The Spencer County Livestock Club has been working very hard over the past year. The certified livestock leader works diligently with all club members to make sure that they all have the knowledge and ability to go far in life, even beyond their livestock projects and/or contest. This year club members have competed and will continue to compete in the KY Beef Expo Judging Contest, Washington County Livestock Contest, KY Skill-a-Thon Contest, KY Livestock Judging Contest, various county fair shows, district shows, Kentucky Junior Livestock Expos, the Kentucky State Fair, the North American International Livestock Shows, as well as the Country Ham Project. 

At each of these events members competed and gained more confidence in their ability to believe in their selves and speaking in front of people. One 4-H member serves as a mentor to all club members due to her experience from being on the Kentucky Gold Livestock Judging Team this past year. Youth gained communication skills by competing in livestock judging, livestock skill-a-thon and the country ham contest that will last a lifetime. Two alumni members were certified in December and were instrumental in skill-a-thon and show ring success of our members. 

This past year Spencer County 4-H was known everywhere that the youth went and that is due to the fact that the certified leader dedicates her time to the Spencer County 4-H program. She is spreading her success this year to volunteers across Kentucky by leading two skill-a-thon workshops at the Kentucky 4-H Volunteer Forum. 

Although these contests are great for the club members to express the knowledge that they have gained in the club, they also have gained knowledge and personal leadership skills that will last a lifetime. This is all due to the fact that the livestock club leader was trained through the livestock certification program to gain the ability to be able to educate so many young people, many do not have animal projects of their own, yet have a love for the livestock industry.

In February at the State 4-H Skill-a-thon Contest 26 youth represented Spencer County. All three age groups were won by Spencer County teams, which we believe was a first in the history of the program.