H animal & dairy science projects. This would be an excellent time to make personal contacts with potential project members, doing a news release on a radio program, having a county meeting, organizing livestock clubs, or whatever works for you.

Also please encourage and assist 4-H'ers with the animal & dairy science contests that we have coming up at the district project achievement days and 4-H Club Congress. Some of the senior contests have some excellent out-of-state trips for our winners. Let's try to get participation up in these contests.

SPECIAL NOTICE!! The state winning meats judging team will be eligible to represent Mississippi at the National 4-H Judging Contest to be held at Kansas State University in November 1999. We have a lot of training material available, including a judging manual, slide sets, and video tapes. Check your contest handbook for more details. The state winning dairy bowl team will be eligible to represent Mississippi at the National 4-H Dairy Bowl Contest to be held at the North American Livestock Exposition in Louisville, KY, in November 1999. If you need additional information, give me a call.

ALERT HORSE PROJECT MEMBERS ABOUT OWNERSHIP!!! Remind your 4-H'ers and adult leaders that May 1 is ownership deadline for horses to be shown in the 1999 4-H horse shows. Also, each horse showing in the district 4-H horse shows must be accompanied by original registration certificate or official ownership form for grade horses. Copies of registration certificate or ownership form must also be sent in with entries by district show deadline. Horses must be in the name of the 4-H'er, or in the name of the 4-H'er's father, mother, grandparent, step-parent, sister, brother, or legal guardian (farm name is not eligible).

Also, an official certificate showing a current (good for one year) negative Coggins test will be required on all horses that show in district and state 4-H horse shows. These certificates will be checked and must be in possession of the exhibitor and/or with the horse at the shows. Now is the time to be taking care of these important matters. Alert your 4-H'ers.

NOTICE!!! DRESSAGE PATTERN FOR STATE 4-H HORSE SHOW We will use Dressage Pattern Training Level, Test 4 at the State 4-H Horse Show. Alert your exhibitors!

4-H DAIRY POSTER CONTEST The theme for the 1999 Dairy Poster Contest is "Got Milk? It does a body good!" Publication 799 contains all the information about this contest and it can be obtained from Extension Supply. Your county winners in the three age divisions are to be delivered to the Bost Extension Center Building "B" on June 15th, the first day of State 4-H Club Congress for judging in the state contest. The deadline will be 3:00 p.m. rather than noon. Good-Luck!

MISSISSIPPI JUNIOR DAIRY PRODUCTION CONTEST I encourage you to add special promotion to our junior production contests. The 4-H dairy project member must own a registered Holstein or Jersey cow that is on an approval testing program. An entry form, JD-1, must be filled out within 60 days after the cow is fresh. The participants' entries will be ranked on ECM and awards are given at the annual meeting of the Holstein and Jersey Associations.

4-H MEATS JUDGING WORKSHOP We will be conducting a 4-H Meats Judging Workshop, May 20, 1999, at the Animal & Dairy Sciences Meats Lab in Ballew Hall on the MSU campus. The workshop will begin at 9:30 a.m. This workshop is for agents, volunteers, and 4-H'ers. Please call Gale Chrestman (325-3515) or Larry DeMuth (857-2284) for more information.

4-H DAIRY PRODUCTS JUDGING WORKSHOP We will be conducting a 4-H Dairy Products judging Workshop, May 31, 1999, at the Walthall Company Extension Office in Tylertown. The workshop will begin at 1:00 p.m. Please call Gale Chrestman, if you need more information.

4-H BEEF CAMP The Beef Camp will be held June 7th & 8th at the Lee County Agri-Center in Verona. 4-H'ers should bring one calf to work with during the two day camp. The complete schedule has been finalized; however, we do plan to hold sessions on the following: Skillithion, Premiere Exhibitor, Beef Bowl, EPD's, Meats Judging, Beef Cookoff, Team Grooming, How to feed your show calf, Showmanship and Ethics. In addition, we will ask each 4-H participant to bring a charcoal grill that will be used in the Cookoff workshop and each 4-Her will prepare their own meal (hamburgers) on the night of the 7th.

More details will be coming soon via E-Mail concerning this camp. The cost of camp will be $20.00 per 4-H participant and the camp will be limited to the first 30 4-H'ers that sign up. To sign up for this camp - call, e-mail, fax, or write Mike Howell. His phone number is 662/566-2201, e-mail address: mikeh@ext.msstate.edu, fax is 662/566-2257, and address is P.O. Box 456, Verona, MS 38879.

4-H SWINE DAY CAMP The Swine Project Day Camp will be Thurday, June 10th, at the Calhoun County Livestock facility in Pittsboro. Pittsboro is located south of Bruce and north of Calhoun City on Hwy. 9. Again, a complete schedule of events has not been finalized for this camp at this time. You will receive a complete schedule via e-mail at a later date. Some of the activities we are planning include: showmanship tips, how to clip pigs for the show ring, how to feed pigs prior to the show and at the show, how to identify and correct health problems, selecting the right type show pig, facilities needed for show pigs (both summer and winter), pork cookoff contest and premiere exhibitor contest.

There will not be a limit to the number people that can participate; however, there will be a $7.00 camp fee. For more information call Mike Howell at 662/566-2201.

BE A CHAMP! CAMP This camp will be held on June 18-20, 1999, at the MSU Agri-Center. It is for 4-H members who want to learn basic and advanced showmanship, clipping, grooming, and feeding of their beef cattle or lamb projects. Up-to-date instruction will be offered by professionals. 4-H Agents and volunteers are welcome to come and observe camp instructions. Cost of the camp is $265. For additional information, call Gale Chrestman (601/325-3515) or Kipp Brown (601/283-5304)

4-H HORSE CAMP A 4-H Horse Camp will be held June 21st & 22nd. 4-H'ers are required to bring their horse or pony to this camp. The camp will be limited to the first 60 4-H'ers that sign up. For additional information, call Sherry Smith at 662/841-9000.

LIVESTOCK JUDGING WORKSHOP& ORAL REASONS CAMP The Animal& Dairy Sciences Department will again be conducting a Livestock Judging & Oral Reasons Camp for those students involved with judging team activities. This will be a very intensive 3� day school with sessions held all day and each evening. The school will be conducted by Tommy Shields, MSU Livestock Judging Team Coach, with help form current judging team members.

The school will start on Wednesday, June 23, at 10:00 a.m. and conclude with a contest on Saturday morning, June 26, finishing at noon. The cost for the school will be $125.00 and includes room, meals, tee shirt, and pizza party. The students will stay in a dorm with meals in the cafeteria. The students will stay in a dorm with meals in the cafeteria. The students will need to bring bedding and towels. We would also like to invite any interested Ag teachers or County Agents to attend.

This will be a working school, but also provides interaction with MSU staff members and students and other 4-H and FFA members . . . a great opportunity for those wanting to become competitive in judging contests and improve upon their communicative skills. Alert your judging team members about this workshop. The school will be limited to the first 65 applications - - at least 14 years old and still in school. Registration forms are due May 31, 1999. We will send more details to you once the registration form is received. If you did not receive a registration form sent out in April, please call.

MISSISSIPPI LIVESTOCK COUNCIL MEETING The Mississippi Livestock Council met on March 23, 1999, at the Bost Center at Mississippi University. The minutes were mailed out on April 5th. If you have not received a copy, please call 662-325-3515 and let us know.

SENIOR STATE 4-H LIVESTOCK JUDGING CONTEST RESULTS We had an excellent senior livestock judging contest at the Dixie National Round-Up. This event ran real smooth and we thank everyone who helped with the contest. We had 127 contestants in the contest from 32 counties. Congratulations are in order to Clark County on winning the contest. They will represent Mississippi at the national contest in Louisville, KY, next November. Top ten placings and top ten individual placings are as follows:

SENIOR STATE 4-H DAIRY JUDGING CONTEST RESULTS We had an excellent senior dairy judging contest at the Dixie National Round-Up. This event ran real smooth and we thank everyone who helped with the contest. We had 26 contestants in the contest from 7 counties. Congratulations are in order to Walthall County on winning the contest. They will represent Mississippi at the national contest in Louisville, KY, next November. Top seven team placings and top ten individual placings are as follows:

DISTRICT BEEF, DAIRY, SHEEP AND SWINE JUDGING CONTESTS There were excellent junior livestock and dairy judging contest this year. Below are the totals on participation for the 1999 junior district judging contests.

DISTRICT LIVESTOCK SHOWS We had some excellent shows at the five district locations. Total number of exhibits was 3,006 with 1,286 beef exhibits, 1,038 hog exhibits, 478 sheep exhibits, 57 goat exhibits, and 147 dairy exhibits at the district shows. District show managers, agents, parents, leaders, and exhibitors are to commended on an outstanding job!

Look at the figures below on district show exhibits for 1999 and by district show for the past few years, including a comparison of ten years ago in 1988:

ANIMAL PREMIUMS FOR DISTRICT SHOWS A blue ribbon beef or dairy animal at the district shows will pay $27.88 with no red ribbon. A blue ribbon lamb, hog, or goat will receive $13.94, while a red ribbon will receive $10.13.

DIXIE NATIONAL SALE OF JUNIOR CHAMPIONS The 1999 30th Annual Sale was another fantastic sale. This was the sixth year in a row for the sale to gross over $100,000. Gross total for the 33 animals sold was $186,701.00, which was the largest sale we have ever had. It was $1,047.50 more than the previous record set in 1998. The steers averaged $8.45/lb (a record), hogs averaged $18.83/lb. (a record), and lambs averaged $21.41/lb. The Grand Champion Steer, sold for $17.00/lb, a total of $22,185.00, was the highest selling animal we have ever had in the sale. The Grand Champion Lamb sold for $50.00/lb. for a total of $7,200.00, which was the highest selling lamb we have ever had in the sale. Nearly everything was a record.

The Sale of Champions has meant a lot to our Mississippi junior livestock program over the years. The 30 sales have grossed $1,932,748.15 which is an impressive figure. The first sale in 1970 had a gross total of $7, 621.35. We have come a long way!

We salute all buyers, contributors, sales committee members, Extension staff members helping with the sale, and other supporters who help make this a special event.

DIXIE NATIONAL SALE OF JUNIOR CHAMPIONS ACADEMIC SCHOLARSHIPS The Dixie National Sale of Junior Champions Promotion Committee presented 17 $1,000 academic scholarships this year. This was an increase of 5 scholarships awarded this year over 1997. Winners were: Lacey Brown, Smith 4-H; Megan Brown, Yazoo 4-H; Matt Edgar, Yazoo 4-H; Angela Holmes, Walthall 4-H; Haily Huffman, Copiah 4-H; Anna King, Mize FFA; John Kelly, Franklin FFA; Josh McNeil, Jasper 4-H; Jessica Parish, Jeff Davis 4-H; Landi Sandifer, Humphreys 4-H; Julie Sims, Prentiss 4-H; Leslie Taylor, Yazoo 4-H; Heather Thompson, Pontotoc 4-H; Michael Lynn Tyne, Franklin FFA; Nikki Vandevere, Yazoo 4-H; Clinton Ward, Lawrence FFA; and Victoria Whitten, Pontotoc 4-H.

We had 43 excellent applications for these scholarships, the competition was close, and we congratulate the winners. Alert your 4-H'ers about this for next year.

DIXIE NATIONAL BOOSTER CLUB ACADEMIC SCHOLARSHIP The Dixie National Booster Club presented four $1,000 academic scholarships at this year's Round-Up. They have awarded one for a good number of years to the senior beef showmanship winner. This year, they added scholarships to the swine and sheep graduating senior showmanship winners. The beef scholarship was also changed to the highest placing graduating senior. Winners this year were:

Eric Biedenharn Academic Scholarship award for beef was won by Jessica Reynolds, Jeff Davis 4-H. Dr. Ben Clower Academic Scholarship award for swine was won by Landi Sandifer, Humphreys 4-H. Bill Dupree Academic Scholarship award for lamb was won by Megan Brown of Yazoo County 4-H. Sonny & Doris Thompson Academic Scholarship award for dairy was won by Haily Huffman, Copiah 4-H.

DIXIE NATIONAL HORSE BOWL CONTEST RESULTS This was an excellent contest with 8 teams competing in the junior division and 6 teams in the senior division. Winners were:
Junior Division: Champion - Pontotoc County Senior Division: Champion - Chickasaw County

1999 - MISSISSIPPI JUNIOR ROUND-UP LIVESTOCK SHOWS The 1999 Round-Up was another excellent educational event for youth in Mississippi with animal projects. The weather was great for the district and Round-Up shows and this added to the overall success. Participation could have been greater, but we had some really long shows as it was. We had 2,203 exhibits which was only 15 less than last year. The total included 1123 beef exhibits, 130 dairy exhibits, 596 swine exhibits, and 354 lamb exhibits. Swine and steer exhibits were up over last year.

It really takes a lot of people working together to make a show like this a success. Let me express appreciation to all agents, leaders, parents, exhibitors, specialists, and others who worked so hard during long days, etc. to make this an outstanding event. We have an outstanding junior livestock program and dedicated Extension workers doing an outstanding job. Your 4-H'ers, exhibitors, and parents should be proud of you. Congratulations! Continue to Page Two

4-H Animal Lines

May 1999 - page Two

Below is a report on number of youth and number of exhibits for the various shows at Round-Up.