Youth for the Quality Care of Livestock YQCA

It is never too early to complete your YQCA for the year! Go to https://yqcaprogram.org/login/index.php

Nebraska 4-H requires all youth enrolled in livestock projects to complete ANNUAL quality assurance certification through Youth for the Quality Care of Animals (YQCA). 4-H members ages 8-18, who are enrolled in any of the livestock projects listed below are required to participate in an annual YQCA training. Annual training requirements may be satisfied by completing either an online web based training course or a face-to-face instructor-led training course. Animal projects that require YQCA certification training are Beef, Dairy Cattle, Dairy Goats, Meat Goats, Poultry, Rabbits, Sheep and Swine. Clover kids are not required to complete YQCA to show livestock.

2024 Scheduled Face-to-Face Trainings

  • December 27, 2023, 9:00 am - Holt Co Annex, O’Neill
  • February 5, 2024, 7:00 pm - Holt Co Annex, O’Neill
  • March 12, 2024 - 6:30 pm -  FFA Classroom, Boyd County School, Spencer - Meal provided by Boyd County FFA
  • April 8, 2024, 7:00 pm - Holt Co Annex, O’Neill
  • June 5, 2024, 9:00 am - Holt Co Annex, O’Neill

Plan on trainings lasting 1 to 1½ hours.

How to Register/Pay
Each youth must register and pay for the face-to-face training they plan on attending (before the class is preferable). Go here to register - https://yqcaprogram.org/ 

  • Face-to-face training is $3.00 paid online
  • On-line training is $12.00 paid online

Important:
1. Each participant MUST complete a pre-test and a post-test in order to be marked as completing the training.
2. The system will not prompt you to complete the PRE-TEST but the Extension Office is NOT able to mark youth as COMPLETE and assign them their certificate until they complete both the pre-test and then the post-test following the training.
3. The following videos have been developed to help walk families through the process for in person learning and web-based learning. These helpful videos are available on www.yqcaprogram.org. Below are direct links to the videos:

If you have more questions there is a Youth and Parent Help Page at https://yqcaprogram.org/local/youth_parents.php

Test Out Options/Cost
The test out options are only available to youth in the first year of Intermediate (age 12) and Senior (age 15) age levels. There is no test-out option for Juniors. If passed, youth will not be required to complete the annual training requirements for the remainder of their current age level (Intermediates: 12-14; Seniors: 15-18). Each test consists of 50 randomly selected questions and has a pass rate of 80% or better for certification.

Participants will have only one chance to take the test-out option. If youth fail, they will not be provided another opportunity to test out of that age level. Participants who do not pass will be prompted to take the instructor-led training or web-based training annually.

If the youth passes, payment for the completed test-out course will be required after the completion of the test. No payment is required to attempt the test.

Test-out costs are:

  • Intermediate: $36 ($12 x 3 years of certification)
  • Senior: $48 ($12 x 4 years of certification)

ALL YQCA must be completed and online certificates due in the extension office

  • Boyd County: July 11, 2024
  • Holt County: July 21, 2024

Holt Boyd 4-H Animals