Fresno County 4-H Livestock Achievement

Program

Overview, Purpose, & GoalsWHAT: Fresno County 4-H is starting a Livestock Achievement Program beginning this year! The program will be similar to the Dog Achievement and Horse Achievement Programs already in place in Fresno County. The program will provide an outline of what information should be covered in each year of a livestock project. Members, leaders, and parents can go online to http://ucanr.edu/sites/4-H-Fresno/ to access study guides for each species of livestock (beef cattle, dairy goats, meat goats, sheep, and swine.) Study guides and other resources will also be available for purchase from the 4-H office. Project leaders will administer a written test to their members in April. In May, in conjunction with the 4-H Fair, members will be tested on skills related to their species of livestock. Written and skill tests will be scored and members will be awarded medals or ribbons based on their proficiency. WHY: Fresno County 4-H wants to encourage members to increase their knowledge and skill development in their livestock projects and offer members an opportunity to excel outside of the show ring. WHO: The Livestock Achievement Program is open to all 4-H members who are enrolled in a beef cattle, dairy cattle, dairy goat, meat goat, sheep, or swine project. Participation in the program is strongly encouraged but is optional. If a project leader does not follow the program, members are still eligible to participate on their own. In that case, the written test will be done with another club or individually, as needed.HOW: All members will begin with Level I. Members are eligible to participate in the Livestock Achievement Program for each species of livestock for which they are enrolled in a project. Members do not need to medal in order to move on to the next level the following year.

Levels

There will be four proficiency levels for each species:• Beef Cattle, Sheep, Swine, and Meat Goats

Levels 1 and 2 will focus on market animal productionLevels 3 and 4 will incorporate breeding animal production as well as more advanced skills

and knowledge of the species.• Dairy Goats

Levels 1 and 2 will focus on basic care and handling of dairy goats.Levels 3 and 4 will focus on more advanced skills and knowledge.

• Dairy Cattle*Levels 1 and 2 will focus on basic care and handling of dairy cattle.Levels 3 and 4 will focus on more advanced skills and knowledge.

*There is a need for a leader to oversee the Dairy Cattle portion of the Livestock Achievement Program

Written Test Overview

During the month of April, project leaders will order tests from the 4-H office and

administer the tests to their members. All tests will be returned to the office by

the end of April for scoring.

Level 1 Written Test:• Body Part Identification (Identify 6 parts)• Complete a Fair Entry Form• Terminology (Match 10 terms to their definition)• List Three Breeds of Your Species of Livestock

Skills Test OverviewIn conjunction with the 4-H Fair held in early May, livestock members who completed the written test will be

tested on skills specific to their species of livestock. An “open testing” format will be used, in which members

will receive a packet of score cards and will be able to move among the testing stations at their own pace. They

will turn in a score card after completing each test station.

Level 1 Skill Test:• Basic handling skills (haltering, leading, tying)• Basic showmanship (setting up legs, presenting animal to judge, proper use of show stick/whip)• Judging (members will judge a class of 4 animals of their species)• Feed identification (identify 5 feedstuffs)• Equipment identification (identify 8 pieces of equipment specific to their species)• Basic veterinary skills/knowledge (basic care & cleanliness; feeding/water; proper worming schedule;

temperature of healthy animal )

Medal/Ribbon Criteria

To be consistent with our existing Dog and Horse Achievement programs that are

already in place, it was decided that members will be able to move on to a new

level, as long as they tested in the previous level, regardless of how they scored.

All members will begin at Level 1 for written and skills testing. Each member will

test on one level per species but can work on multiple species in a given year.

Written test score will be combined with skill test score to determine final score.

90% or above = gold medal; 80-89% = blue; 70-79% = red; 69% or lower = white.

Resources

Study guides will serve as a resource and curriculum guide for leaders and provide

members with information and a reference for the testing. Study guides to be used

will be those developed by Fresno County 4-H Livestock Achievement committee

members and/or those purchased from Ohio Cooperative Extension. Study guides

made by committee members will be available for purchase or on-line. There are

currently study guides for beef, sheep, and swine. The Ohio Cooperative Extension

books will be available for purchase through the 4-H Office. There are Ohio

Cooperative Extension books available for beef, sheep, swine, and goats.

Fresno County Livestock Judging Contest

Fresno Co. Livestock Judging Day is a stand-alone judging contest, to be held at

CSUF, in early March depending on availability of CSUF facility. Members will

judge a class of beef cattle, sheep, swine, meat goats, dairy goats, and dairy

cattle. Oral reasons will be a class for Intermediate and Senior members.

Leader/Parent Help Needed

• Species help (Dairy cattle needs a leader to oversee the program; Swine and Beef cattle would like extra leader help.)• Written Test Scoring• Skills Testing – judging skills, scoring, tabulations, set-up, clean-up• Livestock Judging Day – tabulations, set-up, clean-up • Contact Susanne Carroll to sign up to help:• (559) 269-9959 or susanneandkevin@yahoo.com