county show rules

[okshowmom]

Ok guys need a little info. Our co spring show is 4H kids only. Trying to get it to allow FFA kids to show also at the upcoming rule chg meeting. Are there any other counties out there like this? We r in okla and can't think of any that r just one org and not another. Any input would be appreciated.

 

[SlickTxMaine]

Our local show is 4-H and FFA combined. 

 

[wpenrod]

I live in Northeast Indiana but at are county it is only for 4-H and as far as I know it is the same way for all of the surrounding Countys

 

[pjkjr4]

Our county (Grant) and all the counties that border us are open to 4H and FFA. As a matter of fact, since our county population is so small, if you are in school (Pre-K through 12th grade) you are allowed to show up to the county level. Every year, there are a handful of 4 year-olds showing either pigs or goats. I can't believe that they wouldn't want the FFA kids showing. I also can't believe that the ag teachers wouldn't have fought tooth and nail to change this a long time ago.

 

[DLD]

We're in Grady county, but otherwise I second everything pjkjr4 said.  I didn't know there were any counties in OK that only show 4H.  Maybe you have or have had some of that rare breed of ag teacher that don't want to show... Either way, it sounds like it needs to be changed to me.

On the other hand though, how hard is it to just join 4H?

Edit to add - I second most everything - still have to be in 4H (9 years old or 4th grade) to show in the spring (premium sale) show.

 

[coachmac]

Our county (Grant) and all the counties that border us are open to 4H and FFA. As a matter of fact, since our county population is so small, if you are in school (Pre-K through 12th grade) you are allowed to show up to the county level. Every year, there are a handful of 4 year-olds showing either pigs or goats. I can't believe that they wouldn't want the FFA kids showing. I also can't believe that the ag teachers wouldn't have fought tooth and nail to change this a long time ago.

Agree !  Seems like the Ag Instructors should have taken a stand many, many shows ago.  I know if we seperated the FFA from 4-H, both shows would suffer greatly and they would have a hard time finding sponsors for awards, funding, etc.  We too have a small population and as far as showing cattle, the number keeps getting smaller.  Now, the last couple of years at our county fair, if you show a Boer..... you are a part of the vast majority.  Keep hoping that cattle numbers will climb back up to where they were, unfortunately, the economy, video games, and busy parental schedules seem to be preventing that from happening soon... if at all!  

 

[okshowmom]

We r in osage co. We just have 3 ag chapt. We were the last county to get ffa. Why make the kids join both? Its just a bunch of old foggies that don't want any compitition. My dter is in both org. I'm the local 4h leader and grew up with a dad that was an ag teacher. So thia whole 4h thing is really strange to me!!

 

[coachmac]

is the fair a closed one to bordering counties?  We only have one FFA chapter in our county and just a handful of 4-H groups.  There was no one in the 4-H groups (other than ours) that wanted to be a beef leader, so one night, while I was gone coaching basketball, my wife nominated me to be the county beef leader.  It has been OK though and I hope that we can "liven" things up a little bit.  We open up our county fair to the county north of us to help with numbers.  You do have to be a member of, or resident of the county to take part in the premium sale.... which is so watered down now that it is the equivalent to t-ball !  (everyone gets a trophy.... or at least a couple of dollars)  One of the obstacles I would like to see our county overcome is the fact that a 6 y/o with a bucket calf can own that calf for, literally, hours before the show, take it in the premium dressed to the nines, and come out with a MUCH higher premium check than a HS kid that has went out of state, bought a calf, barrow, etc. and put in MANY hours of work.  And we wonder why we can't get the older kids motivated to show up for their own fair ??  :

 

[steer-guy]

That is rediculous!!! I have never heard of such a thing. I can't think of one good reason why it's only open to 4H kids and not FFA.....

 

[oakbar]

Our county in northern Iowa is open to both, although many kids are dual members for 4-H and FFA.  Only kids who are old enough to be in 4-H(fourth grade and up) can sell a ribbon at our ribbon auction and only one per livestock area(1 beef, 1 pig, 1 sheep, etc).  We don't sell the animals anymore.

 

[pjkjr4]

Some of these people need to understand that change is not always a bad thing. The total population of our whole county is just over 5,000 people. There are usually 150 pigs, 30 sheep, 30 goats, 2 or 3 heifers and 8-12 steers. They will sell 67 animals at the premium sale, with only one animal per kid. There are less than 10 kids every year who don't make the premium sale. I think that's ridiculous. I wish we could get away from the idea that everyone gets rewarded. I'm a firm believer that grand, reserve grand, and broze medallion steers, plus the supreme heifer are all the cattle that our sale needs. Five goats, 5 sheep, and 30 hogs. Guess what? That would have left my kids out for this year, but they, just like every other kid, need to learn how to lose, before they can really appreciate winning. An attitude of "I need to work harder to try and succeed at this" is a healthy thing.

There are lots of rules at county fairs and county stock shows that were great in 1975, but are pretty outdated in 2010. Take a stand (the right way) and get people on your team. I'll bet if you arm yourself with the right kind of research and information, you can get this changed.

 

[jlingle]

Ok guys need a little info. Our co spring show is 4H kids only. Trying to get it to allow FFA kids to show also at the upcoming rule chg meeting. Are there any other counties out there like this? We r in okla and can't think of any that r just one org and not another. Any input would be appreciated.

My only question would be WHY????  Why on earth would it only allow 4H kids?  That's just strange.

 

[shortyjock89]

I know I live in IL, but we do things a little differently maybe. We have a 4-H show with our county fair in June, and then in August, the FFA has a show with another fair at a different fairgrounds in our county. There are also open shows at both fairs however. About 40-50 steers, a few more heifers, 60+ sheep, and probably close to 200 pigs at these shows.

 

[shorthorn boy]

Our local county show  is 4-H kids only but our FFA section has what we call our "Section Fair" and this show is for FFA kids only. I kinda like it this way.

 

[wpenrod]

I dont know about across the country but here it is pretty simple to be in 4-H, you must attend half your clubs meetings (so 3 a year) heck you dont even have to do that anymore, You must give a demonstration though. I guess anyone in FFA that would like to show at the fair just joins a 4-H group, I have never heard anyone around here complain about it      Our county isnt real big in size but we have around 600 hogs, 60 steers and heifers, 50 feeder calves, 120 goats and lambs

 

[shorthorn boy]

I know I live in IL, but we do things a little differently maybe. We have a 4-H show with our county fair in June, and then in August, the FFA has a show with another fair at a different fairgrounds in our county. There are also open shows at both fairs however. About 40-50 steers, a few more heifers, 60+ sheep, and probably close to 200 pigs at these shows.

We do the exact same thing

 

[shortdawg]

We show pigs, heifers, and steers in our county. All kids under 9 show in what we call Pre-Club, 9 up to 5th Grade show undér the 4-H umbrella, and all those 6th Grade and up show under the FFA umbrella. So in short every kid in Kindergarten and up can show. We have about 14 head of cattle and 80 pigs plus 3 or 4 sheep.

 

[showjock09]

Our county fair is 4H and FFA. There are cattle[steers, heifers, bulls, cows/cow calf pairs], hogs, goats, small animals[rabbits, chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, game foul, hampsters and guine pigs], horses, and dogs.
Our date to determine age group you will be in is September 1st. If you are 8 by this time you can show anything you want ONE market class animal per child[steer or hog].
If you are 5-7 by the date above then you can be in the Pee-Wee club. They do costume contests, dish gardens, container grown veggies, finger painted t-shirts, and a hog show where everyone uses the same hog and "shows" him for a few minutes.

A few other counties do have a rule saying all kids showing for their first time must show a hog first, the next year they can show a steer if they choose.

But back to our county fair, I have no idea what the rules are in the hog barn[i stay far away from there since i cannot deal with the smell of amonia], but in the cattle barn ages are broken into these groups juniors 8-10 intermediate 11-13 seniors 14-18.
Rules for the entire time of fair:
Juniors can havehands on help from parents and other kids showing cattle
Intermediates can have parents tell them what to do but no hands on help from parents yet can have hands on help from other showers
Seniors can ask for pointers from other showers but no hands on help, parents are not allowed to help at all.
These rules are upheld through the whole fair.