Livestock Quality Assurance (QA) Certification is required for all youth exhibiting a market animal, dairy cow or dairy goat project at the Muskingum County Fair.
Certification can be obtained in one of three ways:
1) Youth can participate in a QA program provided by OSU Extension. Youth may attend any QA regardless of the animal they are exhibiting.
In-Person Program Dates
Veteran’s Building, Fairgrounds
April 4, 6-8 p.m.
April 26, 6-8 p.m.
May 8, 6-8 p.m.
- Parent attendance is not required, but encouraged.
- Plan to arrive early, as youth will not receive credit for attending if they arrive more than 10 minutes after the program starts. Youth must complete and submit the attendance card at the end to receive credit.
Zoom Sessions
$10 non-refundable registration fee per youth, paid online. Register here: go.osu.edu/muskqa2023.
May 1, 5:30 & 7 p.m.
- Session attendance is limited to 50 youth per session and pre-registration is required.
- Fee is $10 per participant, paid via credit card in advance. Registration fee is non-refundable. Your spot is only reserved once payment is made.
- Each participant needs to log in from a DIFFERENT device, as only one person can be visible on screen at a time for attendance taking purposes.
- Sessions are designed to be one hour, but could run over a few minutes.
- Participants will be required to have their camera on for the duration of the session and respond to poll questions throughout. Youth should plan to arrive early, as youth will not receive credit for attending if they arrive more than 5 minutes after the program starts.
- Attendance will be taken at the beginning and end of each session. Only registered youth can receive credit for attending.
2) Complete the Youth for the Quality Care for Animals (YQCA) Online Course.
The online module completed must be for the correct 4-H age. Only the YQCA courses currently meet ODA standards. BQA, PQA, BEST and other online programs do not meet this requirement. Families use their 4HOnline log in to complete the course. The cost is $12 per youth.
Program details: go.osu.edu/yqca
If youth complete online, they need to forward the completion certificate to mcconnell.210@osu.edu.
3) Youth can participate in the test out option.
All youth 12-14 years of age (4-H age) may take a QA test designed for their age group. If they pass the test with a score of 70% or greater, the youth will be certified in QA until they turn 15 years old.
All youth 15-18 years of age (4-H age) may take a QA test designed for their age group. If they pass the test with a score of 70% or greater, the youth will be certified in QA for the remainder of their Junior Fair years.
Youth will either take the Large Animal (Beef, Dairy, Goat, Sheep, Swine) test or Small Animal (Poultry, Rabbit) test. QA certification is good for all animal projects taken no matter which test is passed.
Youth are only permitted to take one test per calendar year. If a youth does not pass the QA test, they will be required to attend a QA program to gain certification.
A study guide is available online at: go.osu.edu/qastudyguide.
QA Test-Out Dates
Participants MUST pre-register no later than the day before the test-out: go.osu.edu/muskqatestout
April 4, 4:30-5:30 p.m., Veteran’s Building
April 26, 4:30-5:30 p.m., Veteran’s Building
- Youth may arrive to take the test anytime in the testing window, but must submit the test by the end time.
- Youth complete the test at their own pace. It is 50 questions multiple choice.