The Standard 4-H Club is helping to build a group of hard-working young citizens, who someday will be Strathmore and Wheatland County’s, livestock producers.

The club has had to temporarily shut down like many other groups during the COVID-19 pandemic, but in September you may see members of the club in the Standard region performing highway clean up.

Standard 4-H Club’s Cheryl Klemmensen explained that the group will be out on September 19 starting at 8 a.m. cleaning by the highway from Standard to the Wheatland Crossing School and near Highway 561. There are roughly 14 members of the club.

Klemmensen spoke about the experience offered by the club, “Our members of the Standard 4-H Sheep Club learn how to raise and care for livestock. The members work very hard to make sure their sheep projects have the correct weight of gain to have a saleable animal for our annual June show and sale.”

“Sheep 4-H is a positive environment that gives our members knowledge and life experience to become future livestock producers,” she said.

In terms of the sheep club, members meet usually every month for meetings where kids learn the ins and out of how to manage livestock, like filling out a record book.

Participants receive their projects for the year, near the end of March. That’s when they pick up their sheep, which are usually born in January. The sheep are usually between 60 and 70 lbs.

That’s when the real work begins, and club members learn how to feed and put on weight for their animals, in preparation for the show and sale.

Usually on the first Thursday in June, the annual show and sale takes place. Participants show their animals and take them to sale.

4-H Canada is a not-for-profit organization, one of the largest such organizations for youth in the world with over 24,000 members and 7,600 volunteers. According to 4-H Canada, they offer innovative, youth-centred programs that provide meaningful, positive experiences designed to build confidence, positive self-identity, self-esteem, and a sense of achievement.

For more information about 4-H visit 4-H Canada here.