County Fair Information
County Fair Requirements
Tuolumne County 4-H Youth Development Program
Requirements for Participation at County Fair
Youth may enroll in a project at anytime during the year, however the minimum requirements for successfully completing a Home Arts or Animal Science project, which qualifies the youth to participate in the County Fair are:
Requirements
- All youth members, must complete enrollment before attending any 4-H meetings/activities.
- Youth members must attend 80% of all project meetings held from September 1st to the Monday of Fair in the current program year.
Note: If a youth member fails to satisfy this attendance requirement by the Monday of fair week, their fair eligibility will be revoked, they will not be allowed to participate in the fair as a 4-H member, and they will not be allowed to bring that exhibit to the fair. - Youth members must have a written 4-H record, Annual Project Report for each project, to provide proof of supervision, the length of project, attendance at meetings, and work completed in the project. 4-H Annual Project Reports must be submitted to the respective project leader and community club leader. Leaders will review the record and sign to signify satisfactory completion of the project.
- Youth members represent the 4-H program while at fair and are expected to abide by the California 4-H YDP Youth Code of Conduct. Infractions of the 4-H Code of Conduct must be reported promptly by anyone observing them to the adult volunteer or staff in charge, who will bear final responsibility for disciplinary action.
- Youth members must abide by the rules governing participation at the Tuoumne County Fair and/or other qualifying fairs are as stated in the respective premium books, the current year State Rules for California Fairs, and CDFA’s Agreement Between 4-H Youth Development Program, Future Farmers of America, Grange and Independent Exhibitors.
- Paper fair entry forms with required club and/or project leader signatures and entries must be submitted by the youth member to the fair office by the deadline stated in the fair premium book.
Mother Lode County Fair Information:
The Following are the mandatory ownership dates for Junior Livestock Exhibitors at the 2023 Mother Lode Fair.
- Market Beef (120 days): 2/25/2023
- Breeding Beef (60 days): 4/30/2023
- All Swine, Sheep and Goats (60 days): 4/29/2023
- All Poultry and Rabbits (30 days): 5/30/2023
For more information, please contact Kim Helmbold, Mother Lode Fair Livestock Superintendent, at livestock@mlfair.com.
Quality Assurance and Ethics Awareness Requirement
Every Junior Livestock Exhibitor is required to complete the Youth for the Quality Care of Animals (YQCA) certification in order to exhibit at the Mother Lode Fair. YQCA certification must be completed by June TBA. Livestock entries will not be accepted without certification.
YQCA site: yqcaprogram.org/
California Department of Food and Agriculture
Livestock Project Transfer
At the beginning of the year youths must choose in which organization they will carry their ownership/entrepreneurial project (i.e., project animal).
The Livestock Project Transfer Form that should be used when project animal transfers are taking place between organizations; 4-H, FFA, Grange, or Independent.
The form and policy regarding project transfers is outlined in the 4-H Policy Handbook Chapter 7, IV, E Animal Ownership.
Youth who transfer their animal project from 4-H to another organization may continue to stay involved in a 4-H leadership capacity within the same project.