By Ron Wilson, director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University.
“Never underestimate the power of youth.” That is the phrase used by an extension agent whose 4-H youth helped conduct an innovative livestock show entirely using technology.
Lacey Noterman is a livestock and youth extension agent for the K-State Research and Extension Wild West District, serving Haskell, Seward and Stevens counties in southwest Kansas. A native of Dighton, she was on the livestock judging team at Fort Hays State before joining the extension service in Haskell County.
In 2016, Lacey helped launch a 4-H livestock ambassador program in Haskell County. This was intended to give youth a bigger voice in livestock-related 4-H activities and help prepare them as advocates for animal agriculture. Ambassadors are selected annually by the livestock show and sale committee. “(To avoid favoritism,) I remove the names from the applications and then the committee makes the selection,” Lacey said. Continue reading “Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Lacey Noterman, virtual livestock show”
