YOUTH NEWS
4-H Dairy Judging
The National 4-H Dairy Judging Contest, held Nov. 4 at the North American International Livestock Exposition in Louisville, Kentucky, fielded 17 teams with 56 participants from across the country, including a three-member team from Vermont, Gabriel and Morgan Michaud, East Hardwick, and Natalie Michaud, Greensboro Bend.
The team placed seventh overall and 11th in oral reasons. Team placements for breeds were Guernseys (second); Ayrshires (seventh); Brown Swiss and Holstein (both eighth); and Jersey (14th).
Individual placements were as follows:
Gabriel Michaud finished 13th overall in the judging competition and 14th for oral reasons. He placed sixth in Guernseys, 13th in Brown Swiss, 22nd in Ayrshires; 26th in Jerseys and 34th in Holsteins.
His brother, Morgan Michaud, was 33ird for overall individual score with a 48th place finish in oral reasons. He placed 22nd in Guernseys, 26th in Holsteins, 29th in Brown Swiss, 40th in Ayrshires and 41st in Jerseys.
Their cousin, Natalie Michaud, had a Top 10 finish in the Ayrshire judging classes, taking eighth place. She was 14th in Guernseys, 22nd in Holsteins, 41st in Brown Swiss and 52nd in Jerseys. Overall, she placed 27th with a 44th placing for oral reasons.
4-H Horse Roundup
A group of Vermont 4-H’ers traveled to Louisville, Kentucky, for the 2023 Eastern National 4-H Horse Roundup, held Nov. 4, at the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center, where they competed in hippology, quiz bowl, judging and the communications contests. Vermont was among the 24 states that took part in this year’s event.
In the hippology contest, the team placed 10th overall, eighth in the written phase and ninth in stations. They did not place in the Top 10 for the judging phase. Team members were Natalie Jackman, Vergennes; Emma Sibley, Milton; Mikayla Tobey, Fairfax; and Shyanne Wedge, Shoreham. Haileigh Demers, Essex Junction, made the team but was unable to attend, so Mikayla took her place. Jolene Fontaine, Jericho, served as the team coach.
Jasmine Akley and Elizabeth Brown, both from Vernon; Lillian Kascha-Hare, Milton; and Britney Zager, Gill, Massachusetts (member of a Windham County club); made up the quiz bowl team, coached by Sue Ouimet, Castleton. Vermont finished just out of the top 10 in the 15-team double-elimination competition, winning their first round against Minnesota and later losing to Ohio, which finished second, and then in a close match with Massachusetts.
In the judging contest, the Vermont team finished eighth overall with a sixth place in halter classes and 10th in performance. Members were Jenna Bennett, Swanton; Viola Brown, Vernon; Seanna Erickson, Florence; and Rose Ouimet, Castleton. They were coached by Deb Danforth, Castleton.
In the communications contest, twin sisters, Lily and Samantha Provost, of Milton, came in sixth out of nine teams for their team demonstration. Tieghan Perry, of Danville, presented an individual demonstration but did not place in the Top 10. The Provosts were coached by Jessie Provost, Milton, and Tieghan by Joanne Perry, Danville.
AROUND TOWN
Public input
BARRE — The public is invited to participate in a virtual community meeting at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 15, about the future of health care in Washington County. Meeting attendees will have a chance to share their first-hand experiences with navigating the health care system: what is going well, what do you want to see more of, what changes could make it easier to get the care you need at an affordable price? For more information to sign up for virtual, Zoom or phone option, visit gmcboard.vermont.gov/Act-167-Community-Meetings.
Lectures location
MONTPELIER — Upcoming Osher Lifelong Learning Institute lectures will be at the Savoy. The film screenings were advertised as being at MSAC; however, all three films will be screened at the Savoy.
AROUND VT
Gardening conference
The University of Vermont Extension Master Gardener program will offer its annual conference from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Dec. 2 via Zoom. Anyone with an interest in gardening is invited to attend the event. The conference theme, “Fostering Resilience in Our Gardens,” reflects on this year’s challenging growing season, including the late frost in May and July floods. Gardeners also may take part in an optional lunchtime session to exchange ideas, share successes and challenges from their growing season and discuss the morning’s presentations.
Registration is $40 per person before Nov. 22, $55 after that date. Discounted rates are offered for UVM Extension Master Gardener and Vermont Master Composter volunteers. The fee includes access to the recorded presentations for 30 days after the conference. For more information or to register, visit the conference website at go.uvm.edu/2023gardeningconference. Registration closes on Nov. 30.
The conference will be live captioned. If needing another disability-related accommodation, email debra.heleba@uvm.edu or call 802-656-1777 by Nov. 22.
VTF&W
Wildlife food
Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department biologists survey oak and beech stands around the state each fall to assess how plentiful acorns and beechnuts are because they are important fall foods for wildlife. Bear biologist Jaclyn Comeau reports acorn surveys ranged from poor to fair statewide with an overall rating of poor; beechnut surveys were excellent on average, but there was dramatic regional variation — Northeast Kingdom indicated little to no beechnut production, the rest of northern and central Vermont were poor to excellent, southern Vermont were consistently excellent. In areas where acorns or beechnuts are not abundant, many of Vermont’s wildlife species will be on the move looking for alternative food options before winter, and some bears will enter winter dens early.
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