Hello 4-H Families!

Public Presentation Day will be on March 30th starting at 2 PM at the First Baptist Church Activity Center. Registration for all members, including Cloverbuds is now open on Z-Suite.

Projects can be added or dropped until May 1st.

It is almost time to tag pigs! Please let us know when you are getting pigs and we can get them tagged or get you the tagging materials. The deadline is April 13th.

Save the date for a Project Day on April 18th from 9 AM - Noon at the St. Luke’s Lutheran Church Fellowship Hall. We will be doing Food Safety at 9 AM, Quality Assurance at 10 AM and TBD for the rest of the day. If you have anything you would like to teach, please let us know!

Please make sure you are fully registered in Z-Suite, we have a few families that are not completely registered yet.

As always, please let us know if you have any questions. You can stop by the office anytime!

Have a great March!

Kim & Jackie

Glacier County FSA Youth Loans

If you are looking for a way to finance your 4-H projects for this year, consider visiting with the Farm Service Agency. They recently increased the loan limit to $10,000 and funds can be used for the purchase of animals, feed, supplies, etc. Youth between the ages of 10 and 20 are eligible. Loans are repaid annually and can be termed out for up to seven years for the purchase of breeding stock. The interest rate is currently 5.25%. Please contact Lacy Roberts or Eric Morrisett at the Glacier County FSA at 406-873-5618 ext. 2. Lacy and Eric are serving the Toole County area, as well.

New Volunteers - Clover Academy Volunteer Orientation

New volunteers will need to complete a volunteer orientation in Zsuite. Log into your personal account, look on the left panel, then scroll to “Clover Academy,” and click to begin your four training modules. This training takes around an hour to complete. Each module usually takes about 15 minutes. We cannot finalize your leader status until this orientation is completed.

Swine Weighing/Tagging

Members need to have the following information:

  • Breed of pig
  • Date of birth
  • Beginning weight
  • Breeder's name and address

Remember, fair weigh-in date is Wednesday, July 16th. Fair minimum weight is 220 pounds, maximum payweight is 300 pounds, maximum sale participation weight is 336 pounds. As a generalization, many of the show pig types tend to gain around 1.5 - 2.0 lbs/day while a commercial type pig can be 2.0 - 2.5 lbs/day. Calculate the days until fair from when you purchase your pig to determine what an appropriate beginning start weight would be.

Breeding Projects

Members with breeding projects must submit to Kim and Jackie by April 13th. Any of the following forms of identification on any breeding animals they plan to exhibit at fair: Bangs tag number,  Scrapie tag number, Association registration tattoo, Picture of animal. The 4-Hers needs to have full possession of their project animal at this time.

Public Presentation Day:

The registration for Public Presentation Day is now open on Z-Suite. PPD will be March 30th at the First Baptist Activity Center. 4-H members are welcome to present on whatever topic they are passionate about.

Prizes: Senior, Junior, Pre-Junior Levels

1st Place Rosette & $50

2nd Place Rosette & $25

3rd Place Rosette & $10

Total of nine awards will be given out.

Cloverbuds receive participation ribbons & gift

More information available at: http://montana4h.org/documents/projects/4h_communications/Montana%204H%20Clover%20Communications.pdf and on the Z-Suite registration page.

Shooting Sports

Congrats to all of our shooting sports members on their seasons this year! Thank you to all of our great shooting sports leaders for your continuing support and leading our programs! Shout out to Bridger Ergenbright and Dylan Clark for shooting 300s in archery this past week!! The above shooter is Kacey Wipf and to left is Bridger Ergenbright showing off her 300.

Rec Lab

2025 What is Rec Lab? “Rec Lab” stands for Recreation Lab and means that everything at this Montana 4-H state event is hands-on and fun! This event provides an opportunity for youth to enhance their leadership, communication and team building skills in an action-packed and interactive setting. Rec Lab programming is designed to provide participants with tips and tricks for being a better club, camp and community leader.

Montana 4-H Rec Lab is open to youth 13+ years old (age as of Oct. 1 , 2024). This event is ideal for younger senior members to attend as a first-time state event. It allows them to form relationships with 4-H peers from across the state, broaden their skills, and widen their network. The event has a camp feel because everything will take place in one school or location! Participants will bring air mattresses and sleeping bags to sleep on the gym floor, attend workshops all together in the school and join lots of social and fun activities.

Registration will be through ZSuite and is set to open on February 10th and will close March 12th. The cost will be around $100 per person. Participants will have the opportunity to pick from a list of workshops during registration. Stay tuned for a Workshop Proposal email coming your way soon! Extension Staff and volunteers: The idea of sleeping on an air mattress in a school gym may not be your idea of a fun weekend, but this is a great event for you too! The program is conducive to meeting people from around the state and exchanging ideas. You are sure to gain some great info and bring home motivated youth leaders.

Thank you to District 6 counties: Meagher, Gallatin, Park, Broadwater, Wheatland, Sweet Grass, and Lewis and Clark for planning and hosting this event. 

MARCH

1st- West Butte Club meeting - Sunburst Parish Hall

4th-5th- Kim- 4-H Update in Missoula

5th- Cloverbud meeting after school - 5 PM - Shelby Elementary Cafeteria

7th- 9th- State Shooting Sports Tournament in Bozeman

9th- Kountry Kids meeting - Exhibit Building (Tentative because of State Archery)

11th- Homesteader Series #6 Beef Tallow 6 - 8 PM - St. Luke’s Lutheran Church

12th- West Butte Cloverbud meeting 4 PM - Sunburst Library

12th- Rec Lab registration closes

18th- 4-H Council meeting 6:30 PM - Toole County Courthouse

19th- Shelby Job Fair

19th- Cloverbud meeting after school - 5 PM - Shelby Elementary Cafeteria

26th-27th- Kim- Helena for ACE Conference

26th- Marias Fair Livestock Committee meeting 7 PM - MRE

28th-30th- Rec Lab in White Sulphur Springs

30th- Public Presentation Day 2 PM - First Baptist Church Activity Center

 

APRIL

4th- Ranching Rascals Cloverbud meeting - 3:30 PM

4th- Ranching Rascals Club meeting - 4:30 PM

13th- Swine weigh-in deadline

13th- Camp Counselor training session 2 PM in Chester

15th - Homesteader Series #7 Sourdough Making 6 - 8 PM - St. Luke’s Lutheran Church

18th- Project Day - 9 AM - Noon - St. Luke’s Lutheran Church

22nd- Small Ag Committee meeting

26th- Horse Workshop 10 AM - 2 PM - Marias Fair Exhibit Building