SUMMER 2023 VALIDATION:  STEERS & HEIFERS – LAMB & GOATS – HORSES

Tag Orders: Due April 5, 2023 to the Extension Office

Late Tag Orders: Due June 1, 2023

Order Forms

• 2023 State Fair Lamb & Goat Order Form
• 2023 Summer Steer & Heifer Order Form

Summer Validation Dates:

• Location: North Texas Fairgrounds
• Thursday, June 22nd 5:30 – 8:30 PM (evening hours)
• Friday, June 29th 6:00 – 10:00 AM (morning hours)

Questions: Contact Zach Davis (zach.davis@ag.tamu.edu) or Steven Baringer (steven.baringer@ag.tamu.edu). The office phone number is 940-349-2884.

Please see all of the new changes to validation below from the State Validation Office: 

Steers and Heifers

• **NEW** FOR 2023 all state validated heifers will be tagged similar to steers. This will bring our heifer validation program in line with breeding sheep, breeding goats, and breeding gilts. Please order tags accordingly. This is a change from the heifer UINs where you were charged based on animals validated, not ordered.
• **NEW** FOR 2023 both steers and heifers will be charged the same validation fee(increased fee). This increase in cost is due to two factors we are facing this year. 1) In an effort to be in compliance with Texas Animal Health Commission, we are switching our previous EID frequency tags to 840 frequency EID tags. This will allow our state validated livestock to move in compliance with TAHC across state lines and be in compliance when issues a Certificate of Veterinary Inspection (health papers). This is a move in a positive direction, but does come at an increased cost. 2) Costs and fees have increased across the board, as well as expanding the services of the validation program to additional shows. That said, we must compensate accordingly to continue to provide educators, exhibitors, and their families the continued support, education, and consistency we have established. Please keep in mind the validation fee is not ONLY for the cost of the tag, but the entire validation SYSTEM that includes personnel, travel to livestock shows, a robust online database/maintenance, and our validation compliance team that helps ensure our rules and guidelines are enforced to ensure a fair and level playing field for Texas livestock exhibitors.
• Heifers that are already validated and have not changed breed or ownership, do not need to be revalidated with a tag. Only newly validated heifers will get a tag and will be charged the new validation fee. As always, if a heifer changes ownership or breed, they must be revalidated.
• There will still be two validation seasons for heifers (June and October). Steers will still only have one validation in June.

 State Fair Sheep and Goats

• *NEW FOR 2023* Lambs and goats validated during the 2023 State Fair Validation Period WILL BE ELIGIBLE for 2024 Spring Major Shows. Market animals validated for the 2023 State Fair will carryover for 2024 Spring Major Shows. Once validated, the project MUST stay in the care of the exhibitor that project is validated to; if the exhibitor chooses to sell the project to a new exhibitor, the new exhibitor MUST REVALIDATE the project within the next validation period. Please see the Validation Guidelines for more details.

• REMINDERS:

• • The State Fair of Texas is requiring validation for registered breeding sheep, registered breeding goats, wether/commercial dams, and wether/commercial does.
  • In 2021, Sheep and Goat Validation of Texas announced the introduction of the Roll-over Breeding Sheep and Breeding Goat program.
    • For example, any BREEDING animal validated during the State Fair 2021 validation period is eligible to be exhibited by that exhibitor through the State Fair 2024 show season. IF OWNERSHIP CHANGES, THEN THE ANIMAL MUST BE RE-VALIDATED. Please see the Validation Guidelines for more details.

State Fair & Heart of Texas – Swine Tags

$18 – Deadline is April 17th
$23 – Late Deadline is May 26th

Contact the office to order, validation will take place in June

Horse Validation 2023

Texas 4-H Horse Validation for the 2023 season will be open in 4H Online from March 1 – May 1, 2023.

Here are the validation guidelines: 2023 Texas 4-H Horse Validation – Guidelines for Families

A few important reminders:

• ALL horses must be validated/re-validated each year. There is no limit to the number of horses that can be validated. You are encouraged to validate all horses that may possibly be shown at district and/or state shows. Only state validated horses can be substituted in the event that a validated horse becomes unusable due to lameness, sickness, etc.
• The family can submit payment of $10.00 per horse ($20.00 after April 15^th, or $250 from May 1^st to May 5^th), in the form of a credit card ONLY.
  • From March 1 – April 15, the validation cost for each horse is $10.00. The $10.00 cost is only guaranteed if the animal validation is approved by the county office by the April 15^th deadline and the payment is processed.
  • From April 16 – May 1, the validation cost for each horse is $20.00. The $20.00 cost is only guaranteed if the animal validation is approved by the county office by the May 1^st deadline and the payment is processed.
• Each validation must include front view, right side view, and left side view images.  The entire horse should be included in the photo and markings should be clearly visible.
• If the horse is registered, a copy of the registration papers must be uploaded.  These papers must list the 4-Her, sibling, parent, stepparent, grandparent or legal guardian as the current owner. If the ownership is in the process of being transferred, please list “pending” in the registration number area.  Once the updated registration papers have been received, please email me a copy of the new papers and I will add it to the validation.
• *NEW IN 2023* – Lease horses are now eligible to be validated and shown at District and State 4-H Horse Shows. An official Texas 4-H Horse Lease Agreement must be signed by the exhibitor, horse owner, and the supervising County Extension Agent. The lease period must include, at minimum, May 1^st to August 31^st of the current 4-H year. The lease agreement form can be found at https://texasyouthlivestock.com/horse-validation/ and must be uploaded to 4H Online at the time of validation.
• Image uploads in 4H Online must be in the form of a .jpg, .gif or .png file.
• Families should validate each horse only one time. Once the horse is validated, any sibling within that family is eligible to show the horse at their district show and/or the State 4-H Horse Show.
• Youth validating a futurity horse must be at least 12 years of age (as of Sept. 1, 2022) and at least in the 6^th grade.

Validation walk-through guide for families:  https://texas4-h.tamu.edu/wp-content/uploads/4honline_family_guide_horse_validation_2023.pdf

• For additional one-pagers and other resources, please visit https://texasyouthlivestock.com/horse-validation/
• Validation walk-through video: https://youtu.be/OPoOmyC1kTk
• The family will receive an automated message from 4-H Online when the County Extension Agent has approved the horse at the county level. This approval does NOT guarantee eligibility. After it is approved at the county level, the validation will then be reviewed at the state level. The family will be notified by June 1^st if there are any issues with the validation at the state level.
  • We will begin to review validations at the state level on March 1^st and will be working closely with families and agents to fix errors as quickly as possible prior to the validation deadline.