According to a study initiated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Purdue University regarding employment opportunities for Animal Science graduates, results show that there were more than 57,900 annual job openings for new graduates between 2015 and 2020, and some 35,400 qualified graduates available each year for these positions resulting in a shortage.  Youth livestock programs teach 4H members the value of hard work, commitment, responsibility, and valuable animal husbandry and care skills that remain with them throughout their lives and can encourage them to pursue careers in the livestock industry.  

A committee of volunteers, 4-H Agents and the Ag & Natural Resource Agent planned the 2022 Shelby County Stockman’s College.  The event is a fun, interactive, educational event involving industry experts and extension professionals.  The program was modified and expanded from the last event held in the midst of the pandemic, allowing the opportunity for more youth to participate and including the option for dairy cattle as a species major.

Stockman’s College provided the opportunity for 80 youth to “major” in one of four species options and to take courses relative to their major as well as core content courses applicable across species.  Each participant attended four core content classes, two species major and two species minor classes, two group demonstration classes and two enrichment demos held during breaks.  Following the conclusion of the 8-hour college, youth competed in a modified skillathon competition, demonstrating new knowledge and skills learned during Stockman’s College.  

One of the main goals of the committee was to design Stockman’s College as a hands-on skills-development event.  To this end, courses were designed which allowed youth to learn and then immediately practice a skill.  Some examples included ear notching/tagging and implanting actual hog and beef cattle ears; conducting breeding soundness exams; processing (clipping needle teeth, docking tails, giving iron shots and ear notching) fetal pigs; injecting saline solution intramuscularly into chicken breasts; and pregnancy checking goats via ultrasound.  Twenty-five volunteers, most of whom are industry experts, facilitated the hands-on learning experiences throughout the day.

Following the skillathon competition, awards were given to the top placing youth in each category and in both the junior and senior age divisions.  High overall individuals in each species received award banners and the High overall junior and senior across species were awarded custom belt buckles.

A survey was sent to the participants 8 weeks following the contest.  All of the respondents reported that they would attend the event if offered again and that they had shared something they learned with a family member or friend.   One hundred percent indicated that they had learned news skills with one participant writing: “It is good to see all different parts of raising livestock-its more than just showing.   What you have is real life hands-on that I will be able to use when I get older.”  The survey also indicated participants plan to use knowledge gained from Stockman’s College to help them make decisions in the future.  One wrote, “I have learned a lot about different careers I might want to pursue, and different animals I might want to keep in the future.”