Fair season has come and gone and Grant County 4-H had a very successful year. The New Mexico State Fair was held September 7-17 in Albuquerque. Krysten Jones came in first in the Novice Creative Arts indoor exhibits. Lizzy McDonald placed second in the same division. Kylee Jones placed third in the Home Economics indoor exhibit. Also, Ketch Bays placed third in the Junior Angus Market Steer Class.

Next came the Grant County Fair which was held September 20-24, in Cliff. In the indoor exhibits, the Junior High Point exhibitor was Josh Agnew, and the Novice High Point was Kylee Jones. They each received a fifty-dollar gift card from the Grant County 4-H Council.

In the Market Steer Show in the short class Ketch Bays got second and Megan Miller received third. In the medium class first place went to Sam McDonald, second was Ryan Miller and third was Ketch Bays. Ketch Bays also placed second in the tall class and Cody McCauley placed third. Grand Champion steer went to Cole McCauley and Reserve Champion went to Ketch Bays.

Grand Champion Heifer went to Koda Fell. Sam McDonald had the Grand Champion County Bred Steer and Ketch Bays had the Reserve Champion County Bred Steer. Grand Champion Goat went to Tucker Gatlin and Megan Miller received Reserve Champion Goat.

In the Market Swine Classes Grand Champion Black Other Pure Breeds (OPB) went to Davis Atwater, Reserve Champion went to Tanner Frost. Davis Atwater also had Grand Champion Cross and Kolby Taylor had Reserve Champion Cross. In the Duroc class Ileana Cook was Grand Champion and Victoria Morales was Reserve. Grand Champion Hampshire went to Connor McDaniel and Raelynn Moon got Reserve Champion. Overall Grand Champion Swine went to Davis Atwater and Kolby Taylor received Reserve Champion. In the Gilt Show Tanna Goar had the Grand Champion and Taleah Miller had the Reserve Champion.

In the Market Lamb Division Champion Freckleface went to Shyrea Ormand, Reserve Champion went to Mary Thuerauf. In the Whiteface class Mhia Romero had the Champion and Louis Reed had the Reserve Champion. Alexa and Riley Vermillion had the Grand and Reserve Champion Blackface champions and received Grand and Reserve Champion Overall for the lamb show.

Grand Champion Rabbit went to Riley Brabson and Edyn Comyford had the Reserve Champion Rabbit. In the meat pen division Riley Brabson had the Grand Champion. Morgan Wendt had the Grand Champion Poultry and Josh Agnew had the Reserve Champion.

In the Showmanship awards Josh Agnew was the Champion Poultry Showman. Megan Miller was the Senior Steer Showman, Cole McCauley was the Junior Steer Showman and Cody McCauley was the Novice Steer Showman. Koda Fell was the Champion Heifer Showman. Senior Lamb Showmanship went to Alexa Vermillion, Junior Lamb Showmanship went to Nolan Vermillion and Novice Showmanship went to Martina Warren. In the Swine Division Senior Swine Showman went to Davis Atwater, Junior Showmanship went to Aiden McDaniel and Novice went to Tanner Frost. Senior Goat Showman went to Megan Miller; Zola Brown was Junior Showman.

In the All-Around Showmanship Contest Alexa Vermillion was the All-Around Champion Showman and Megan Miller was the Reserve Champion Showman.

Each year special awards are given to youth that keep their animals pens the cleanest during the fair. The Clean Beef Barn award went to Cody McCauley, Lamb Barn award went to Martina Warren, Swine Barn went to Tanner and Lane Frost, Clean Goat Barn award went to Tucker Gatlin, Rabbit Barn went to Krysten Jones and Poultry Barn went to Jeremy Younger. Kelly and Dan McDaniel also won the clean camp award.

In the Livestock Judging Contest Kolby Taylor was high point in the Senior Division, Ketch Bays in the Junior Division and Collin Golden in the Novice Division.
The Top Ag Youth award was awarded to Emily McDonald, and the Top Hand award was earned by Cursten Blanton.

In the 2nd Annual Baking Contest that was sponsored by Rebecca Dow and Billy Billings, the Adult Cake Division winner was Julie Gierhart and Aliza Orcutt was the youth division winner. Barbara Salars was the adult winner in the pie division and Hattie Dobrinski was the youth champion. Suazanne Geyer was the adult winner of the Adult Cookie Division and the youth winner was Hayden Smith. In the Quick Breads division first place went to Beau Jackson in the adult division and Chase Dobrinski was the youth champion. The Yeast Bread Division was won by Julie Gierhart in the adult class.

After the Grant County Fair was the Southern NM State Fair in Las Cruces September 27-October 1. Riley Brabson won a $750 Livestock Scholarship as well as had the Breed Champion Rabbit. Caitlin and Riley Brabson also won best of breed. Davis Atwater had the OPB (Other Pure Breed) Breed Champion Swine. Kolby Taylor received a second in the Hampshire swine class. Ryan Miller placed second in his class with his steer. In the market lamb show Elizabeth and Emily McDonald both placed third in different Blackface classes. Riley Vermillion placed third and Nolan Vermillion placed fourth in their Blackface classes.

The Grant County Cooperative Extension Office would like to congratulate all of the youths that participated in the fairs with all of their exhibits. Also, while it is the end of the 4-H year, a new 4-H year is already upon us. We are currently enrolling for the 2018 4-H year. 4-H has over 200 different projects to offer to youth. A study done by Tufts University concluded that youth who participate in 4-H are four times more likely to make contributions to their communities, two times more likely to be civically active, two times more likely to participate in science programs and two times more likely to make healthier choices.

October 1 through December 15, 2017 is the enrollment period for all of our previous members and new members. Any boy or girl age 5 through 18 years of age, who enrolls in the 4-H Youth Development Program of the Cooperative Extension Service is a 4-H member. Cloverbuds is a program designed for 5-8 year olds, Novice members are age 9-11, Juniors 12-13 years old and Seniors are 14-18 years old. Projects in 4-H are geared toward promoting confidence, leadership, teamwork, responsibility and enhance social skills. We are about encouraging youths to be a part of a great organization and steering them away from bad choices to get started in life in the right direction. Stop by our office to learn more and pick-up an application at 2610 N. Silver St. in Silver City. You can also call and get more information at 575-388-1559. You can also follow all of the 4-H activities by liking us on Facebook NMSU Grant County CES.