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Featured Image: Photo: 2nd Place Senior Livestock Skillathon Team L to R: Dania Rhoads (Barto), Samuel Lazarus (Schnecksville), Phoebe Stutzman (Kutztown) Photo credit: Lehigh County 4-H
Lehigh Valley, Pa. 4-H member from Lehigh County recently had remarkable success in the PA 4-H Livestock Skillathon and will be joining his other team members at the national contest this fall.
On May 13, 2023, 4-H’ers from numerous PA counties met at Penn State’s University Park campus to compete in Dairy Bowl, Hippology, Horse Bowl, Livestock Skillathon, and Rabbit and Cavy Bowl and Skillathon contests. The Livestock Skillathon Contest consists of a series of stations at which contestants assess their knowledge of a variety of livestock-related subjects. Stations involve information about beef cattle, sheep, swine, goats, alpacas/llamas, and general veterinary science. Not limited to, the stations include Anatomy, Feeds and Nutrition, Diseases, Equipment Identification, Forage Identification/Judging, Quality Assurance, Reproduction, Meats (Retail Identification and Judging), Fiber, Marketing, and Keep/Cull Decision-making.
A Berks/Lehigh County combination team was among the participants. After the counted results, they finally took second place in the senior division. The senior team included two ladies from Berks County, Phoebe Stutzman and Danica Rhoads, and a gentleman from Lehigh County, Samuel Lazarus.
Lazarus, hailing from Schnecksville, is a seven-year member of the Lehigh County 4-H program. He is a member of the Livestock Club, Treasurer of the Dairy Club, and takes part in Potato Judging.
The team will represent Pennsylvania at the National 4-H Livestock Skillathon Contest at the North American International Livestock Exposition in Louisville, KY this November.
The objective of the Livestock Skillathon Contest is to encourage 4-H’ers to learn about and improve their knowledge of livestock animals and livestock management and to provide an opportunity for youth enrolled in 4-H livestock projects to demonstrate their knowledge of livestock-related subject matter in a competitive setting where attitudes of friendliness and fairness prevail.
Many educational and fun activities are offered by 4-H in Pennsylvania. In Pennsylvania, 4-H is coordinated by Penn State Cooperative Extension through the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 4-H programs are open to all youths regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or disability. For more information about the above events or other 4-H activities, call the 4-H office in your county: Lehigh 610-391-9840 or LehighExt@psu.edu.
Administered in Pennsylvania by Penn State Extension, 4-H is a community of more than 6 million young people across America learning leadership, citizenship, and life skills. Penn State Extension 4-H youth development educators in all 67 counties throughout the commonwealth administer local 4-H programs through non-formal education and outreach. To find your local program, visit the Penn State Extension website at https://extension.psu.edu/
Information provided to TVL by:
Kelly M Bond
Administrative Support Assistant
PennState Extension
https://extension.psu.edu/
