For 12-year-old Nathan Schmaltz of the Irricana 4-H multi-club, winning grand champion market lamb was special because it was his first year in the youth group.
“My friends were talking about how much fun it was so I joined,” he said after selling his prize lamb for $7 a pound to Lyle Hagel of Beiseker.
He was participating in 4-H on Parade, an event for clubs from the Calgary region held on May 27-29 in Calgary.
Schmaltz plans to use the money earned for his champion and group of three Hampshire-Suffolk crosses to pay for the lambs’ care and buy more sheep. A Grade 7 student at Beiseker, he has learned to juggle caring for lambs, attending school and playing hockey.
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It was a new experience for him where he had to learn to keep records, halter break lambs and take care of them.
“It was probably the most information- filled year I have ever had,” he said.
Schmaltz grew attached to the lambs and decided to keep one to show at Summer Synergy in July.
Schmaltz was joined by fellow club members, Coleman and Adam Nixdorff of Airdrie, who showed the grand and reserve champion steers respectively.
Coleman, 15, earned $9.80 a lb. or $12,122 for his champion Black Baldie steer. The buyer was Cam Clarke Ford of Calgary.
Adam Nixdorff sold his reserve steer for $7 a lb. to the Calgary Stampede.
Cash rewards and project diversity have helped the Calgary event grow, said Rob Smith, Alberta Agriculture 4-H specialist.
There are 52 clubs in the region and 36 came to Calgary with project displays ranging from livestock and archery to welding and cake decorating.
“The life skills component has exploded,” said Smith. “It made the existing clubs realize 4-H is anything you want it to be.”
Smith said offering other projects exposes members to experts who can teach them anything from scrapbooking to ironworks.
Each year, a club raises a lamb and a steer and donates the proceeds to charity. STARS ambulance service was this year’s recipient.
The Irricana club raised the lamb, which sold for $15 a lb. to Rod Macleod of Balzac and the steer, raised by the Bow Valley club, was auctioned off at $10 a lb. to Encana Corporation.
