Livestock Leaders Meeting Agenda & Minutes

CALL TO ORDER 

PLEDGES

INTRODUCTIONS

MINUTES 

TREASURER’S REPORT 

CORRESPONDENCE 

REPORTS 

• Agent Report
• Leaders Council

• Makeup LQA

• Swine Clinic       

• Sponsorship Committee Report

• Marketing Committee Report

• Junior Leader Committee Report

• Catalog Committee Report

OLD BUSINESS

• Awards Update

• Buyer Letter Mailing

• Showman App
• Logo Materials
• Buyers Dinner
• Barn Layout

NEW BUSINESS 

• Small Animal Weigh In

• Show Registration Date

• Catalog Registration Date

• Record Book Review Date

• Yeager Accomodation

UPCOMING EVENTS 

• May 10: Project Day – Meats ID

• May 10/17: Rate of Gain Weigh In Small Animals

• May 12: Goat/Sheep Intent Due

• May 19: Rabbit/Poultry Intent Due

Call to Order

Present: 

Heather Lewis, Brook Gerard, Jenn Volkmar,  Brenda Byrnes, Tristen Short, Alena Standley, Todd Standley, Sandy Harshaw-Irvin, Shawn Hystead, Michelle Leardini, Kylee Finn, Felicia Short, Jill Mackey, Reece Hastings, Brittney Calvert, Bill Ogg, Jill Skinner

 

The meeting was called to order at 6:07 p.m. by Brook Gerard.

Minutes

Sandy moves to accept the minutes. 2nd Reece. M/S/C

Treasurer’s Report:

Checking: $22,831.77. DAD: $9,448.80. $82.96 was spent on swine and goat ear tags, $7,700 received in sponsorships, $800.15 received for intent to enter fees.

Correspondence:

Reminder for pork checkoffs, Letter from Project Graduation looking for donations, resume received from a Texas livestock judge, Jacob Diezi.

Reports:

• Agent - Planning the last project day, there have been budget cuts that will require the committees to become responsible for their own office supplies and postage, Shooting Sports and Leaders Council are having raffles.
• Leaders Council - did not meet this month
• Makeup LQA - Held on April 12th, five kids attended. Brook proposes we use the project guide as makeup for the kids (10) that have missed LQA. Reece moves to have a makeup LQA report with 2 pages required for juniors and 5 pages for seniors based on LQA curriculum and due to the extension office May 19th, 2025. 2nd by Tristan, M/S/C
• Swine Clinic - 12-13 kids came to the hands on clinic at the Clavert house, most of them were first year kids. Brittney has received feedback from parents that kids are already more comfortable with working with their projects at home.
• Sponsorship - Follow Up calls are being made there are checks on the way from Celtic Cowboy and Farm Bureau. Brittney needs help finishing follow up phone calls.
• Marketing Committee - We watched the final version of the marketing video created by Legacy Tech Studio. There are two versions, a longer version covering the total process and a shorter video just covering Brenda’s portion about becoming a buyer. The Chamber Ag Committee $1,000 towards this project.
• Junior Leaders - Proofs for the buckles were received and reviewed by the Jr. Leaders (Reece, Vivian, Rial, Bridger) on Wednesday April 16th via Zoom. We approved the buckle proofs. Heather and Brook verified the buckles ordered matched the kids entered in the projects and made three changes before submitting the proof approval and paying for the buckles. Our total cost for 85 buckles was $7836. Tristan moves to create a $200 budget to allow the Jr. Leaders to decorate the backdrop and barn. 2nd by Reece. M/S/C
• Catalog Committee - Ulm Pishkun doesn't want to change the sale order to allow Grand and Reserve of each species to sell outside of their normal sale order. Other clubs have not discussed. We will ask that clubs discuss at their May meetings moving the Grand and Reserve of each species at a specific spot (front or middle) of sale order and sell them all together in the sale.

Old Business:

• Buyer Letter Mailing - Mailed 4/22 Todd moves to buy stamps to reimburse the office for the postage we used to mail the buyer letters. 2nd Felicia M/S/C
• App - Heather, Brook, and Alena met with Jody and Jenn to demo the backside of the App. It will work well for the office so we will go forward with the purchase. The sale committee will meet the week of May 5-9 for a demo to determine if it is feasible for our show.
• Logo Materials - Presented and links were sent to the extension office to share.
• Buyers Dinner - Carlson's Q is the caterer.. Jr. Leaders will have a meeting to figure out how to host a decorated cookie contest between the clubs.
• Barn Layout - April 29th, Brook and Jenn are meeting with Susan at Expo to agree on barn layout.

New Business:

• Small Animal Weigh In - WRS has a feed seminar on May 9th 5-7pm and 10th 10-2pm the scale will be available for weigh in. WRS has already advertised that the official weigh-in is Saturday May 10th. Shawn and Tristan will volunteer to work the weigh in and other volunteers are needed.
• Show Registration Date - June 1st live date for Showman.App
• Catalog Registration Date - closes June 1st.
• Record Book Review - Alena moves record book review is held on June 24th in place of the Livestock Leaders meeting. 2nd Sandy. M/S/C Absentee books will be due to the office on June 23rd. Judges will meet at 5pm and book review will start at 5:30pm
• Yeager Accommodation - Kyona Yeager has been selected for a State FFA Office position and is asking for an accommodation that her brother be allowed to show and sell her projects in the sale. Kylee Finn has also been selected as a State FFA Officer and has declined the trip because she needs to sell her project and does not have siblings old enough to show her animals. Brenda moves that we allow a private treaty sale in the barn but not to show & sell the projects by her sibling. 2nd Brittney M/S/C

 

Note made that Alena Standley was at the March Meeting and Bill Ogg was not.

Adjornment

Alena moved to adjourn the meeting. 2^nd by Reece  M/S/C Meeting adjourned at 8:55 pm.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Heather Lewis

Cascade County 4-H Livestock Leaders Secretary

 

Call to Order

Present: 

Heather Lewis, Brook Gerard, Katrina Emrich,  Brittney Calvert,  Jenn Volkmar, Cody Loch,  Brenda Byrnes, Desi Roth, Tristen Short, Bill Ogg, Todd Standley, Sandy Harshaw-Irvin, Liz Jennings, Shawn Hystead, Michelle Leardini, Aimee Hachigan-Gould, Kendra Turnbull, Jill Skinner, Hailee Hart

 

The meeting was called to order at 6:02 p.m. by Brook Gerard.

Minutes

Todd moves to accept the minutes with the note changes. 2nd Cody. M/S/C

Treasurer’s Report:

Checking: $22,964.73. DAD: $9,448.80. Intent fees have been collected as well as interest - $559.11.

Correspondence:

 

Reports:

• Agent - Jenn reported on the happenings of the office. Office is down to 1 copier/printer so big complicated jobs will have to be outsourced vice being done in office.
• Leaders Council - Jill Skinner and Brook attended, plans are in the works for a raffle fundraiser.
• Sheep & Goat Project Day - Hailee, Michelle, and Heather presented. They brought goats and sheep. It was well attended. Western Feed Coral talked about feed. A few swine kids attended that needed to fulfil the LQA standard.
• Sponsorship - $8525 has been received. Brittney and Kory are still making calls. Liz Edmundson is also going to start making calls.
• Marketing - Tabled
• Carcass - Brenda, Heather, Brett met with Bob over the phone. He wants to come do a presentation to the group, discussion to have him at the May Leaders meeting. Heather will check with him.
• Leaders - will meet in April. All buckles except the poultry and rabbit are in the cart. Will work with Mollys to get the figurines correct.
• Catalog - Brook got an estimate for the additional pages needed for the catalog. $1,818.96, there will be 52 Black and white pages and the color cover.
• Ambassadors - looking to do a meet and greet for the livestock kids to meet the ambassador team on April 12th project day. Sign up on ZSuites.

Old Business:

• Supply Purchase - stools for the crows nest needs to have shipping added to the total $300. Aimee moves, Katrina 2nd. MSC
• Show Agenda - added the carcass judging to the agenda for Friday and Saturday. Brenda moves to approve the agenda as presented with one change to sale starting at 6:30. Alena 2nd. MSC
• Award - Artwork is in progress and Brook will call the bank to ensure the appropriate limits are there for ordering.
• Buyer Letter - Brenda, Brook, and Cody drafted a letter to let buyers know about the decision to only use a USDA butcher and the requirements to ship the lamb, goats, and sheep wrapped in a reefer trailer and the beef will be butchered, wrapped, etc. at Glacier Coop in Columbia Falls. Brittney moves to approve the letter as presented. 2nd Desi. MSC

New Business:

• Barn Layout - Addition of sheep and goat breeding project pens. Moving rabbits and poultry to the corner where a practice ring was previously and surround the area with panels to protect them from rogue hogs. The preference is to have rabbits and poultry in the barn and not in a separate building. Looking at options for the backdrop because the lighting was not good where it was last year. Please review the plans with your clubs and bring any ideas/issues to the April meeting.
• Alena - can we think about moving the grand and reserve market winners to the first lots of the sale to highlight the winning animals. We could also add them to the middle of the sale when the buyers are warmed up. Brook can block off the lot numbers in the sale catalog to highlight Grand and Reserve Champions.
• Logo Approval - Add Christmas in July to the barn, and 4-H to the end of Cascade County
• Buyers Meal - Giffen Coulee 4-H Club will host. They have provided us with catering options that are $11-$16 per plate. Please take to your clubs and rank with preference so we can vote at the April meeting.
• Poultry Age Date Concern - Kindra Turnbull has a concern about the age of turkey projects. Because of the bird flu the hatch dates were pushed back and the actual age of the turkey will be 5-7 days younger than required by the rule book. Desi moves to allow the extra time needed for the turkey to hatch to be at the livestock show. Katrina 2nd. MSC
• ZSuites - Livestock and Club Leaders have the ability to post/schedule project announcements to ZSuites.
• App - Alena Standley presentation of both exhibitor side and back end of running a show. Registration, weigh in, class breaks, giving premiums to kids, etc. There is an additional feature that can be used to run the sale. Cost to use Showman.App is $599 annual fee and it covers all species. Additional $399 fee to run the sale. It is very user friendly and has real time updates. Can update the schedule live. They have real time tech help that is dedicated to your show so if there are any issues they are available. Most Jackpot shows in Montana use this app and it takes about 5 minutes to enter a show. Brenda moves that we purchase the base package at $599 for the 2025 Cascade County Livestock Show and Sale and the sale portion of the package can be decided by the sale committee. 2nd Hailee. MSC

Upcoming Events

April 12th Makeup LQA

April 13th Swine Workshop

April 21st Swine Intent

Adjornment

Alena moved to adjourn the meeting. 2^nd by Bill  M/S/C Meeting adjourned at 7:36 pm.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Heather Lewis

Cascade County 4-H Livestock Leaders Secretary

 

Call To Order

Present:

Michelle Leardini, Brook Gerard, Brett Keaster, Katrina Emrich, Shawn Hystad, Michaela Hystad, Liz Jennings, Sandy Harshaw, Brittany Calvert, Felicia Short, Todd Standley, Brenda Byrnes, Brenda Canine, Jill Skinner, Desiree Roth, Reece Hastings, Aimee Hachigan-Gould, Jenn Volkmar, Becca Gerard, Marie Powell, Jill Mackey

The meeting was called to order at 6:12PM by Brook Gerard followed by both Pledges. 

Minutes

Misspellings were noted in January mintues. Brenda Byrnes moves to accept the minutes with noted misspelling corrections. 2nd by Brenda Kinane. M/S/C

Treasurers Report:

Checking account balance $22,439, DAD balance $9414.84. Received $4,600 in sponsorships and $143.16 in expenses for ear tags and legbands.

Correspondence:

DAD Our Vote counts for the Vanguard funds. Foundation will take care of this for us. 

Reports

Agent Report:

Project Day is March 8th. The baby blanket community service project will last until 2pm. There will be a communications contest portion, where 4-Hers can come to learn about communications. There will be a communications contest the following month. Camp will be June 4th? State fair July 25 - August 2nd. Z-Suites calendar is being used for project days, meeting times, etc. Please use this calendar for reference of all 4-H events. New equipment has arrived, walkie talkies, speakers, etc. These are available for leaders to use. 

Rabbit and Poultry 101:

A lot of information for kids but it was good and well attended. Lots of new kids for poultry. Rabbit went well. We need to have more Rabbit project days to get all the new kids involved. There was an additional project day the following weekend for poultry hosted by Western Feed Corral. Marie is working with Western Feed Corral to host a showmanship day. Project days can be held other dates and places as long as a COI is obtained from the Extension Office, with a date and time noted. 

Sponsorship Committee:

7050 have been received. There is more coming that will be coming

Marketing Committee:

No update

Show Judge:

Can be here and ready to Judge at 2pm on Thursday for 1/2 day fee. 

Carcass Judge:

The time frame for Saturday will be pushing the time needed. 

Butcher Committee:

Cody talked to all local butchers about the beef being butchered in Columbia Falls and not coming to Great Falls in halves. Brook and Jenn are drafting a letter to the butchers as well. Brook talked to Brain and he was understanding and said he would work towards 

Jr. Leaders Meeting:

None, next meeting is in March. 

Old Business:

Beef Weigh In:

We used two days at Western Livestock and Liz made a motion to give a $50 North 40 Gift Card to North 40 to Kristen for helping us. Brenda 2nd M/S/C

Meats ID:

Aimee would like to reinstate. Kids need to work on their own as well as with a coach. This is a multiyear project to be successful. Aimee is willing to help kids with the education part. There used to be a carcass meeting in August that kids needed to attend before getting their check. It was used to help educate kids on the meaning of contents of the carcass results. First meeting should be in October with materials handed out. Ag Expo is in November and KMON is January. Host project day in May to introduce, then begin hosting practices in August or September. Maybe tag on to the end of Ulm Pishkun meeting and hold at the Ulm Community Center. Montana Meat Processors has a $1500 scholarship for kids that do meats ID that can be applied to trade school or college. Aimee will send a description to Jenn for the April newsletter for a May project day.

Show Agenda: 

<Insert Draft Agenda with Notations> 

Todd suggested using Showman App to run the show. Approx $300/show and would make it super easy. He will bring more information to the next meeting. 

Proposal:

Carcass Results Party first week of August and pick up your check early if you come. Checks available the 2nd week of August otherwise.

Junior Leader Events:

Games Friday night, Dance Saturday night, 

New Business:

Awards:

Additional sponsorship was received from Jimmie Flipowitz and the Jr leaders would like to propose the additional $3000 added to the current budget so we can buy buckles for grand and reserve. Brenda moves to increase the prize budget to $9000 because of the additional donation by Jimmie 2nd by Felicia. M/S/C

60% requirement rule:

Clubs remind your members of the requirement and the additional meetings that can be used for the requirement. Jr. Leaders, Livestock Leaders, and project day. 

LQA Requirement Update:

Make-up date will be on April 12th for generic LQA. After the March Lamb and Goat Day, Brook will email the leaders who is has not met the requirement. There will be certificates made for the kids that have already attended and we will continue doing certificates for LQA going forward. 

Barn Layout:

tabled until we know if we can use the poultry barn. Division chairs bring ideas or changes needed to March meeting. 

Sale Committee:

Lisa Jassen, Aaron Morris, Brook Gerard, Jenn Volkmar
Special Projects Committee: Senior Recognition, Herdsmanship and Pen Judging. Liz Jennings & Jill Skinner

Buyer Dinner Committee:

Katie Chartier & Giffen Coulee 4-H will being ideas to the March or April Livestock Leaders Meeting

Small Animal Rate of Gain vs Carcass:

There may be additional money donated towards rate of gain and should we used towards carcass contest. We should think about how we are teaching the kids the importance of the correlation. Todd will look at the data carcass vs rate of gain and bring it to the next meeting.

Swine 101:

Hands on clinic with Brittney April 

Announcements

Western Feed will be hosting their monthly weigh in on the third Saturday of the month.

Aimee is working with the Col. Johnson to reinstate 4-H at Malmstrom. The youth at the base are not engaged. Youth Programs at the Force Support Squadron is where the Rocket Riders club was previously housed. 

Aimee and Liz have been working with the Foundation to set up permeant funding for the 7 Bar Heart memorial scholarship. 

Adjournment

Aimee motioned to adjourn. Brittney 2nd M/S/C Meeting Adjourned 7:38PM

APPROVED

Call to Order

Present:  Heather Lewis, Brook Gerard, Katrina Emmrich,  Brittney Calvert,  Jenn Volkmar, Cody Loch, Lisa Jassen, Ginger Murphy,  Brenda Byrnes, Desi Roth, Tristen Short, Bill Ogg, Todd Standley, Sandy Harshaw-Irvin, Reece Hastings, Jenn Volkmar, Shea Berner, Liz Jennings, Brenda Canine, Brett Keaster, Shawn Hystead, Michaela Hystead. Regan Jassen, Michelle Leardini, Farrah McGregor, Aimee Hachigan-Gould, Falicia Short

The meeting was called to order at 6:05 p.m. by Brook Gerard. Introductions of everyone in attendance. Name, Club and livestock project specialty.

Minutes

Amendments to the minutes - Cody Loch, Lisa Jassen, and Liz Jennings were noted twice. Liz moves to accept the minutes with the note changes. 2nd Brittney. M/S/C

Treasurer’s Report:

Correspondence:

Stockmans Bank Checking $17,893.75, DAD $9,379.47, total assets $27,273.22. P&L received sponsorships for $3100, reissued livestock checks for a 4-H kid that didn’t deposit their check, intent to enter fees received for $275. Bookkeeping services and beef breeding award expenses were also note for $ 967 total expenses. Sponsorship check received at Foundation that will be transferred this week. 

Reports: 

• Agent Report: MAGGIE finished. Tristan and Tayor were 2nd place in Poultry judging. Citizenship was attended by several kids in Helena. Organizational leaders need to remind members they have to choose both a level for their project and the name of the project. Leaders need to make sure to do the Clover Academies. Website is updated with committee bylaws, newsletters, Z-Suites, expenditure forms, and travel authorizations. Z-Suite calendar is being used to keep 4-H events up for all to see. Project day February 8th. JD applications are available online. 
•  Leaders Council: Full slate of officers and by law reviews. Brook reported on livestock project days.
• Breeding Project 101: Very well attended and there were lots of questions. Please continue to ask questions about our new book. 
• Swine 101: There were about 40 kids. Western Feed Corrall helped cover the feed portion.
• Beef Weigh In: Held on 2 days due to weather. About 17 were not weighed. 
• Junior Livestock Leaders: Meet last Sunday and selected buckles for all categories
• KMON/Winter Fair: Tristan participated in poultry judging at KMON. There were not any 4-H kids for meats id and there were 50 FFA kids. Getting attendance for 4-H is difficult due to being during the week. We need to offer education days. A project day at the Extension office might generate more interest. The Winter Fair was cold. Beef show was about half of normal. Inside shows had low attendance as well. 

Old Business:

• Marketing Committee Report: Met with Tim Lee and reviewed the 10 minute and did some cropping. It will now be 7-8 minutes. Tim will look to add some meat cutting videos to add for the butcher portion and create an additional video of the interview with Brenda about the ins and outs of purchasing projects. Adding a slide at the end with contact info so that interest people can contact the committee or office for more information. Need to add more open and closing information to make it complete. We’ve spent about $1100 of the $2300 so he will come back this year to take more footage. There will be chapters to the video so buyers can watch a specific part of the video they are interested in. Do we need a show and sale website? To use for marketing, posting QR codes, registrations, and other sale info to provide an additional touch point with buyers. We will have to loop MSU, John Holly, into the website conversation  to ensure we meet all the requirements. The Great Falls Chamber Ag Committee voted to give us $1000 sponsorship. Cascade County 4-H Facebook page is currently under review by MSU so it is archived at the moment. We need to put a QR code in the catalog that goes to the marketing video.
• Show Judge Committee Report: Met and discussed all judges that were presented. Jarred and Wendy Boardman from Wyoming are being recommended. Their fee is approximately $1000 plus hotel. One will judge the market and the other will judge showmanship. Todd moves to approve the recommendation of the committee Felicia 2nd. M/S/C
• Carcass Judge Committee Report: Reviewed the collective names and data provided by the carcass ultrasound technicians. Bob Patacini is our recommendation, his cost is $1500 plus two nights in a hotel. Brenda makes a motion to approve Bob Patacini from Missoula and obtain a contract before our next meeting. Todd 2nd. M/S/C
• Butcher Committee Report: Cody talked to Mark. Beef can come on the same day as the beef. The beef will be dry lotted and charge us $250 to feed all of them. He will process the beef as soon as they are finished with small animals. Kill fee $130 and processing fee $1.25/lb. We need to be very specific with the buyers that we will not transport beef if the processing fees have not been paid to the butchers. In order to be in compliance with the USDA, carcasses need to be wrapped in plastic to be moved back to Great Falls. There will be an additional $125 charge for the beef to be wrapped to transport. The committee is recommending the beef be completely processed in Columbia Falls at Glacier Processing Co-Op. The committee will talk to beef buyers and butchers to have full transparency in the reason for this decision. We will transport the beef to Great Falls in boxes and have a meeting point for buyers to pick up their beef. Brenda moves that we slaughter, cut and wrap all beef at the Glacier Processing Co-Op for this year. Brittney 2nd. M/S/C

New Business

• Division Chairs
  • Beef: Lisa Jassen & Shawn Hystead
  • Swine: Brittney Calvert & Sandy Harshaw-Irvin
  • Meat Goat: Heather Lewis
  • Dairy: Michelle Leardini
  • Sheep: Heather Lewis & Hailee Hart??
  • Rabbit: Desi Roth & Katrina Emmerich
  • Poultry: Felicia Short & Marie Powell
  • Breeding: Brenda Byrns & Jill Mackey

• Sponsorship Drive: Brittany Calvert and Kory Hastings called everyone from last year's list and have commitments for $5300. They will keep working on new sponsors.
• Show Purchases: We need different stools for the crows nest. Uline has 4 stools for $250, they will be stored at the Extension office and available for use for other livestock events. Buy permanent banners for the buyers table, we will need to purchase $75 each.  Bill moves to purchase stools for $250 for the crows nest and up to $100 for banners. Liz 2nd. M/S/C
• Catalog Committee: Volunteers for the committee: Brittney, Farrah, Lisa.
• Show Agenda: 
  • Wednesday July 9th Expo Park available at noon. 
    • noon-6pm - Set up
    • 6pm - 10pm - animal move in
  • Thursday July 10th
    • 8am Carcass Ultrasound (tentative vs after the market show) Or Weigh In
    • 8am Dairy
    • 10am Breeding Classes 
    • 12pm Weigh In
    • 4pm - 8pm Small Animal Show
    • 8pm-10pm Weigh In
  •  Friday July 11th
    • 8am Judges Meeting
    • 9am Market (proposal pig, beef, sheep, goat)
    • 2pm-4pm Sale Set up
    • 4:30pm Buyer Preview
    • 4:30pm Buyer Meal
    • 5:30pm Family Meal
    • 6pm-10pm Sale
  • Saturday July 12th
    • 8am - 2pm Showmanship (tentative carcass after each species finishes)
    • Additional Awards
    • Round Robin 
    • Peewee & Old Goat Showmanship
  • Sunday July 13th
    • 6am load out 

• Additional show notes: Buyer photos are the responsibility of the families. We will have a photographer available for Grand and Reserve Photos. Award prizes after each class instead of at the end of the show.  Jr Leaders will plan games and dance

Upcoming Events

February 8: Small Animal 101

February 25: Cascade County 4-H Livestock Leader Meeting

March 8: Dairy/Goat/Sheep 101

Adjournment

Desi moved to adjourn the meeting. 2nd by Reece  M/S/C Meeting adjourned at 8:09 pm.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Heather Lewis

Cascade County 4-H Livestock Leaders Secretary

APPROVED

Call to Order

Present:  Heather Lewis, Brook Gerard, Katrina Emmrich, Michelle Leardini,  Jill Mackey, Brittney Calvert, Falicia Short, Hailee Hart, Jenn Volkmar, Aimee Hachigian-Gould, Cody Loch, Lisa Jassen, Ginger Murphy, Cody Lock, Leah Mackey, Marie Powell, Liz Jennings, Brenda Byrnes, Desi Roth, Leann Murphy, Tristen Short, Bill Ogg, Brett Keaster, Farrah McGregor, Liz Jennings, Reagan Jassen, Avery Leardini, Sandy Harshaw-Irvin, Reece Hastings, Kinlee Loch, Anabelle Calvert, Kendra (online), Michaela Hystead, Lisa Jassen, Alena Standley

The meeting was called to order at 6:03 p.m. by Brook Gerard.

Minutes

Jill  motioned to approve the meeting minutes with the addition of Liz to the budget meeting and . Page 1 7 Bar Heart award was clarified later as only being completion of the book and interview.  2nd by Liz. M/S/C

Treasurer’s Report:

as of dad bank total assets

P/L sponsorships were received from foundation $3100, investments, transfer of funds fo

income xxx, payments xxxx Total 4999.21

Correspondence:

One returned thank you note from Stockmans Bank

Reports:

• Agent Report: Jenn Volkmar – Shooting Sports is very active. 365 members in Z-Suites with 800 projects. Project day is December 14th. Ambassadors will start in January along with fair meetings. Fair of lights , Citizenship signup
• Leaders Council: Jill represented Livestock leaders. Two officers were elected, and they are still looking for a Vice President.
• Beef 101: Reece thought we did good for our first one. Day one was books and day two live animals. Need to develop a rotation system to keep the kids more engaged instead of just talking. There were a lot of new kids. Hold earlier in the year because there were kids asking where to get steers. Jill's biggest take away from both days is that whatever you do in the project needs to fit the family needs and we need to continue to reinforce that so families understand there isn’t just one way to do it. Heather, we need to develop a resource list of places to buy steers for new families to the project. Kids are buying steers before 4-H enrollment is open for the project. Lisa - need to have more adults to present and advise on the project.
• Rule Book & Breeding Project Book: Rule book and Breeding Project books are published and will be available online.
• Junior Livestock Leaders: Met on Sunday at Timeless Seeds, Christmas in July was decided and worked on a catalog cover. Next is Sunday January 26th 2:30pm Timeless Seeds in Ulm. We will be deciding on prizes and buckles. Getting everything aligned to order by Feb 15th

Old Business:

• Marketing Update: Brook is connecting Brett and Farrah with the video editor to continue working on the marketing video.

New Business

• Carcass Contest Ultrasound vs Physical: How do we pay for the increase in fees? $800 cost right now for the rail carcass contest plus the cost of gas and hotel to Kalispell.
  • Pros & Cons Aimee: ultrasounds are difficult to orient and not as easy to interpret as it sounds. Playing field is leveled by doing them all at the same time by the same technician. Beef is trickier to determine the size of the ribeye because every beef is different. What if we did both to see how they would compare.
  • What is our ultimate goal of the Carcass Contest? Judith Basin & Madison County clip animals and give data to buyers for the sale. Ultrasound would allow us to have all 40 beef in the sale.
  • Ginger ultrasound in the home county had results that were less than expected for grand champion carcasses. There is a risk of a machine going down and not getting complete results.
  • Farrah risk is either way with rail or ultrasound is not perfect but it does help solve a problem that we are looking to allow 8 more beef. Offer another learning experience for carcass grading.
  • Brittney: Sidney ultrasound their beef and it goes fast, clipping does not affect showmanship or show. Buyer decides where the animals go for the butcher and the leaders are not responsible for finding butchers.
  • Tristen: The carcass facility was chaotic this year. He didn’t get enough time to look at the specifics of the carcass. It would be better to have a project day where there was time to discuss what they are looking at.
  • Beef of Merit does apply to Carcass
  • We do not have any kids going to carcass judging.
  • We need to develop a committee to interview the three available judges.
  • Bill Ogg: if we want to do a trial hybrid we should start with smaller animals. Better to ultrasound than nothing and with the right equipment and technician the results will be very accurate.
  • Judges Available:
    • Megan Vaanmen Hotel room, mileage, $50-100 supplies + cost per animal
    • Ellen Kittleman mileage, lodging plus per animal feel - has done hill county.
    • Bob Patacini 509-378-8014. $1500 plus the cost of the hotel.
  • Brenda moved we move the 2025 carcass contest to ultrasound only. Farrah 2nd One Nay. Motion Carries Heather, Brenda, Brett, Brook will form the committee.

 

• Slaughter Facility
  • Glacier Processing: Brook spoke with Mark, they are willing to work in the additional beef if we can give them hard numbers so they can have adequate staff. They are completely only USDA inspected facility and they have concerns about how we haul carcasses back to Great Falls being in compliance with USDA standards. They are working on a better way to load out carcasses. He recommended we have all beef slaughtered and packaged at the same facility because Mark & Ron are uncomfortable with the way Cascade County has hauled carcasses in the past. We have a reservation with Glacier Processing for all small animals and 32 + beef.
  • Bear Paw Meats: Carla can take 20 steers and would slaughter, cut, and wrap. She could just kill and chill. Down the road maybe could take up to 40.
  • Jill: We need to consider what the buyers and families are wanting. If we are not going to choose a processor today, per the rule book we will need a motion to extend the deadline to choose a processing facility.
  • Aimee: We only chose a USDA slaughter facility due to the rail carcasses. Why can’t we allow the buyers to pick the slaughter facility and the butcher.
  • Farrah: We don’t want to open the door to families transporting meat to buyers for the liability.
  • Ginger: Butchers are not great at communication
  • Brittney: If we solve the issue of carcass transport will Glacier take all of the Beef? Brook: Yes
  • Brenda: Are there extra costs associated with USDA mandatory transport? Brook will verify with Mark and Glacier Co-Op will be responsible
  • Lisa: We will disappoint local butchers if we suddenly take away the option for them to process for our county sale.
  • Brittney makes a motion to extend the date to select a slaughter facility to the next leaders meeting on January 28th. Felicia 2nd. M/S/C
  • Cody, Michaela, Farrah, Heather, Tristen - committee to speak with local processors
• Beef Carcass Reparations: Two buyers are looking for reparations after the carcass issues from last year. Kindred Plumbing has asked for replacement of 6 packages of two rib eye steaks. The Fox family asked for $3311 for missing beef and fees paid. MSU legal is ok with us moving forward with the amends as long as we are ok with offering it to everyone. Brooks' proposal is that we refund the Fox family’s 2.5% processing fee and replace the ribeyes for Kindred Plumbing. We offer each of the buyers 2.5% back from 2024 or pay for $225 kill fee at 2025 livestock show and sale.

<INSERT LETTER WRITTEN BY BROOK>

• Farrah asked to add a 3rd option to do nothing. Along with disclaimer that no response is considered an understanding of no further action is needed. and no further compensation will be considered.
• Discussion: Insurance policy for general liability doesn’t exist to cover this issue? MSU legal is willing to allow us to finalize with the buyers because the letter MSU legal sent the buyers did not have a deadline. We are trying to give good will and good faith with the letter to the buyers and would bring an end to an unfortunate situation. We have a good sale and extending the letter to all buyers is goodwill on the part of the leaders. Tracy Mosley and Cody Stone said we can move forward with reparations.
• Aimee moved to request a letter Cody Stone, CEO of MSU Extension, a letter to allow us to move forward. 2nd Lisa. Favor 7, opposed 8. Motion fails.
• Brittney accept the letter with the amendments as listed legal disclaimer, doing nothing and heavy on thankfulness and light on apologetic with approval by msu legal. 2nd Sandy. M/S/C
• County Show Judge; Send to committee Ginger, Heather, Michaela, Brook. May need to be voted via email so we can get one booked before the next meeting.
• Beef Weigh In: January 12th, with the backup date of the 19th 1-5pm at Western Livestock Auction.
• Breeding Project 101: Breeding project rewrite to be presented
• Swine 101: Will be organized by Brittney Calvert, she will try to make it hands on with a live portion in April when hogs available.

Upcoming Events

December 14th Breeding Project 101

January 11th Swine 101

January 12th Beef Weigh In, 19th backup day

January 28th Cascade County Livestock Leaders Meeting

Adjournment

Brenda moved to adjourn the meeting. 2^nd by Brittney M/S/C Meeting adjourned at 8:00 pm.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Heather Lewis

Cascade County 4-H Livestock Leaders Secretary

APPROVED

Call to Order

Present:  Heather Lewis, Brook Gerard, Katrina Emmrich, Michelle Leardini,  Jill Rearden, Brittney Calvert, Falicia Short, Hailee Hart, Jenn Volkmar, Aimee Hachigian-Gould, Cody Loch, Jill Skinner, Lisa Jassen, Ginger Murphy, Cody Lock, Leann Murphy, Leah Mackey, Marie Powell, Liz Jennings 

 

The meeting was called to order at 6:03 p.m. by Brook Gerard. 

Minutes

Lisa motioned to approve the meeting minutes with the addition of Ginger Murphy being in attendance, 2nd by Cody. M/S/C 

Treasurer’s Report: by Lisa

As of 09/24/24 Checking balance $17,456.66, DAD $9,278.55. Total assets of $26,735.21. P&L from October 2023-October 2024, net income of $7,745. Budget Meeting: Lisa, Brittney, Brook met to review the budget. The amount of scholarship was reduced to meet the actuals being received, poultry leg bands were moved to supplies with ear tags, intent to enter was move to under program category. Increased the cost of awards to account for the addition of breeding project awards. Motion to approve the meeting with the change of moving the two project days line items together, Britteny, second by Falicia. MSC 

Correspondence:

None 

Reports:  

• Agent Report: Jenn Volkmar – Achievement night was Sunday. Mountain View Co-Op asked us to remind kids that they have a 4-H program. Project day will be November 9th new family, clover buds, and livestock. Z-suites registration will go out November 1st. Ear tags are on order. Western Feed Corral will be donation them this year so we will not have that expense.  

Old Business: 

• Achievement night: The MC was very good and it flowed well. The slide show was nice to be able to read and listen. Attendance could have been better. There were not a lot of livestock awards to accept awards. The seating was tight. Display the awards and not give them in boxes to be able to see what awards are being received. Poultry and Rabbit were not included showmanship awards. The dinner was nice. How do we get more kids there. Maybe explore another evening besides Sunday. 

• Breeding Project Rewrite Update: Jill made additions based upon the comments received. We will provide a link to the P&L for kids to explore as part of their project. Over the next year we can develop addendums based upon species to help with the more species-specificproject parts. Jill is working on a grant for a couple Chrome Books so we can support kids that do not have computers at home to complete their projects digitally. Jill motioned to pick option one or option two with keeping 7 Bar Heart award separate from all. 

• • Option 1: Book, Interview, and Video & keep county show the same as previous years. 

• • Option 2: Book, Interview, Supreme Female or Video, Pen, Poster for High Point Awards. 

• • 7 Bar Heart Award: Book, Interview, Video – independent award 

• • Anonymous voting: 12 for option 2 and 2 for option 1. We will change the breeding projects to High Point for this year and will keep the 7 Bar Heart award separate with own criteria.  

• Rule Change Update: 

• • Jill Reardon went through the rule book to fix duplications and formatting issues. Rule change forms have been completed for any issues that were not duplications of information or formatting. 

 

1.	Aimee Hachigian Gould Carcass Contest & Butchers	Add to page 14 to replace bullet points 1-3.	Aimee moves to approve this rule as presented. Cody 2nd. M/S/C
2.	Rabbits page 14 # 3	Rabbits intended to show must be tattooed in the left ear.	Katrina moves to accept the rabbit changes as presented.   Marie 2nd. M/S/C
3.	Intent Date	Creating generic intent to enter dates  1st Monday January: Beef  3rd Monday April: Swine  2nd Monday May: Sheep and Goats  70 days prior to show Meat pens	Brittney moves to accept the generic intent to enter dates as written.  Jill 2nd M/S/C
4.	Rabbit weigh change to rule 9	Each animal must weight 3.-6 lbs	Katrina moves to approve Falicia 2nd. M/S/C
5.	Page 8 Beef, replacement animal.	Removal of the last paragraph that a beef can later be intented.	Marie motion to approve as written. Brittney 2nd. M/S/C
6.	Poultry page 8	Page 10 #4, remove mandatory veterinary inspection and add that a vet will be consulted at check-in if an animal seems to be ill.	Marie moves to approve as written. Falicia 2nd. M/S/C
7.	Pag 6 Ear tags	Page 6 – remove all small animal details under small animals and move to the poultry & rabbit section	Marie moves to approve as written. Brittney 2nd. M/S/C
8.	Addition to Poultry Meat Pen	Meat Pen section:   Clarification to add two meat pens are permitted to be sold if no other livestock animals are being sold	Marie moves to approve as written. 2nd Ginger M/S/C
9.	Page 13 # 1	Page 13 #1 move to 14  All poultry must be owned or in possession by May 1st with the exception of meat peans intended for the livestock show and sale.	Marie moves to approve as written. Katrina 2nd. M/S/C
10		Page 14 #2  Add: leg bands required to show at county show.	Mariemoves to approved as written. Katrina 2nd. M/S/C
11	Maximum Limits of:  Beef: 30  Sheep: 30  Swine: 70  Goats: 30	The processing facilities limit the number of animals they can handle due to space and staff. Livestock leaders will work every year to accommodate all members projects through the butchering process. If accommodations can’t be made by November 30 of the 4-H year then kids with tow animals will be asked to pick their sale project or choose another option.	Brook moves to approve as written. Brittney 2nd    One Nay    Motion Passes
12.	Hip Height	Weight will replace hip height for market judging	Liz moves to approve as written. Cody 2nd.  1 nay  Motion passes
13.	Jr Leaders	Addition of Jr Leader to the rule book .     Jr. Leaders are available to all 4-H youth age 13 and above. The purpose of this committee is to provide leadership opportunities within the Livestock Leaders Committee. The Jr. Leaders assist with project days, help plan the livestock show in relation to themes, prizes and additional activities. They are also available as mentors to younger 4-H members and their families for livestock projects throughout the year.      Meetings are in the months of November, January, March, May, June    Jr. Leaders are welcome to attend the regularly scheduled Livestock Leaders meetings.	Heather moves to approve with the change that meetings will be in the designate months with date decided upon with Jr. Leader Availability. 2nd Brittney  M/S/C

. 

Buyer Video: Brett Kester and Farrah McGregor on committee. There was a comment about the butcher featured that we should remove from the video. 

Livestock Judging: We don’t have anyone at our county level currently that is consistent. We are looking for a mentor to lead this. We have an annual subscription to LivestockJudging.com but are looking for a parent or person to help lead.  

Beef 101: November 9th: 9-noon will cover Record Books, & Budgets, Activities needed, costs, interview requirements, show examples, Project Book Activities, Healthy Animals and Medications, Marketing tips, Recording health records & Invite to Sunday Activities at the Hastings Ranch, Marketing tip sheet from McGregor Boys. Sunday Hastings Ranch 12:30-?? Will be covering animal selection, shelter/pen space, feed program/watering, halter breaking, livestock judging 

Education Days: 

November 9th & 10th Beef 101 

December Breeding Project 101 

January Swine 101 

February Small Animal 101 

March Lamb & Goat 101 

April Fitting and Showmanship 

May 

 

There is Leaders training on November 16th and is in Shelby. Registration is on Z-Suites.  

Rose is putting on a series of seminars about calving and nutrition.  

Adjournment

Brittney moved to adjourn the meeting. 2nd by Ginger M/S/C Meeting adjourned at 8:03 pm. 

 

Respectfully submitted, 

 

Heather Lewis 

Cascade County 4-H Livestock Leaders Secretary 

APPROVED

Call to Order

Present: Heather Lewis, Brook Gerard, Katrina Enmrich, Michelle Leardini, Desi Roth, Jill Rearden, Brittney Calvert, Micheala Hystead, Falicia Short, Farrah McGregor, Hailee Hart, Jenn Volkmar, Aimee Hachigian-Gould, Cody Loch, Marie Powell, Jill Skinner

The meeting was called to order at 5:34 p.m. by Brook Gerard. Brook apologise to the group if anyone felt like the agenda was not sufficient

Minutes

Brittneyy motioned to approve the meeting minutes as posted, 2nd by Falicia. M/S/C

Treasurer’s Report:

as of 09/24/24 Checking balance $17,456.66, DAD $9,278.55. Total assets of $26,735.21.

Correspondence:

None

Reports:

• Agent Report : Jenn Volkmar - New year begins next week. She received phone calls this week about youth that would like to join livestock clubs. Green Clover raffle tickets are available until 10/11. 10/7 - 10/11 will be the drawing and it is random. Achievement night is 10/27 with time TBD. National theme for 4-H week this year is “Beyond Ready”. 10/1 Jenn will be speaking on the radio about 4-H. Reminder email was sent this week looking for volunteers for the Montana Barrel Horse finals this weekend, three hour shift workers needed Saturday and Sunday.

Old Business:

• Election of Officers
  
  • President - Brook Gerard
  • Secretary - Heather Lewis
  • Michaela moves to accept nominations as stands. Brittney seconds. Aimee does not accept the nomination of the President. Motion passes. One abstention.
• Breeding Project Awards: Book judging and interviews were performed by Matt McKamey and Kendra Lane reviewed books and interviewed 4-H kids. There is $700 left in the prize budget and an additional $400 is needed to award prizes for 4 overall species grand and reserve champions, 9 individual species by age (senior, intermediate, jr) grand and reserve champion prizes. Jill moves to add $400 to the prize budget to order Breeding Project Prizes, Hailee second. M/S/C
• Breeding Project Rewrite: MSU approval process for a statewide breeding project is a multi-year process. We are welcome to use it as a trail for our county.
  
  • Breeding project Workbook Proposal: Aimee will only allow the scholarship that 7 Bar Heart sponsors to apply to the Breeding Book and Interview portion of the Breeding project contest. They do not want a pen display to be mandatory to win the overall breeding project due to biosecurity and animals that may be breeding in the pasture over the summer and cannot be removed.
  • Draft will be emailed out to Livestock Leaders interested in reviewing and comments are due back in two weeks.
• Meeting Date Change: When the Agent is gone we may need to reschedule to the 5th tuesday. Should we include August as a possible meeting month for a show debrief and
  December as optional. Brenda moves to begin Livestock Leaders meetings begging at 6pm unless other circumstances require. 2nd Jill Skinner. M/S/C
  
  • Aimee moves that Livestock leaders add a scheduled August meeting. 2nd Desi. M/S/C
• Survey/Rule Change Update:
• Jill Reardon went through the rule book to fix duplications and formatting issues. Rule change forms have been completed for any issues that were not duplication of information or formatting.

1.	Title Page 2023-2024 Cascade County 4-H Livestock Rule Book	2024 - 2025 Cascade County 4-H	Move Jill 2nd Falicia
2.	Edit Table of Contents	Jill has permission to change table of contents after all edits have been made	Move Jill 2nd Brittney
	Change the committee to current committee members	Brook Heather Jill Liz Jenn JOdy
	Move Montana 4-H Code of Conduct to beginning of the document with Montana 4-H animal code of conduct.
	Pages 1-5
	Pages 5 - XXX beginning of Cascade County 4-H Rule Book	Make bold heading
3.	Addition of Division Chair Definition Beef, Swine, Sheep, Goat, Rabbit, Poultry	A division chair is a volunteer from the livestock leader committee. Division chairs are species specific and there is one chari for each species. Their duties consist of: 1. Finding a round robin judge for species 2. Ensure kids and animals make it to weigh-in, Show ring, auction, load out, and clean up. 3. Work with the executive committee to update the class list. 4. Cleaning of pens 5. Solve problems within and up channels if appropriate. 6. Handle complaints	Katrin moves to accept the county show division chairs as written. Ginger 2nd. M/S/C
4.	Ear Tags (page 6)	Moving ear tags to the intent to enter section to provide further clarification. Separating out the tag requirements by species.	Michaela moves that beef ear tags are allowed to be in either ear. 2nd Falicia. One abstention M/S/C Jill moves to move the Rar tag (2023) section into individual bullet points. 2nd Falicia. M/S/C
6.	Record Book Interview Judging	Record Book Review	Katrina moves to change all Record Book Interview Judging to Record Book Review in the entirety of the book. 2nd Brittney. M/S/C
7.			Jill moves that page 7 Each Record book Must contain can be reorganized into bullet points with clarification of requirements. 2nd Katrina. M/S/C
	Aimee Hachigian Gould rule change involves the carcass contest and the use of USDA and State facility	To be reviewed with all other carcass contest and butcher rule changes as a whole at the October meeting.
	Large Animal Limits	Removal of carcass data statement due to it being in an above paragraph about carcass. Strike small animal definitions and move to its own heading. Additional showmanship animals moved to the showmanship section.
8.	Intent to enter and Show entry	Move to next meeting for rewording
9.	Showmanship	Combine large and small because age doesn’t change for either. Duplications were deleted and organized by species.	Jill moves to condense the large and small animal rewrite and allow rewrite into showmanship section. 2nd Brittney. M/S/C

Additional rule changes are due to Jenn Volkmar by October 15th.

New Business

• Livestock 101 - move to species specific starting with Beef November and make it mandatory for 4-H member with their parents. Make a PDF record book example for new families to review.
• The October meeting will be moved to October 29 due to the extension office being closed.

Adjournment

Brittney moved to adjourn the meeting. 2nd by Katrina M/S/C Meeting adjourned at 8:10 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Heather Lewis
Cascade County 4-H Livestock Leaders Secretary

APPROVED

Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 7:07 by Brook Gerard, President

Present: Rose Malisani, Brittney Calvert, Cody Loch, Brett Keaster, Jill Mackey, Desi Roth, Sandy Harshaw-Irvin, Elizabeth Jennings, Katrina Emrich, Ginger Murphy, Michelle Leardini, Heather Lewis, Allyssa Peak, Nichole Hruska, Bryanna Richards. 

Minutes

No Minutes: we didn't get the minutes from the last meeting turned in for the meeting.

 

Treasurers Report:

Read by Liz Jennings: Loss on the sale, but we need a year-to-year comparison from Lisa if possible.  Part of the Profit and Loss info is from last year’s sales because of how the bills fall, so this is not the best picture.  We will get just the 2023 numbers from Lisa for the Oct meeting.

Correspondence

No Correspondence

Reports

Agent Report: Rose is still helping and will be available through November.  Allyssa is responsible for the Policies and Procedures and the livestock leaders make the rest happen. 

Old Business:

• Breeding Project Books- Judging will be Sept 12th and 13th by Amy Hachigian-Gould, Matt McKamey and Kris Jorgenson.  We need to feed the judges so Desi made a motion to use the card to buy food up to $100, Jill 2nd M/S/C.  There are 17 books and 16 members to interview.  WebEx interviews will be scheduled for Sept 17th and or 24th.

New Business: 

• Rules Changes- must be in by Sept 18th, Monday.  In order to vote on rules you must attend in Oct and in Nov. and be signed up as a leader in z suites and have gotten your leader training completed.
• Nomination committee is looking for a Vice President and a Treasurer for a 2 year term each. 
• Sale Review. Went through "the good, the bad and the ugly" from the show and sale from the emails and suggestions received.  We went over weigh-in, the Auction, the barn layout, new ideas, the judge, the agenda, the sales catalog, the food, the awards, the breeding projects, the small animal aspect and our general administration of the show.  We just had discussions on all the things so we can make notes and or rule changes and do things better each year.
• Rate of gain contest.  It was brought to our attention that the Rate of Gain contest had a miscalculation and Leann Murphy should have gotten first place, Tristen Short was 2nd and Keira Roth was 3rd. Liz moved that we give Leann her $50 and the other members keep what they already got awarded, Desi 2nd M/S/C
• We are looking for people to be on the budget committee for next year. 
• We are looking into a "one fee" for projects instead of intents, and show fees etc...
• We are looking into another Chamber Buyers Education event.  They loved it and want one earlier so businesses can get it in their budgets for the new year. 

Adjournment

Jill made a motion to adjourn the meeting and Brittney 2nd M/S/C

 

Respectfully submitted,

Sandy Harshaw-Irvin for Secretary

Call To Order

Present:  Heather Lewis, Brook Gerard, Katrina Enmrich, Sandy Harshaw-Irvin, Lisa Jassen, Rose Malisani, Ginger Murphy, Leann Murphy, Michelle Leardini, Liz Jennings, Brett Keaster, Cody Loch, Kinlee Loch, Michaela Hystead, Desi Roth, Jill Rearden, Reese Hasting, Austyn & Justine Marchion, Aimee Hachigan-Gould, Melanie Paul

The meeting was called to order at 7:01 p.m. by Brook Gerard.

Minutes

Sandy motioned to approve the meeting minutes as posted, 2nd by Michelle. M/S/C

Treasurer’s Report:

as of 6/2/24 Checking balance $12,844.31, DAD $9,261.27. Total assets of $22,105.58. Swine, sheep, and goat intent to enter fees were received totaling $535. Coginito forms fees were paid For May and June, $15 per month.

Correspondence:

none

Reports:

• May Weigh In: Ginger and Leann ran the weigh in. There were a lot of kid that came, food was good, and good information provided by WRS
• Agent Report: New agent will start July 1.

Old Business:

• 60% Attendance Update: Ulm Pishkun has one member that is a senior that is short of the attendance rule. It has been recommended that she do a demonstration on June 25th at book judging to meet the requirement.

New Business

• 2024 Livestock Show and Sale
  • Facility: Brook emailed Susan the barn layout with the only change being the photos being further away from the show ring. There has been a new sound system put in and it works well.
  • Sponsorship Update: We have $5400 of the $7000 in sponsorships to date. The newest sponsors will get their ad copy to Brook ASAP.
  • Electronic buyers form: Lisa is working with Erin Morris to make sure this is ready and there will be a QR code for buyer registration.
  • ZSuites:
  • Awards: Everything is ordered and there are two payments pending. Buckles from Sheridan may arrive after the show.
  • Catalog Information: Leann is putting the catalog together. It will be ready for a proof on Thursday and to be sent to print on Monday. Rose requested that Livestock leaders proof the catalog before sending to print, she will be at 4-H camp and unavailable.
  • Record Book Judging: June 25, 5 for judges, 5:30 for kids. We need all the judges we need.
  • Division Chairs - Round Robin Judges need to be emailed to Rose. Breeding Project Judges need to be selected and emailed to Brook or Rose.
    • Show: Brook Gerard and Rose Malisani
    • Beef: Cody Loch and Lisa Jassen
    • Sheep: Heather Lewis
    • Swine: Brittany Calvert
    • Goat: Michelle Leardini
    • Rabbit: Desi Roth
    • Poultry: Marie Powell & Felicia Short
    • Breeding Projects: Jill Mackey
  • Transporters are confirmed, Beau and Travis. Baylee Herman will be the ring steward. We need a veterinarian - Brook will work on finding one.
  • Ginger will confirm the shavings delivery with North 40. We have 300 bags being donated.

New Business:

• Marketing Project Day will be rescheduled for the fall in November.
• An all 4-H Dance has been planned for Saturday after awards at the livestock pavilion at 8pm. Brook has a flyer that she will send to the extension office.
• Buyers Education: Chamber of Commerce is a little scattered right now. Brett has been in touch with Lori Wickett. She volunteered to put together a short video that can be shared with potential buyers to further promote the sale. The end goal would be to create a small documentary that highlights the entire 4-H project process. Brett and Lori are in the brainstorm stage, they have not received bids but believe it will cost $5,000-6,000. The Ag committee meetings are the first Thursday of every month. Brett is planning to go and ask for a sponsorship.
• Banners need to be purchased - cost will be $350 - $375, Brenda Byrnes will be invoiced.

Adjournment

Micheala moved to adjourn the meeting. 2^nd by Cody  M/S/C Meeting adjourned at  7:41pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Heather Lewis

Cascade County 4-H Livestock Leaders Secretary

APPROVED

Present

Heather Lewis, Brook Gerard, Katrina Enmrich, Cody Loch, Liz Jennings, Sandy Harshaw-Irvin, Lisa Jassen, Rose Malisani, Ginger Murphy, Leann Murphy, Desi Roth, Jill Mackey, Aimee Hachigan-Gould

Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 7:09 p.m. by Brook Gerard.

Minutes

Jill motioned to approve the meeting minutes as posted, 2nd by Cody. M/S/C

Treasurer’s Report:

As of 5/6/24 Checking balance $12,926.53, DAD $9,255.38.

Intent to enter and leg band fees were received. Livestock Judging.com was paid for.

 

Correspondence:

none

Reports: 

• LQA - good turn out and went well.
• Breeding Project Rewrite - Brook, Jill and Brittany met and will send the changes to Rose so we can approve for changes in 2024.
• Agent report - sheep and goat intent to enter is due 5/8/24. The late intent will be open until the 15th of May. May 17th are the interviews for the 4-H Agent position. Breeding project declarations are due along with intent to enter for specific species. There were not swine breeding intents. 

Old Business:

• Weigh In - 10am - 1pm, Ginger and Leann will work the weigh-in portion. Western Ranch supply will offer lunch for all that attend and is open to all 4-H but is official daily rate of gain weigh in for Cascade County. 
• 60% Attendance Requirement - one 4-H kid will present at the June Livestock Leaders meeting. There are a couple of kids that haven’t met this requirement yet. 
• 2024 Livestock Show facility - confirm with Alena Standly her layout for the Golden Triangle and match her layout to reduce cost. We received $1200 from 4-H Foundation to cover the facility fees. 
• Sponsorship - $3700 has been received. We are $4000 short from last year but have not received sponsorships from some key sponsors that have donated in the past. The committee will be making a second round of calls. 7 Bar Heart has mailed the $100 Beef Scholarship. 
• Beef Butcher Kill Fee - In the past there was $125 kill fee for beef, this year the kill fee is $35 more than previous years. The fees for sheep, goats, and swine have increased to $70.
• Electronic Buyer Forms - Lisa and Book are working on this in Cognito forms. Stockmens bank will clerk the sale. Lisa will ask Kyle to bring hard paper cards for the buyer numbers.
• ZSuites - Rose put together the entry form and built it on the one she built last year. There are options for vet inspection, shirts, market pen, breeding pen, dairy classes, rabbit breed age, and tattoo; poultry meat pen, poultry, supreme breeding female, Breeding project display, breeding project pen, showmanship, ear tag number, brand inspection,  scrapies tag number,  Shavings will be removed from the entry form since they are donated. The shirts will be $10. Registration will be open as soon as possible and will close June 21st and late entry 28th. Catalog entry will close on May 31st. May 16th there will be an email sent to the 4-H kids with the catalog lot number and the catalog entry form link.
• Awards - The budget needs to be increased to $5,715. Desi moved to increase the prize budget to $5715, Lisa 2nd. MSC
• Buyer Education - Brett and Brenda have been working with Lorie Wicket to create a short video regarding becoming a buyer at the livestock show that can be used on social media and to email chamber members. They need some pictures to use for the buyers education video series. 
• Buyer Dinner Update - Meeting with them to finalize the menu on Thursday at 2:30. Should be under budget and will verify the need for a down payment.
• Catalog Information - Catalog form is done; Brook added a place for extra pictures to go in the online catalog created by Frontier. Due the 31st of May so we can have it out by June 15th. Five hundred catalogs have been printed in the past, 280 copies are mailed to previous buyers and 220 are available for kids to pick up at book judging. The cost this year is $1,403.25. 
• Hemptana Donation Update - They will donate at least 300 bags and the kids will be allowed to take the rest home.

Adjournment

Sandy moved to adjourn the meeting. Second by Liz.  M/S/C Meeting adjourned at 7:58pm.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Heather Lewis

Cascade County 4-H Livestock Leaders Secretary

APPROVED

Present: 

Heather Lewis, Brook Gerard, Katrina Emrich, Cody Loch, Michelle Leardini, Brittany Calvert, Liz Jennings, Sandy Harshaw-Irvin, Lisa Jassen, Rose Malisani, Ginger Murphy, Leann Murphy, Jill Mackey, Aimee Hachigian-Gould 

Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Brook Gerard. 

Minutes

Sandy motioned to approve the meeting minutes as posted, 2nd by Liz. M/S/C 

 

Treasurer’s Report:

As of 3/27 Checking balance $12,726.53, DAD $9249.87. 

Sponsorship received from the foundation of $1790, checks were ordered and Cognito Forms renewed totalling $49.89. 

 

Correspondence:

none 

 

Reports:  

• Agent Report: Katrin has resigned her position with Extension. Rose is the only agent currently. There have only been two applicants for the 4-H position. There are 311 active 4-H members and 70 volunteers. All intent to enter and breeding project declarations are posted on ZSuites events. Market and breeding swine are due on April 17. Market sheep and goat along with breeding sheep and goat are due May 8. 4-H will be moving to the Family Living Center instead of the Harvest building for the Montana State Fair. May project day is cancelled. Cascade 4-H Leaders Council will have a fundraiser, more information to come. The Great Falls Chamber of Commerce’s Ag Banquet is this weekend.  
• March Project Day featured introduction to livestock judging with Courtnee Clairmont teaching. Report is that it was good and presentation was well done. 
• 2024-2025 Breeding Project Book is in the works of being updated. The committee has not met since February but should meet sometime in April.  

 

Old Business:  

• April 13 Project Day will feature livestock quality assurance. The following people have volunteered to teach the stations: 

• • Shelter: Sandy Harshaw-Irvin 
  • Water Quality: Seth Juhl  
  • Nutrition: Keira Roth 
  • Injections: Liz Jennings 

• May 11 feeding clinic along with rate of gain weigh-in. Rose and Heather are working with Western Ranch Supply. 
• 60% Club Attendance was reported that there are a couple of clubs that have not submitted their attendance. Jody will add kids that have attended other 4-H events to the spreadsheet. Rose went to the Chesnut Valley 4-H Club to help clear up some of the questions surrounding the attendance rule. 
• 2024 Livestock Show and Sale 

• • Facility: We will receive a contract in May. Rose and Brook met with Susan. As of now, we will only have a barn rent fee. The moving of the bleacher was well received by ExpoPark and we will not be charged. They will also meet with Alena Standley to make sure our layouts are similar to minimize fees.  
  • Sponsorship: 90% people have been called. Rose sent an email updating sponsorships have been received. The sponsorship team would like to use social media to reach new potential sponsors. The committee will create a graphic for Rose to use.  
  • Shavings: 280 bags have been used historically. $7.75 per bag delivered from Western Ranch Supply. Western Feed Corral is having trouble with supply. North 40 will sponsor up to 300 bags of Hemptana at no charge. We will take the shavings fee off the intent to enter fee and there will be no charge to 4-H kids. Lisa motion to accept the sponsorship from North 40 for Hemptana bedding. Jill 2nd. M/S/C Brook will work with the North 40 marketing department to get a full-page ad in the catalog for their sponsorship. 
  • Electronic buyers forms: Cognito forms will be used to electronically register buyers. 
  • Cognito forms use for Livestock registration has been suggested. Rose would like to keep using Zsuites. Rose and Brook will continue this conversation. 
  • Junior Leaders 

• • • Selected buckles and prizes for all categories. Rose will send Heather the projects enrolled to Heather so prizes can be ordered. Brook, Rose, and Heather will meet to order buckles. Leis for grand and reserve, maybe tie dye shirts. 
    • Junior Leaders decided to not have scheduled games at the show. There may be spontaneous games. 
    • Cram clinic will not be offered this year.  

• • Buyer Education: there should have an update before the May meeting.  
  • Record book judging: June 25th starting at 5:30pm. Liz motioned to spend up to $100 on food and water for the judges. Sandy 2nd. M/S/C 

• Livestock judging team software is $300/year through www.livestockjudging.com. $300 fee gives access to everything. 4-H members enrolled in livestock judging projects should have access to a county account for practice. Jill motioned to spend $300 on an annual license for the livestock judging team to have access to Livestockjuding.com. To be voted on renewal annually and share the fee with Horse. Ginger 2nd. M/S/C 

New Business

Adjournment

Leann moved to adjourn the meeting. 2ndby Liz M/S/C Meeting adjourned at 7:51pm. 

 

Respectfully submitted, 

 

Heather Lewis 

Cascade County 4-H Livestock Leaders Secretary 

APPROVED

CALL TO ORDER

Present

Heather Lewis, Brook Gerard, Katrina Enmrich, Cody Loch, Michelle Leardini, Brittany Calvert, Michaela Hystad, Liz Jennings, Sandy Harshaw-Irvin, Rose Malisani, Aimee Hachigan-Gould, Jocelynn Baker, Makayla Baker, Grace Lewis, Madelyn Bailey, Molly Lewis, Kipton Lewis, Shealyn Berner, Reagan Jassen, Lisa Jassen, Marie Powell, Brenda Byrnes, Desi Roth

The meeting was called to order at 7:06 p.m. by Brook Gerard.

MINUTES

One correction to the minutes, Jacob Schott, Sandy motioned to approve the meeting minutes as posted, 2nd by Brittnany. M/S/C

TREASURER’S REPORT

Stockmans bank balance 10,986.42, DAD 9,243.98, total assets 20230.40. Sponsorship and intent to enter fees

Foundation investment committee met with Brad Thurber to move our DAD account to a higher yield account. He suggested a money market that is averaging 5%, and if it begins to drop below 5% he will renew the conversation with the committee.

CORRESPONDENCE

None

REPORTS

• Agent Report
  • Intent to enter info has been sent in an email. The intent to enter will be in Zsuites. Everyone is encouraged to enter a spare animal. There will not be any exceptions to add animals after the intent date. The job opening for a new 4-H Agent is posted. Rose and Katrin are splitting the roles of that agent for now. Rose asked every leader to share one goal per person for the livestock program.
    • Cody: to help as many kids as possible in the beef project to have animals make weight and have a successful project.
    • Brittany: to make sure sale goes well with all 80 kids.
    • Brook: as many kids as possible having a successful livestock project and create memories
    • Heather: to continue to promote the goat project
    • Rose: good working group with the leader, parents, kids that is successful and give kids the education and to be comfortable talking to adults.
    • Kipton: to have a pig that doesn’t fight with other kids
    • Mom Lewis: give confidence to kid so they can look people in the eye and speak confidently
    • Molly: teach my hog to drive.
    • Madelyn: to be able to load my hog on and off the trailer easily
    • Grace: to be confident in showing my steer and help younger kids have a good experience.
    • Makayla: hope weigh ins go smoothly and that hog will have a good finished look.
    • Joclyn: to try to have pig load on and off the trailer easily
    • Liz: to be helpful to new families and facilitate communication.
    • Sandy: to keep the show running smoothly and have everyone happy.
    • Michelle: to attract more kids to the dairy project, both goat and dairy cattle
    • Katrina: to keep learning how this group works and help new families learn about the swine project.
    • Aimee more opportunity for cloverbuds in livestock projects, getting used to having animals around, and talking to judges. Breeding projects need to have better goals that don’t surround prizes and that are based upon meat/the products produced by the animals they raise. Get back to having a meats ID team. Ulm VFD is building a community center that could be used to hold meats ID trainings.
    • Desi: more opportunities for workshops that aren’t on the weekends.
    • Marie: mentorship of young kids and families. Being supportive in each other in every part of the project and show.
    • Brenda: to continue to see kids from the early roles and switch to the role of a Jr. Leader by leading clinics or helping at the show.
    • Shae: to help younger kids and new families that don’t have the knowledge that the experienced older kids have. Helping teach kids about round robin.
• February Project Day 
  • Soap making was good. Three kids came.
  • Rabbit and poultry project day was good. There were alot of kids for rabbits. Talked about showmanship, grooming, and showing. Poultry did not have a large showing. Worked on showmanship, etiquette, and questions.
• 2024-2025 Breeding Project Book
  • A small committee met and Rose has created a draft of a new book. The committee is reviewing the revisions and will report on the decisions/changes.

OLD BUSINESS

• Project Day: March 9th, Intro to livestock Judging, 22 kids are signed up. Rose is hoping that the senior level LQA can do a scenario ( that is more unique and uses the knowledge they hours long) learned as a Junior. Online LQA makeup? Other counties have used it and it seems to work well.
  • April 13th LQA:
    • Shelter - Sandy
    • Water Quality - Brittany
    • Nutrition - Keira Roth
    • Injections - Liz if she not working
    • Heather will ask Farrah if there is a better day for Marketing
    • May 11th other ideas - feeding clinic along with weigh in? Rose and Heather

• 2024 Livestock Show and Sale
  • Agenda, Brook Gerard: Rose made one change to the agenda that Beef Carcass grading will be July 17th and steers will be picked up on July 24. Brittany moves to approve the show agenda as presented. Cody second, MSC.
  • Logo, Heather Lewis: voted on yellow design
  • Facility, Brook Gerard: Susan Shannon meeting is being worked on. Rose and Brook will meet with her and report back.
  • Buyers Meal: Voted on Paniolo (new Hawaiian cafe in Great Falls) to cater the meal. We will order a la carte off their catering menu: Chicken, Pork, Macaroni Salad, and Hawaiian rolls.
  • Butcher: Cody Loch, Michaela Hystead, and BrookGerard toured Tizer meats. Fully remodeled and making a completely different operation. 30 buffalo take up 30% of his cooler space. They did the Lewis and Clark County fair last year and there are good reports from people in Lewis and Clark county. He has an automated rail that lays the beef on the pallets straight off the rail. He only kills and chills.
  • Steer Transport: Travis Standly will transport steers to Helena.
  • Sponsorship Update: Jill has two helpers. Letters have been mailed and they have made one round of calls. Leveque, Hogulands, Cascade Farmer Mutual, Farmers Union have been received.
  • Judges: Carcass judges - Rose has arranged.
  • Shavings: Ginger is working with a couple of suppliers and a particle sponsorship.
  • Photographer: Clancy Olson is confirmed as the photographer for the cost of gas.
  • Electronic Check Out: Lisa is working to make sure electronic checkout works well and that registration goes smoothly.
  • Division Chairs
    • Show: Brook Gerard and Rose Malisani
    • Beef: Cody Loch and Lisa Jassen
    • Sheep: Heather Lewis
    • Swine: Brittany Calvert
    • Goat: Michelle Leardini
    • Rabbit: Desi Roth
    • Poultry: Marie Powell & Felicia Short
    • Breeding Projects: Jill Mackey

NEW BUSINESS

• Livestock Judging Team: Using Judging Pro and is asking if the leaders will pay for the $500 subscription for used practice. Courtney Clairmont has been working with a small group over zoom and some in person meetings. Decision to vote on specifics of subscription to be moved to next meeting.
• Buyers Education: Brenda Byrnes is working with the GF Chamber, they are interested in helping us with another education. Brenda and Brett have been talking about having this earlier and possibly in May. Brenda will present to the Chamber this week. Look at incentivizing current buyers bringing new buyers to the show, ie. a drawing for a kill fee.
• 60% Attendance Update & Concerns: The Extension office has provided a spreadsheet for each club to track attendance. The reason for the rule is that kids who attend club meetings are more successful in the project and their record books when they attend club meetings. The rule is on page 7 and reads, “All 4-H members enrolled in livestock projects must attend 60% (or club bylaw minimum) of their club meetings to be eligible to show and sell at the Cascade County 4-H Livestock Show and Sale. Absences may be marked as excused at club Organizational Leader discretion or if members are attending another 4-H event. Unexcused absences may be made up by attending a 4-H livestock education event. Attendance will be tracked using a Google Sheet created by the Extension Office. Club secretaries and/or Organizational Leaders will enter club meeting attendance into the Google Sheet. The Extension Office or a Livestock Leader will enter educational event attendance into the Google Sheet.”

This rule can be fulfilled by also attending a 4-H project day or a leaders meeting. Rose will take the responsibility as the Extension Agent to contact families that are not meeting this requirement or are at risk of not making the 60% requirement. Livestock leaders are encouraged to reach out to clubs that are struggling and encourage them to attend meetings and project days. The requirement is hard on some families that are very committed on the weekends. Weeknight meetings or project days would be appreciated to help fulfill the requirement. Livestock leaders will help give kids more opportunities to make presentations for credit for meetings. April, May, June livestock leaders will allow presentations at 5:30pm for the first 7 kids. Deadline to have 60% of meeting requirements fulfilled is June 11th.

• Waiting list: The rule change proposal to not have a wait list was tabled and did not make it to vote because we weren’t sure we had butchers for that many animals. The cap for hogs at 75, we could wait for the intent to enter to be submitted to see if we still have 80 hogs. There is kill & chill space and butcher space for 80 animals. Rose’s proposal is that we wait and see what the intent to enter numbers. Everyone needs to make sure to intent their animals so that if they are on the waiting list they still have the opportunity to show if there are other animals that die or hogs/animals that can’t make it to the show.

Upcoming Events

• May 11 Small Animal Weigh in
• Third Saturday of every month is the Small Animal Weigh-In Series at Western Feed Corral

Adjournment

Brittany moved to adjourn the meeting. 2^nd by Liz  M/S/C Meeting adjourned at  8:01pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Heather Lewis

Cascade County 4-H Livestock Leaders Secretary