Ag agent Anthony Growe, 4-H agent Catherine Shelley, and 4-Her Toby Lunceford at the recent 4-H Goat Clinic.
Photo courtesy of Paige Burns Clark
4-H youth in our region are busy preparing the 2022 4-H Farm Credit Showmanship Circuit season. They have been caring and training their animals for past several months. Some of them get their animals as soon as school lets out for the summer and others raise them year-round.
Before showmen can participate in the Showmanship Circuit, their goats must be tagged and verified by the NCDA. To help with the verification process, the Richmond County Extension office holds an annual tagging day and goat clinic for showmen. This year, all 4-H youth, not just Livestock Club members, were invited to the goat clinic held on June 29th. While 4-H livestock showmen had their goats evaluated and verified, other attendees were able to watch the whole process and learn more about raising goats, especially all the hard work that’s involved. Youth learned about goat nutrition, how to trim their hooves, check for parasites, and administer medications like de-wormers and vaccines. We are always looking for more youth to participate in the 4-H livestock clubs and even the Showmanship Circuit so this allowed interested 4-H youth to get some hands-on experience without actually purchasing a goat.
The entire Showmanship Circuit is proudly sponsored by Carolina Farm Credit and Cape Fear Farm Credit. This funding is used to operate the Circuit on a regional scale. Youth ages 5-19 have the opportunity to compete against other youth from across the region at each of the 12 county shows between August and the State Fair in October. Youth can show goats, heifers or lambs as part of the Show Circuit. The showmen will finish the season at the Farm Credit Showmanship Circuit Banquet held in November.
Youth compete in showmanship and confirmation classes at each show. The showmanship classes are designed to gauge the 4-Hers’ knowledge and skill with the animal while confirmation classes are all about the animal itself. Females will be bred and will continue production on the farm. They are judged on their frame and structure based on how they would carry the extra weight of being pregnant and the stress of milking. Castrated market animals are judged on the total meat marketability of the animal.
For the circuit, there are three age divisions for all species. First place in each division will win a belt buckle and a banner ribbon. Each youth participant receives a Circuit tee shirt. 4-H Showmen will also win ribbons, trophies, and premium money at each individual show. Some youth put their winnings into the bank to save it for college while others may use it to invest in next year’s show animal.
Our 4-Hers are currently gathering sponsorship money to pay for our Richmond County 4-H Goat Show which is part of the Farm Credit Showmanship Circuit. It will be on Sept. 10 at 1 p.m. at the Gary Welch Farm in Ellerbe. We encourage the community to come out and support our hard working 4-Hers. What these youth learn about showing livestock is only the beginning. They also learn leadership skills, animal husbandry, record keeping, responsibility and build self-esteem, to name a few of the important attributes they develop in the process. This is why we
want to send a huge thank you to our sponsors and to all the parents, friends and family of the showmen who support them throughout the show season!
If you have questions about the Circuit, and 4-H Livestock Club or would like to donate to the Richmond County 4-H Goat Show, please call the Richmond County Extension office at 910-997-8255.
If you have questions about the Circuit, and 4-H Livestock Club or would like to donate to the Richmond County 4-H Goat Show, please call the Richmond County Extension office at 910-997-8255.