Merrick County 4-H,Nebraska (UNL Extension)

06/15/2026

Do you know what it takes to pick the best fruit and vegetables out at the grocery store? Or do you know what judges are looking for when they judge your plants at the county fair? Have you ever wondered, what plant is that!?! We are excited to offer the opportunity to learn these and other important horticulture skills through the Online Horticulture Contest. The contest will be available June 9-23, 2026 at: http://go.unl.edu/online4hhortcontest

Horticulture judging contest consists of three parts. The first is identification of plant material. Participants identify the plants by common name from a plant list. Specimens may be alive or preserved plant parts like stems, twigs, leaves, flowers, seeds, fruits, roots, bulbs, tubers, or plant products.

The second is a knowledge portion, usually in the form of a true/false or multiple choice quiz. Questions will test the contestant's knowledge of cultural practices for horticultural crops, plant science, pesticides, horticultural careers and other topics related to the production, processing and consumption of horticultural crops.

The last portion is judging or placings. This is where four different plants, plates of vegetables, or containers flowers are ranked from best to worst based on a set of criteria. Classes are judged on the basis of condition, quality, uniformity, true-to-type, and size.

More information about the Nebraska State contest along with a list of study materials can be found in the Horticulture ID Contest Fairbook. Here you can find the written study materials for the knowledge portion, follow links to plant pictures for help with identification, and read how judging of plant material is done.
More details at: https://4h.unl.edu/online-horticulture-judging-contest

The Nebraska 4-H Online Horticulture Judging Contest provides youth an opportunity to test their knowledge of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, and ornamental plants. The contest is open to all youth, as well as adults. Youth do not need to be enrolled 4-H members to participate. The contest will...

06/15/2026

06/12/2026

Merrick County 4-H Blast: https://go.unl.edu/4hblast
ONLINE STATE FAIR ANIMAL NOMINATIONS https://4h.unl.edu/statewide-events-opportunities/state-fair/livestock-exhibitor/livestock-identification/
Animal ID Sheets: https://extension.unl.edu/statewide/merrick/merrick-county-4-h/merrick-county-fair-resources/
Fair Cup Orders: https://go.unl.edu/faircups
Online YQCA: https://yqcaprogram.org/
Instructor led class: https://go.unl.edu/yqcamerrick
2026 Out-of-County 4-H Shows, Workshops, Clinics & Camps https://www.facebook.com/merrickcounty4h/photos_albums
Special Garden Project: https://4h.unl.edu/statewide.../special-garden-project/
Special Agronomy Project: https://cropwatch.unl.edu/youth/special-agronomy-project/
Summer Workshop Registration
https://v2.4honline.com/ #/user/sign-in

06/12/2026

06/12/2026

📢PRE-ORDERS DUE
SUNDAY, JUNE 28
MIDNIGHT

🥤2026 Food Stand Cups Pre-Order:
https://go.unl.edu/faircups
*Stickers do not need to be pre-ordered. Plenty will be available in the office the week before the fair.

06/11/2026

Attention: Nebraska 4-H State Fair Livestock Exhibitors ❗️
Don’t forget that June 15 is the deadline to complete the online nomination process for any livestock animal you may want to enter for the Nebraska State Fair 4-H.

The process includes:
• Enroll in 4-H
• Review the 4-H animal fairbooks and ID requirements
• Ask the Extension office for official DNA envelopes
• Go to Show Stock Manager and complete the online form for each livestock nomination
• Submit payment in Show Stock Manager
• Turn in your signed and sealed DNA envelopes with hair samples to the Extension office

More information can be found here: https://4h.unl.edu/statewide-events-opportunities/state-fair/livestock-exhibitor/livestock-identification/

06/05/2026

Merrick County 4-H Blast: https://go.unl.edu/4hblast
Special Garden Project: https://4h.unl.edu/statewide.../special-garden-project/
Special Agronomy Project: https://cropwatch.unl.edu/youth/special-agronomy-project/
Animal ID Sheets: https://extension.unl.edu/.../merrick-county-fair-resources/
ONLINE STATE FAIR ANIMAL NOMINATIONS https://4h.unl.edu/.../livestoc.../livestock-identification/
Online YQCA: https://yqcaprogram.org/
Instructor led class: https://go.unl.edu/yqcamerrick
2026 Out-of-County 4-H Shows, Workshops, Clinics & Camps https://www.facebook.com/merrickcounty4h/photos_albums
Summer Workshop Registration
https://v2.4honline.com/ #/user/sign-in

06/04/2026

🌟Thank you to our instructor Alex Stocker and the AMAZING facility at Central City High School for opening your doors to a 🍀 welding workshop. These 4-H members learned how to mig weld, whether their first time or not they all created a butt joint, lap joint, and t joint and have more hours and experience welding than the day before. They also had time to be as creative as they wanted with some scraps on hand. Some were very creative!

⁉️Question to you all, how well do you know your 4-H members when they are all PPE'D up?!

✅️Come to the Merrick County Fair and check out all the great work and effort these 4-Hers put into this workshop!