Larimer County 4H Dairy Project

4-H/Dairy Scholarships

2023 Larimer County Dairy Clinics

Larimer County 4-H Dairy Project

"4-H is a community of young people across America learning leadership, citizenship and life skills."

Dairy Project Meeting Information:


We have 4 meetings during the year and Lease-A-Dairy members are required to attend at least 3 of these.  LEASE-A-DAIRY Members - Record Books begin in January.  Books are available from Shari and online from the Extension Office.

Thank you to the following sponsors for supporting this project: Ft. Lupton Dairy, Mountain View Dairy, R&C Game and Custom Processing & Hilgenberg and Son Excavating.


Here is the link to another good site about getting ready to show.  MSUcares​

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​2023 Schedule (subject to change)

​Workshops for the year will be held the last Friday of each month, January through April.

January 2023: First meeting/clinic for ALL dairy members will be January 27th starting promptly at 6:30 in the Berthoud room at the McKee 4-H building at the Ranch. Snacks will be served. There is a lot to cover to help you get your projects started on the right hoof! (LOL)
We will also have more sessions with various topics February 24th and March 31st at the same location. More details later. Remember that attendance at meetings does count toward the Mike Dickenson award, awarded at the fair. If you are unable to come to a meeting all you need to do is contact me PRIOR to meeting and you will not lose points. Also Lease A Dairy participants have to attend 3 of 4 meetings.

MQA is required for the dairy cattle project! The date is February 25th this year at the Ranch. More information can be found in your 4-H newsletter (sent by e-mail through the extension office).

​Starting January 10th, the digital version of Hoards Dairyman Judging contest starts. Hopefully I will have some hard copies at the January gathering. For the new participants in our group, this is a fun way to learn about what to look for in future projects. It is a required part of the Lease A Dairy Project that you need to participate in. This event also is used for the Mike Dickenson award selection. This judging contest is not only a national contest through the dairy magazine but also for our county fair. This is open to ALL 4-H participants, families and siblings! Yes, there is awards for all ages at county fair for those who participate! I was thinking this year putting together separate mini session or two with new participants and others who would like more coaching on judging dairy cattle. Let me know if this is something you are interested in. I can also arrange for some one-on-one coaching if needed. There are some great learning videos I encourage you to watch on the Hoards Dairyman youth link that we have in several places on our website prior to our meeting that are available to watch now.  If you need assistance to how to get to the videos or articles, please contact me. Also remember to write down or take a picture of your selections to send to me. If you send only to Hoards dairyman, I do not get a copy of your results. I send in your selections as a group to compete in the 4-H group division. Good Luck!

  • ​Holstein Foundation - Youth Programs
  • Time for the Hoards Dairyman's Judging Contest! Link to Hoards Dairyman HERE. Remember this is a required event for the Lease-A-Dairy and Cow-less Dairy projects. This is also the tiebreaker for the Mike Dickinson Award. There are some very informative videos on the Hoards Dairyman website under the Youth tab about judging this contest. You can contact me about any questions.

February 24th, 2023: TBD at The Ranch

  • MQA - Sat., Feb., 25th at The Ranch


March 31st: TBD at the Ranch
Additional Events:

  • March 15th:  Last day to turn in Hoards Dairyman contest results to Shari - please email or text Shari your placings
  • March 20th - Mike Dickenson Scholarship application due >apply here​​

April 2023 Workshop - Some other upcoming events is a tour of the Heifer Authority in northern Larimer County in April again. (Weather pending) Also going to have some of the local participants hopefully bring their cattle so we can go over showmanship and showing cattle. 
Other optional events to participate in include Kersey Little American, Dairy Youth Extravaganza and Dairy live judging contests! A few years ago, 2 of our members qualified to judge internationally!   More information coming!
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