ST. PAUL — Mower County 4-H members had outstanding performances at the 4-H Lama Encampment  and the General/Static Encampment last week at the Minnesota State Fair.

Throughout the fair, Mower County had more than120 participants exhibit.

“Seeing the strong participation and success in a variety of project areas is a true testament to the well-rounded strength of the Mower County 4-H,” said Mower County 4-H Program Coordinator April Johnson. “These programs would not be possible without the community’s support and many dedicated volunteers.”

Here are the Mower County results from the State Fair last week:

Llama Results

Champions:

Emily Billings, Champion Advanced Lama Costume

Kylie Stafford, Champion Intermediate Lama Costume

Kristine Schechinger, Champion Advanced Public Relations

Kayley Anderson, Champion Senior Lama Public Relations

Reserve Champions:

Kayley Anderson, Reserve Champion Senior Lama Costume

Emily Billings, Reserve Champion Lama Promotional Poster

Megan Silbaugh, Reserve Champion Lama Educational Poster

Kylie Stafford, Reserve Champion Intermediate Fleece

Maddison Hoesing, Reserve Champion Lama Promotional Poster

Rachel Meany, Reserve Champion Advanced Lama Costume

Rachel Meany, Reserve Champion Advanced Lama Public Relations

Kayley Anderson, Reserve Champion Senior Lama Obstacles

Purple Ribbons:

Rock Solid 4-H Club, Club Community Pride

Amelia Smith, Flower Gardening

Emily Gerber, Food and Nutrition

Faith Sayles, Home Environment

Joseph Seeman, Performing Arts

Levi Seeman, Performing Arts

Cassidy Shute, Plant & Soil Science

Nicole Freerksen, Safety

Timothy Farrell, Shop

Rachel Meany, Lama Obstacle Course

Isaac Beck, Lama Public Relations

Blue ribbons:

Andrew Sayles, Aerospace

Maddison Hoesing, Child & Family Development

Samantha Feine, Clothes You Make

Abigail Muller, Clothing & Textiles – Non – Garment

Isaac Beck, Lama Public Relations

Lyle Area Willing Workers, Club Banner

Waylon Nelson, Computer

Sally Peterson, Consumer Education

Lucas Winfield, Crafts

Isikiyah Hemann, Fine Arts

Danielle Hinz, Fine Arts

Elijah Hemann, Small Grains & Legumes

Wiatte Pudenz, Dog

Kelsie Lamp, Dog

Ryan VanPelt, Electric

Hannah Case, Entomology

Anna Welsh, Food and Nutrition

Abigail Mueller, Food Revue

Rachel Meany, Health

Rachael Riley, Home Environment

Emily Billings, Creative/Applied Photography

Gracen Rambadt, Creative/Applied Photography

Jessica Hillman, Elements of Photography

Kiyanna Meyer, Elements of Photography

Grady Rambadt, Elements of Photography

Kylie Welsh, Potatoes

Aiden Manggaard, Tractor

Megan Silbaugh, Wildlife/Biology

Jonah Smith, Wildlife/Biology

Kylie Stafford, Livestock Lama Demonstration

Emily Billings, Lama Fiber

Rachel Meany, Lama Fiber

Rachel Meany, Lama Promotional Poster

Noah Anderson, Lama Costume

Hannah Case, Lama Fiber

Noah Anderson, Lama Fiber

Megan Silbaugh, Lama Fiber

Kylie Stafford, Lama Educational Poster

Hannah Case, Lama Educational Poster

Megan Silbaugh, Lama Promotional Poster

Hannah Case, Lama Promotional Poster

Isabel Beck, Lama Obstacle Course

Kristine Schechinger, Lama Obstacle Course

Isaac Beck, Lama Obstacle Course

Megan Silbaugh, Lama Obstacle Course

Kylie Stafford, Lama Obstacle Course

Megan Silbaugh, Lama Public Relations

Hannah Case, Lama Public Relations

Kylie Stafford, Lama Public Relations

Reds Ribbons:

Zayne Kvam, Crafts

Brody Erickson, Fishing Sports

Samantha Hinz, Quilting

Kylie Stafford, Lama Promotional Poster

Grady Rambadt, Lama Obstacle Course

Isabel Beck, Lama Public Relations

Emily Billings, Lama Public Relations

Grady Rambadt, Lama Public Relations

Noah Anderson, Lama Obstacle Course

Mckenzie Marlow, Lama Obstacle Course

Hannah Case, Lama Obstacle Course

Mckenzie Marlow, Lama Public Relations

Gracen Rambadt, Lama Public Relations

Whites Ribbons:

Alexander Riley, Illustrated Presentation

Noah Anderson, Lama Public Relations

Gracen Rambadt, Lama Obstacle Course

Livestock Interviews

Livestock interviews allow members to express the knowledge gained throughout their 4-H livestock project. Furthermore, interviews help develop life skill such as communications skills, responsibility, decision making, and problem-solving. Here are Mower County results:

Interview Winners:

Isaac Beck, Lama Interview Winner

Kylie Stafford, Lama Interview Winner

Interview Finalists:

Noah Anderson, Lama Interview Finalist

Megan Silbaugh, Lama Interview Finalist

Showmanship:

The showmanship category is where members are judged on their ability to display and show the animal to the best of its ability. Here are the Mower County results:

Megan Silbaugh, 3rd Place Intermediate Lama Showperson

Isaac Beck, 6th Place Intermediate Lama Showperson

Rachel Meany, 8th Place Advanced Lama Showperson

Blue Ribbons:

Kristine Schechinger, Advanced Lama Showmanship

Isaac Beck, Intermediate Lama Showmanship

Kylie Stafford, Intermediate Lama Showmanship

Red Ribbons:

Isabel Beck, Advanced Lama Showmanship

Emily Billings, Advanced Lama Showmanship

Grady Rambadt, Advanced Lama Showmanship

Noah Anderson, Intermediate Lama Showmanship

Mckenzie Marlow, Intermediate Lama Showmanship

Hannah Case, Intermediate Lama Showmanship

Kayley Anderson, Senior Lama Showmanship

Gracen Rambadt, Senior Lama Showmanship

Minnesota Meats:

One of the newer 4-H competitions at the State Fair is the Minnesota Meats contest. In this event, a team of individuals compete in a timed contest to prepare a grilled meat meal using products of the species they are showing at the State Fair. This contest is an opportunity for participants to learn about food safety, grilling, recipe creation and of course, teamwork! Mower County had to teams compete this year and both teams received participation ribbons:

Dairy Team:

Team Members: Danielle Jax, Ryan Irvin, Isaac Himebaugh

Dish Prepared: Grilled beef meatball kabobs paired with a Greek yogurt dip.

Goat Team:

Team Members: Martha Moenning, Elijah Hemann, Isikiyah Hemann, Jaselyn Sathre

Dish prepared: Grilled goat and placed it in a romaine lettuce leaf on a cucumber, tomato and onion salad, then drizzled a Greek yogurt dressing they created on top.

Lamb Lead:

The Lamb Lead event provides an opportunity for 4-Hers to combine their skills and knowledge of sheep production with fashion and clothing selection. Exhibitors must wear a garment made from at least 60 percent wool. They are asked questions will relate to topics such as qualities of wool, wool market grades, the Wool Act of 1954, management practices that help produce quality wool, marketing organizations, and wool promotion. This year Ryan V. received 5th place in his age group.

Science of Animals:

The Science of Animals project area is a newer 4-H program and this year Mower County was lucky enough to have six participants compete at the state level. In this project area, members create an educational exhibit related ta science item of a species of livestock. During the 4-H Livestock Encampment the members participated in a workshop to learn about technologies and career advancements in the field, conference judging and a livestock interview. At the State Fair Mower County’s participants all earned blue ribbons and they included: Riley Hetzel, Gloria Hansen, Victoria Hansen, Faith Sayles, Andrew Sayles, Ryan VanPelt

Coming up

There are a few remaining State Competitions for our members including: State Shooting Sports (Sept. 8 – 10), State Horse Show (Sept. 15- 18) and State Dog Show (Sept. 24 – 25).