Youth for the Quality Care of Animals (YQCA Training)

What is YQCA?

Youth for the Quality Care of Animals is a one-hour training program developed by Extension and animal production professionals from around the country. It provides a high quality, consistent education for youth producers of animals that promotes workforce development and teaches industry standards for future livestock producers.

This program was developed with leadership from members of the National Pork Board, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, American Rabbit Breeders Association, American Sheep Industry Association, and the North Carolina and California FFA Associations, along with experts from land-grant universities around the country.

Learn more about this youth-led program

Why does Oregon 4-H require this training?

Oregon 4-H is committed to ethical animal care and high-quality education in all aspects of animal science. Following concerns about auction animal handling and extensive discussions with our statewide advisory committee, we chose to implement this training to ensure that all youth participating in animal science projects have a solid foundation in animal care, record-keeping, and food safety.

YQCA’s development with the expertise of so many industry leaders and professionals means that this training offers the opportunity to help 4-H do what it does best: prepare youth to be the best of the best in their field. For youth interested in animal science and livestock production, 4-H provides a high-quality educational and leadership development experience that helps grow a prepared workforce of industry leaders with the expertise needed to keep U.S. Agriculture the best in the world.

With increasing complexity and overwhelming amounts of information in today’s world, it’s more important than ever that we provide high-quality education to our future animal producers.

Requiring YQCA helps to:

Prevent accidental issues that could result in carcasses being condemned or unsellable.
Improve the overall quality of livestock, benefiting youth exhibitors and Oregon agriculture.
Protect the integrity of 4-H youth livestock auctions and sustain strong resale prices.

For small animal and horse project members, alternative care and ethics training is available online.

Upcoming Small Animal and Horse Ethics Training

Jun 2

Small Animal Quality Care and Ethics Workshop

6:30 pm - 8:00 pm PDT Online

Jun 9

Horse Quality Care and Ethics Workshop

6:30 pm - 8:00 pm PDT Online

How does YQCA benefit our youth, Oregon agriculture and our communities?

YQCA certification benefits youth participants by teaching them:

How to responsibly care for their animals and keep accurate health and feed records.
The importance of food safety and responsible antibiotic use.
Ethical decision-making and consumer education.

YQCA strengthens Oregon’s agricultural industry by:

Ensuring that youth exhibitors understand and follow proper food production standards.
Promoting better quality livestock quality at fairs, auctions, and beyond.
Supporting consumer confidence in locally-raised 4-H animals.

YQCA supports communities by:

Encouraging youth to engage in ethical, responsible farming practices.
Ensuring that animals raised for local fairs and auctions meet high welfare and safety standards.
Educating young people on agricultural sustainability and food systems that prevent the spread of disease.

Why now?

Oregon 4-H has adopted YQCA training due to increasing industry expectations, consumer awareness, and a continuing commitment to the best-available education for our youth. Other states have already implemented similar training, and Oregon is following suit to uphold the highest standards in youth livestock programs.

By ensuring all participants complete this training, we are proactively addressing challenges and reinforcing the integrity of our livestock programs before issues arise.

Do other programs require it?

Yes. YQCA is a widely recognized program that is required by 4-H, FFA, and other youth agricultural programs across the country. Many county and state fairs have also adopted it as a prerequisite for participation in livestock auctions and shows. Oregon 4-H is aligning with national best practices to provide consistent, high-quality education to all youth exhibitors.

Completing your YQCA certification is mandatory for all youth participating in county fairs, the Eastern Oregon Livestock Show (EOLS), and the Oregon State Fair with 4-H. Be sure to check your email for local in-person training opportunities from your 4-H Program Coordinator. If an in-person training isn’t available in your area at a time that works for you, you can complete your certification online at yqcaprogram.org. This training is essential to ensuring the highest standards of animal care, food safety, and ethical responsibility — and to being eligible to exhibit your animals at fair. Don't wait — get certified today!

Learn More & Register for YQCA Training

Credit: Lynn Ketchum (Cropped from original)

More Information

Why isn't the YQCA fee included in the Oregon 4-H statewide fees?

All 4-H members pay the same statewide annual enrollment fees, regardless of project enrollment. Oregon 4-H fees stay in Oregon, supporting statewide coordination and management of 4-H. This includes statewide support for the animal science project areas. Learn more about 4-H state fees and what they support here.

The YQCA training fee is a separate fee that goes directly to the coordinators of this science-backed curriculum. It supports the costs to develop and maintain the content and offer the online training option.

County 4-H programs have options for how to offer YQCA, including in-person and online, costs vary. So it is not practical to include this as a standard fee at the time of enrollment.

What if I can’t afford the $3 or $12 fee, or I don’t have time to attend this training?

We do everything we can to make 4-H programming affordable and accessible to all. However, animal science projects are usually more expensive than any other 4-H project. Animals cost money to buy, raise and maintain; and additional unexpected costs can and do occur.

It is important to choose 4-H projects that are a good fit for your family’s resources, priorities and lifestyle. You should also consider the time commitment required to learn about and raise an animal before committing to a livestock or other animal project.

Livestock projects that result in a sale (for food production or breeding) also provide an opportunity for 4-H'ers to learn important business skills, such as budgeting and recordkeeping. Just like professional producers, youth should learn to plan for the costs to raise and care for animals.

Many county programs have partnered with local animal production organizations or their local 4-H Association to cover the cost of the training; however, Oregon 4-H is not able to cover the cost of YQCA for all animal science project members in the state.

Why aren’t volunteers already teaching this content on their own?

4-H volunteers do an incredible job of teaching many subjects, along with teaching good character and responsibility. However, we do not expect all volunteers to be an expert in all topics or have in-depth experience in all the project areas they lead.

We support volunteers with trainings and materials created specifically for youth development to support them in providing safe, high-quality, research-backed learning experiences for their 4-H'ers.

Using the YQCA curriculum helps ensure everyone gets the same information, whether they are in a club with leaders who have decades of experience or are new to raising and handling animals.

YQCA Board members include industry and Extension and 4-H professionals, such as National Pork Board, American Rabbit Breeders Association, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and many states’ Extension Services.

Do Oregon FFA members have to also take this training? Does it cost the same amount?

The YQCA training fee is the same for all youth who register. At this time, Oregon FFA does not require this training in every county, although some county FFA programs do require and teach YQCA in the classroom. Many states’ 4-H programs and national youth shows require this training, including the American Dairy Goat Association National Show, Washington 4-H, Nebraska 4-H, the North Idaho State Fair, and many more.

Are all 4-H members having to pay this fee?

All Oregon 4-H’ers enrolled in animal science projects who wish to participate as a 4-H'er in any county fairs, Eastern Oregon Livestock Show or the Oregon State Fair are required to take the training to ensure that 4-H is developing a prepared workforce of future animal production industry leaders.

How is this being tracked on a statewide basis? How often is it required?

This training is only required once every two years. So you'll need to take it the first year you're enrolled in an animal science project, then every other year you continue in 4-H. This is to help keep up with changing biosecurity needs in Oregon, progress in animal health products, and industry and consumer trends.

Candi Bothum, statewide animal science program manager, is working with YQCA to keep track of who takes the training each year. This will be compared with our 4-H enrollment lists to ensure we are giving everyone credit for their participation.

To facilitate this, please ensure you sign up for the YQCA training using the same email address you used to enroll in 4-H.

Thank you for your support as we continue to provide the best out-of-school agricultural education opportunities in Oregon and the US!

YQCA Curriculum Objectives

YQCA Curriculum Map

OSU Extension Service

4-H Youth Development