November 2024 Newsletter

Hello 4-H Families!

Thank you to everyone who came to celebrate with us for our annual Achievement Day Awards! It was a blast to show off all of the accomplishments you all have made through out the year.

Please try to get signed up or re-enrolled in Z-Suite before the end of November so we can order books!

Beef weigh ins are coming up I’m planning to do a weigh in at the Flesch Sale barn tentatively on November 29th or 30th. I will contact all the beef families when I have a set date. Please make sure to be enrolled in Z-Suite so we have an accurate list of all the members. If we need an extra day, I can meet people on December 8th before the Christmas Stroll.

Kim & Jackie

2024 Golden Triangle 4-H Volunteer Summit

Volunteers, parents, leaders, teen leaders, please get registered for this great local training! This should be a great day of learning, networking, and setting plans for the coming year. Any teens 14 and up are welcome to attend. If any teens are interested in babysitting, we are hiring as well!

Register by November 11th on ZSuites or by calling Kari Lewis at 406-873-2239 or kari.lewis@montana.edu.

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.

“The Night Check” Series

MSU Extension- Cascade County is offering a FREE webinar series called, “The Night Check” in November 2024. The webinar series will help cattle producers learn about preparing for calving season, calf care, scour prevention, colostrum, and purchasing bred heifers versus cows.

• The second webinar will be on Friday November 8th at 12:00pm with Dr. Megan Can Emon who is the second MSU Extension Beef Specialist and based out of Miles City. Megan will talk about feeding before and after calving season, balancing rations, and nutrient reqiurements for bred heifers and cows.
• The third webinar will be on Friday, November 15th at 12:00pm with Dr. Rachel Endecott with Grey Horse Consulting and Goggins Ranch. Rachel will discuss buying bred heifers versus cows and the pros and cons.
• The last webinar will be Friday, November 22nd at 12:00pm with Dr. Hannah DelCurto-Wyffels who is a MSU professor and based out of Bozeman. She will discuss preparing for calving season, stages of calving, intervention, and postnatal care.

Register at https://www.montana.edu/extension/cascade/ag_pages/Agriculture.html

Marias Fair Cup Logo Contest

Thank you to all who submitted your wonderful designs for the Marias Fair Cup Logo contest. We appreciate the time you all spent on making the designs and can’t wait to see the winning design on our Marias Fair Stadium Cup. The commitee will meet soon and decide on a winner. We will announce on our Facebook pages as well as our newsletters.

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.

Christmas Tree Fundraiser

We will be selling Christmas Trees again as a fundraiser for the 4-H Council this year! We will be taking pre-orders for the trees. Our goal is that every 4-H member could sell two trees. If you are unable to sell trees we would like you to sign up for a shift at the Shelby Christmas Stroll on December 8th or help us sort and tag trees when they get off the truck.

Cloverbuds do not have to participate in selling trees.

Please return the order forms to the Toole County Extension office on November 20th.

Beef Weigh-Ins

The minimum weight for 2025 Marias Fair is 1,100 pounds; max pay weight is 1,500 pounds, select steers accordingly. Each exhibitor may weigh in one spare animal/species. If doing a pen of three, four market animals may be weighed in.Any breeding animals must have the 4-H Clover tattoo OR Association registration tattoo OR Bangs vaccination tattoo by the official hog weigh-in deadline (which will be in April 2025). So, if you are doing a breeding project, your animal does not need to be weighed in at steer weigh-in but must have an appropriate tattoo by April.

All steers must be dehorned before weigh-in, as horned steers are NOT allowed at the fair. Also, ensure your steer has been fully castrated and is not a stag. All steers must have been born after January 1, 2024. 4-Her must be 10 as of Oct. 1 to show a market beef animal.

Information to bring to weigh-in: Steer’s birth date

Breed of steer (including percentages of each breed)

Breeder’s name and mailing address

Beef members, as you are purchasing steers, please be sure to get a Bill of Sale as this will be needed at the fair.Unless the steer is from the 4-Her’s immediate family (father/mother), they need to have a Bill of Sale indicating a Change of Ownership.A Bill of Sale IS needed if purchasing from cousins, uncles, aunts, grandparents, neighbors, etc.They are also encouraged to have a Show Cattle Permit as well for transportation purposes.At the Marias Fair weigh-in in July, 4-Hers will be asked to sign a “ranch raised affidavit” if their steer is from their family.

If you have any questions on what is needed or need to get a Brand Inspection, please call Jeff Jergens, district brand inspector, at 406-450-0001, or local brand inspectors Chad Scarborough at 406-470-0712 or Tom Seifert at 406-873-5700.Please bring your Bill of Sale to December weighins so that we can make sure you have it.We will try to have some extra Bill of Sale forms available at our December weigh-ins if anyone needs as well.

2023-2024 Achievement Day Awards

Excellence in Project Awards

Swine: Clara Blonde, Layla Blonde, Laura Flesch, Sam Flesch, Wylie Frydenlund, Oran Nelson, Desirae Salois

Beef: Delaney Clark, Brinlee Flesch, Jagger Flesch, Preslee Flesch, Regan Torgerson

Archery: Dylan Clark, Paxton Flesch, Sam Flesch, Grace Hemmer, Orion Vetch

Baking: Liliana Denno, Moira Hemmer

Self Determined: Bridger Ergenbright, Moira Hemmer, Benson Weishaar

Poultry: Hadley Ergenbright, Gwendolynne Hegyes, Grace Hemmer, Moira Hemmer, Gilbert Salois, Benson Weishaar

Horseless Horse: Laura Flesch

Entomology: Grace Hemmer

Photography: Grace Hemmer

Cat: Grace Hemmer, Moira Hemmer

Sewing: Moira Hemmer

Sheep: Kaylee Nickol

Horse: Jadis Scarborough

Aerospace: Karter Wipf

Air Rifle/ Pistol: Kacey Wipf

Cloverbud Awards

2023-2024 Cloverbuds: Calvin Clark, Isla Clark, Jaydin Ergenbright, Bear Erickson, Weston Frydenlund, Hayden Habets, Matthias Hemmer, Kanon Koschmeder, Keaton Lampert, Rhegan Robison, Maclan Rogers, Emmilyn Salois, Carlie Sisk, Gavin Vetch, Rose Welker, Luke Welker, Lily Lee, Will Lee, Catherine Lee, Celee Flesch, Lennon Flesch, Finley McDonough, Dax Nelson, Brycen Francom, Whitney Cameron, Maggie Weishaar, Lawrence Denno, Matthew Stokes, Charlotte Besconsen, Ambree Smith, Carter Nickol