Share-a-Calf sponsors and mentors

The 4-H mission says ?4-H empowers youth to reach their full potential through youth-adult partnerships and research-based experiences.? 4-H in Washington County cannot be what it is today without the many different types of volunteers.

One unique market beef class for Washington County is called Share-a-Calf. This class has been offered for several decades with the goal to connect Washington County cattle producers with 4-Hers.

With this class, 4-H'ers apply to receive a "donated" calf at weigh-in. They blindly draw ear-tag numbers to select which calf out of the pool will be theirs. A contract is signed to pay for the calf after the county fair livestock auction based on market price at weigh-in. This makes the market beef project somewhat more affordable from the start. The sponsor of each calf then contacts the 4-H'er throughout the project to provide assistance or answer questions.

Washington County Cattlemen help promote this class, recruit calves, and sponsor the trophy. This class would not be possible without the beef producers in Washington County providing calves.

Tad TeBockhorst, a Washington County 4-H alumnus and volunteer, was a participant in this class when he was a 4-H'er and this year provided one of the calves.

?The program itself is of great value to the 4-Her with a major cost savings with current market prices. The real value however, is the invaluable experence gained while raising cattle, such as hard work, dedication, business-sense, and interactions with local cattlemen,? shared TeBockhorst. For the past nine years, Tebockhorst has been raising cattle with his father.

Chris and Jillian Heisdorffer were also sponsors of the share-a-calf class this year.

?We treasure the fact that we had the opportunity to show livestock in 4-H/FFA. We are happy to participate and help give anyone a start who may not have been able to show otherwise,? explained J Heisdorffer.

If interested in being a part of this class in future years as a sponsor or participant, please contact the Washington County Extension Office at 319-653-4811.