2020 Schedule (subject to change)

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

January 31st: (6:30pm at extension office). New members 6pm & returning members 630pm. Pizza, Difference in breeds of dairy cattle, Hoards Dairyman judging kick off. WANT TO GET A HEAD START ? Regular printed copies will be handed out at the meeting. We may have guest speakers to give some advise on evaluating dairy cattle and judging contests at our January meeting. 2020 Classes now available online. It is free to register on the Hoards Dairyman web site to see the judging classes. Link to Hoards Dairyman HERE. You can enter the contest online as an individual or as family. However, I will need your results of the classes to enter us as a 4-H group and for our county judging contest. 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 28th: (6:30 at extension office). Hoards Dairyman judging continued (if needed), Dairy project selection, Training tips, What's new in dairy farming! or Topic chosen by group
Livestock field day - February 29th at The Ranch. This is an opportunity to meet the Meat Quality Assurance (MQA) and Pork Quality Assurance (PQA) requirements and learn so much more.
March 1st - Mike Dickenson Scholarship application due >apply here
March 10th: Last day to turn in Hoards Dairyman contest results to Shari
March 27th: (6:30 at extension office). Safety First! Why record keeping is important, Topic chosen by group, Fun activity about project
April 24th: At Dyecrest Dairy (weather pending). Showmanship and other topics TBA

I won the State Dairy Enterprise award through FFA and went on to win in the regional division. My family started working for DHIA (Dairy Herd Improvement Association) following the sale of the dairy, and I continued being a DHIA supervisor for 14 years. Those dairy families became part of my family and I still care for them all so much to this day. I also helped Valentine Holsteins and Haake Farms Brown Swiss, showing and picturing cattle. I was just helping out at the Larimer County Fair Dairy show and somehow got to become a county leader - 23 years ago! My son Thomas showed dairy cattle and many other projects in 4-H and school and my husband helps out when he can. I have been blessed by sharing what little I know along with many other terrific leaders and sponsors with many kids through the Larimer County 4-H Dairy Program. We have an awesome bunch of kids, parents and other supporters of the 4-H dairy program every year, and that's what continues to keep me a leader in this great program.

I was almost literally born in a dairy barn! It was on the historic Willis Farm in Timnath, CO. My dad was milking cows and my mom was in the barn waiting for him to get done because I was on the way! Cows came first. When I was 2, my father went in partnership with another family and we had East Glade Dairy in Masonville, CO. In 4th grade, we sold out and after a little more than a year, we started Homestead Dairy in Bellvue, CO. I started showing Dairy cattle in 1972. At 14, I got a loan through the Jr. FHA program and bought 14 head of cows. My herd grew to 40 before we had to sell the dairy in 1983 (a hard time for many dairy farmers in the area.) I was also on the Larimer County Dairy Judging team for several years and even went to Nationals one year.

Meet Our Leader - Shari Stroup

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 dairies/farms for supporting this project: DyeCrest Dairy; Ft. Lupton Dairy, Mountain View Dairy & Shani McBride (Severance)

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