NYS 4-H Livestock Quiz Bowl

We are excited to announce a brand new pilot program for youth interested in livestock education: the NYS 4-H Livestock Quiz Bowl.

At the national level, the 4-H Livestock Quiz Bowl has existed for approximately 15 years; New York State has never sent a team. In the past few years, youth participating in judging and skillathon events have expressed strong interest in bringing this opportunity to NYS. This has been youth driven and I have met with a small committee to develop a pilot program for our state.

Thank you to everyone who has helped bring this program to NYS. We are always looking for additional volunteers, so please reach out if you or volunteers from your county are interested in being involved. The committee and I are very mindful of everyone’s time and have designed this program with that consideration in mind.

Below are the key details for the pilot year:

• This pilot year (and potentially the next few years) will be limited to senior members ages 14 and up. We recognize interest from younger youth, and counties are encouraged to continue practicing with them and consider hosting multi-county contests to provide experience.

• Youth will qualify for the state contest through an online written exam developed by the committee. The test must be taken at a CCE office to ensure proper administration. The tentative testing window is March 1–15.

• Up to the top 36 youth will be invited to participate in the state contest.

• Teams will be selected by the committee and myself. If multiple youth from the same county qualify, they will be placed on the same team. Remaining teams will be formed by region through a random draw.

• Teams will be announced and communicated to participants by April 1 to allow time for practice.

• The state contest is tentatively scheduled for April 25, beginning at 2:00 p.m., following the state dairy bowl contest. This timing allows youth to participate in both events and helps us utilize shared volunteers.

• Contest rules will be adapted from the National Livestock Quiz Bowl rules and will be available in early to mid-February. National rules can be found here: https://youthlivestockcontests.org/4-h-livestock-quiz-bowl

• Question references will mirror those used at the national level and are available at the same link.

• To help build our question bank, each participating county will be asked to submit 20–25 questions by March 15. Questions may be written by coaches, volunteers, or youth and must include the correct answer, reference source, and page number.

• I will be hosting two Zoom informational sessions in February. One daytime session will focus on educators, and an evening session will be part of the Youth Livestock Summit, introducing youth and families to this program and other statewide livestock opportunities.

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More details will be shared as they become available. Thank you for your continued support of livestock programming and for helping us expand opportunities for NYS youth.

Please reach out to Brian Aukema at bja14@cornell.edu with any questions.