The eleventh Northeast Youth Show Calf Summit was held at the Rutland Fair Grounds on Friday and Saturday April 26 & 27th from noon to noon. It was another successful event sponsored by the Vermont Holstein Association. It gave over 80 youth from five of the six New England states and eastern New York State an opportunity to learn about calf evaluation, showmanship, calf raising, nutrition, what to pack in their show boxes, how to talk to the public and halter making. Experienced “presenters” served as the instructors to assist the youth in looking forward to a successful show season.
Interestingly, almost one half of the participants had either no or only one year of experience showing. They came eager to learn. Because of generous sponsors, many went home with a door prize of some show equipment. All had the opportunity to learn how to make a rope halter during free time on Friday evening and they also had the opportunity to test their knowledge in a session of Dairy Jeopardy.
We wish to thank all the presenters who shared their knowledge, a local farm who brought fifteen calves for the youth to work with, the Otter Creek 4-H Club that provided lunch on Saturday and all the others who helped out. Also a big thank you to the sponsors who made this event possible: Farm Credit East, AgEnhancement, Yankee Farm Credit, Poulin Grain, Select Sire Power, New England Holstein Assoc., Phoenix Feeds, Bourdeau Brothers, Nutrena Feed, FCI, Cargill, Alltech, Conn Vet, Nutreco Shur-Gain, Co-op Insurance, Townline Equipment, Hi-Pro, Phibro, Newtech, VEDA, GENEX, Digligle Farm and Cattle Connection.
