Going from County Blue to State....?

Sunday was bitter sweet as we had to take down our 4-H fair booths. However, packing up the Extension trailer to head to Raleigh was the start of a whole new adventure for us. Each year a different county 4-H program has the honor of designing the state fair booth for the district. This year it was Robeson County's 4-H's turn.

After a great deal of planning we decided to use a fair booth that our volunteers and previous staff had designed when we did this more than a decade ago. However, when we went to find all the pieces, some were not in good shape, others were just m.i.a. So Aggie and Shea Ann stuck their heads together and asked our blue ribbon winners from this year, the Dirty Rascals Junior Master Gardener 4-H club, if they could possibly borrow their booth. The answer from club leader Missy McLean was a resounding yes!. So with help and item donations from Larry Russ of the Dirty Dozen Shooting Sports club the booth got loaded up and Aggie, Shea Ann, and Mr. Bobby headed to Raleigh on Monday morning.

After several hours of unloading, constructing, and reorganizing the booth expanded from an 8x8 space to a 10x20 space. It was stapled, taped, fluffed and tucked in time for judging the next day. The judges looked at 6 booths and gave our effort of "Growing Great Kids" an honorable mention. That ribbon came with a check for $450 for our county program. $100 of the prize money will be given to the Dirty Rascals JMG 4-H Club to thank them for donating their blue ribbon booth for our county and district efforts.

The North Carolina State Fair is from October 14-24th, at the state fair grounds in Raleigh. If you have a chance to go don't forget to stop by and check out our South Central District booth as well as the other incredible booths that 4-H members and volunteers from across the state put together.

It was an Utterly Fabulous Show

Excuse the pun because in all honesty there was no bull about this show. Okay maybe a couple of bulls in the market steer show but the heifers were mooving to new heights. In case you hadn't guessed following the 4-H lamb show at the Robeson Regional Fair was the 4-H heifer and steer show. Our youth came from all around with, yes, cows to put it simply and allowed them to take center ring.

We started with the 4-H showmanship division where youth the youth were judged on their knowledge and skills in this area. The age divisions were equally matched with three competitors in each. In the Junior I division (ages 9-10 years old) Mary Vorder Bruegge took home first, Maddy Adams placed second, and Wyatt Kendall took home the white ribbon. IN the Junior II age division (11-13 years old) Austin Cameron placed first, Eugenie Vorder Bruegge took home the red, and Anthony Bullard placed third. In the Senior division (14-19 years old) Sable Scott took home first place, David McInnis took home second, and Dennis Bullard took home the white ribbon.

The next show was the Heifer Market show. the heifers are shown based on their birth date and the judge is looking at the animal instead of the show person in this competition. Below are the birth dates and placements.

3/1/2010-4/30/2010

Sable Scott with Tarheel Miss 274x-First

1/1/2010-2/28/2010

Sable Scott with Tarheel Miss 262x-First

11/1/2009-12/31/2009

Wyatt Kendall with Brownie-First

9/1/2009-10/31/2009

Eugenie Vorder Bruegge with Geena 916-First

Maddy Adams with Double C 9/24-Second

David McInnis with Double C 9118-Third

Austin Cameron with Double C 9/26-Fourth

7/1/2009-8/31/2009

Mary Vorder Bruegge with Sally 44961-First

3/1/2009-4/30/2009

Austin Cameron with Double C 8/50-First

Anthony Bullard with April-Second

Grand Champion Austin Cameron with Double C 8/50

Reserve Champion Eugenie Vorder Bruegge with Geena 916

Our next show was the Steer and Feeder Calf market show, which like the Heifer show was based on the birth date of the animal. Below are the results from this show.

1/1/2010-2/28/2010

Eugenie Vorder Bruegge with Bryce-First place

Mary Vorder Bruegge with Ferdinand-Second

11/2/2009-12/31/2009

Eugenie Vorder Bruegge with Cameron-First

Mary Vorder Bruegge with Rhody-Second

5/1/2009-6/30/2009

Dennie Bullard with Ollie-First

Grand Champion-Eugenie Vorder Bruegge with Cameron

Reserve Champion-Mary Vorder Bruegge with Rhody

Baa Baa Black Sheep Have You A Blue Ribbon?

Things were a little woolly at the Robeson Regional Agricultural Fair Saturday as the lambs came from miles away to show their stuff in the ring. We had 4-H members from Sampson, Cumberland, Stanly, and other counties lined up for the show ring. The first show was the 4-H Showmanship competition where the show person is judged. This is broken into four divisions; cloverbuds (5-8 year olds), Junior I (9-10 year olds), Junior II (11-13 year olds), and Seniors (14-19 year olds). In the Cloverbud division Shane Kendall, Hunter Mercer, Tate Naylor and Hanna Naylor all took to the ring. The cloverbud division is noncompetitive. This gives our youth a chance to learn the ropes of showing in a safe and nurturing environment. The youth all receive trophies for their efforts. In the Junior I division we only had one competitor this year Wyatt Kendal who took home the blue ribbon. Things were a little more difficult in the Junior II division where there were seven competitors. Samantha Naylor took first place in this division with Robert Seals and Hanna Carter following in second and third respectively. Rounding out this division were Benjamin Herndon, Sabrina Blake, Ashley Wilson, and Megan Baldwin. The senior division had four competitors this year. Dustin Helms took home the blue while Emerald Layton took red, Cole Mullis took the white and Cody Almond received a yellow ribbon.

In the next competition the lambs were placed in three categories based on their weight. We had three divisions Lightweight which were lambs between 75 and 112 pounds. Middle weight which were the lambs weighing between 119 and 130 pounds. The heavy weight division was comprised of lambs between 132 and 143 pounds. The competition was tough in these divisions with several laps around the ring for the show person and their lamb. Ashley Wilson with her lamb Ed took home first, followed by Hanna Carter with Turbo in second, Wyatt Kendall took home third. Rounding out that division were Megan Baldwin with Gunner, Cody Almond with Ethel, Ashley Wilson with Buddy, Emerald Layton with Bambi, and Megan Baldwin with Braxton. In the Middle Weight division Dustin Helms came in first, Emerald Layton with Jesse took second and Samantha Naylor with To Be took home third. Rounding out that division were Benjamin Herndon with Elvis, Cody Almond with Diamond, Benjamin Herndon with Ruby Ann, and Sabrina Blake with Daisy "2". The Heavy Weight division was also stiff competition and there were some familiar names in the top three. Cole Mullis took home first with Lebron, Robert Seals took home the red ribbon with Moe, and Robert Seals also took third with Larry. rounding out that division were Cole Mullis, Dustin Helms with Bob, Robert Seals with Curly (yes his lambs were named Larry, Moe, and Curly) and Wyatt Kendall.

In the grand Champion Drive all the first place lambs entered the ring and Cole Mullis with Lebron took home the trophy. Robert Seals with Moe took home the reserve champion title. This is just one of two shows on Saturday. Stay tuned for the results of the heifer show that took place later in the after noon.

What does it take for a Chicken to get an A?

Most of us are used to being in school and receiving a grade for our hard work. Well did you know chickens also get a grade for the hard work of growing? Maybe not just growing, it's that and a little more. More than 80 youth from three counties travelled to the Robeson Regional Agricultural fair on Thursday to see what it takes to judge poultry as they competed in our annual 4-H Poultry judging competition. Contestants compete as individuals and on teams for this contest. They must do their best to judge, live laying hens, give oral reasons as to why they placed the hens in the order they did, name various cut up chicken parts, grade eggs that are out of the shell, egg candling, and grade the overall chicken carcass. We split the youth into two age divisions, junior (ages 9-13) and Senior (ages 14-19).

After all the scores were tabulated the winners list looked something like this. Junior Individual competition Alex Evans took home the first place trophy and Benjamin Herndon took home second place. There were no junior division teams competing this year.

In the senior individual division Tre Lowry with Purnell Swett High School took home third place, while team mate Dustin Ramsay of Purnell Swett High School took home second. Taking home first place was Dustin Nance of Lumberton Senior High School. In the team division the scoring was even closer, and this year all three winning teams were from Lumberton Senior High School. In third place was team nine made up of Astrid Bastista and Amber Wortham. In second place was team 8 comprised of Katy Patterson and Natasha Bryant. Taking home the first place trophy was team one made of up individual winner Dustin Nance and Norman Deese.

All in all we had four teams from St. Pauls High School FFA competing, one from Red Springs High School FFA, 11 teams from Lumberton Senior High School FFA, seven teams from Purnell Swett High School FFA, a home school 4-H club from Bladen County, and individuals from Cumberland, Bladen and Robeson Counties.

A 4-H Flock

Wednesday at the Robeson Regional Agriculture Fair should make you think of chicken. Not original or extra crispy rather the kind that flap their wings, cluck and peck at you if you get too close. That's right Wednesday night was our annual 4-H Poultry Shows. We have two categories; Laying hens which are chickens that lay eggs, and broilers which are considered meat chickens. This is a combination showmanship and market show for our competitors. Judges are not only asking the youth about raising their hens but also looking at the legs, breast development and eye clarity when judging the birds.

First off were our cloverbuds. These are our 5-8 year olds and the division is non competitive. Each youth receives a trophy and $10 for their hard work. Our two cloverbuds this year were 5 year old Stephen Smith and his older brother 7 year old Andrew Smith. Both were allowed to enter the ring and sit with their laying hens while the judge asked them questions about their birds. In the junior division which is our 9-13 year olds we had two competitors. Benjamin Herndon who took home the blue ribbon with his laying hen and a close second was first timer Elizabeth Albright who took home the red ribbon. Benjamin Herndon was our only Broiler competitor and he placed first in the junior division for his broiler as well.

This Little Piggy Went to the Fair

There were moments where the squeals of delight among the hogs, youth, and adults could not be distinguished because everyone was having such a good time. Our first ever adult/youth hog show took place in center ring (OK it is the only ring we have) and was a tail twister for many.

The first two rounds were showmanship divisions. The first 18 years old and under. The second 18 and over. In the 18 and under division we had Dakota Locklear, Chase Lowry, Andrew Oxendine, Lavin Lowry, Lyavans Lowry, Makayla Oxendine, and Mickey Locklear, II competing. In the end Lyavans Lowry took home the blue ribbon, Lavin Lowry the red, and Andrew Oxendine the white. In the over 18 division Candy Lowry, Dwan Locklear, Ruby Oxendine, Mickey Locklear, James Lee Hunt, Regina Hunt, Sara Locklear, Lycurous Lowry, Carroll Dial and Lyvans Lowry participated. The judge declared this competition one of the closest and most interesting he had ever judged. When he asked one competitor what kind of hog he had she said a big one. He suggested the adults might want to take some lessons from the youth. Taking home first place in this division was Candy Lowry, second wne to Sara Locklear and third Ruby Oxendine.

The next part of the show was the market show. In this show the hogs are shown based on weight. There are three divisions, light weight (207-222 lbs), middle weight (224-240 lbs), and heavy weight (241-260 lbs). Each year the divisions are determined based on equalling the divisions in terms of number by weight. In the light weight division Andrew Oxendine placed first, Candy Lowry second and Lyvans Lowry third. In the middle weight division Lavin Lowry placed first, Ruby Oxendine second and Andrew Oxendine third. While heavy weight saw Lyavans Lowry place first, Lavin lowry took home red and Dakota Locklear the white ribbon. The first place hogs from each weight division competed for Grand Champion and Lycans Lowry with the heavy weight hog took home the grand champion trophy and Lavin Lowry with his first place hog from the middle weight division took home the Reserve Champion trophy.

Since this show was such a success with the adults and youth we will look at continuing it next year.

Wascally Wabbits Show

Things were hopping on Monday at the Robeson Regional Agricultural Fair. As rides were spinning and flying the hippity hop could only be found in the Livestock Building. Our Robeson County youth got their rabbits out and brought them to the ring for our annual 4-H Youth Rabbit Show.

The Rabbit show competition is based on a combination of youth showmanship and rabbit quality. In years past competitions have been decided on little things such as which rabbit has the cleanest feet, letting the judge know that the rabbit owner cleaned the rabbit cage more than the runner up. This year the competition was anything but cut and fuzzy and some won by the wiggle of a nose.

Our cloverbud division, which is for 5-8 year olds, is noncompetitive. Each participant receives $10 and a trophy. In this year's competition we had Hunter Tarte, Summerlyn Anderson, Tierra Locklear, Dakota Strickland, and Christian Tice.

In our Junior Division for 9-10 year olds the competition was tough. When the judge was done looking at all the furry friends and talking with the youth, Brionna Locklear took home the blue ribbon, Brianna Cryer took home red, and Teri Lowry took home the white ribbon. Rounding our this age division were; Megan Butler, Matthew Horner, Chasity McClay, Ashley Rogers, and Logan Spivey.

In our second Junior Division for ages 11-13 the cotton tails were showing all their cuteness. Taking home first place was Jordan Rogers, Anthony Bullard took home second and Andra Turbok in her first competition took home third place. Rounding out this age division were; Destinee Lowery, Jaylyn McNair, Taylor Tarte, Ally Spivey, and Megan McNeill.

This is just the second of many shows this week. Stay tuned for the Hog Show on Tuesday, Poultry Show on Wednesday, Poultry Judging on Thursday and our big Lamb and Heifer shows on Saturday. To see more of what is going on please check out the schedule at the fair web site or on their facebook page.