4–H beef club learns about cow calving

Submitted by
Jessica Haw

The Stratton 4-H Beef Club held its first meeting on Thursday, May 10 at the home of Donna and Bud McQuaker.
There are 16 members in the club—Philemon and David Nussbaumer, Kylie Fileccia, Cassie and Jamie Westover, Nolan and Damon Short, Jared and Matt McQuaker, Kevin Gemmell, Myna, Tegan, and Ben Miller, Tyler Nielson, and Mitchell and Jessica Haw.
The two leaders are Cindy Nielson and Bud McQuaker.
We opened the meeting by reciting the 4-H pledge, then elected officers for our club.
Jared was elected president, with Jamie as the vice-president, Tyler as secretary, and Jessica as the press reporter.
After that, we discussed topics our club could learn about, such as the “basics,” “media,” and “cow calving.”
Next, we talked about the “Project Animal Identification Form” that must be completed before our next meeting, which is slated for today (May 23) at Kevin’s house.
Bud and Cindy then recommended what stage we might be at with our calf. They suggested we should be able to comb and put the halter on our animal.
They also explained how to calculate the mass of our calf by using the heart girth measurement.
Bud also spoke about finishing our animals by fair time, using the correct type and amount of feed.
Jared then adjourned the meeting.