May 18, 2020
YQCA Requirement Continues for State Shows
All Kansas State Fair Grand Drive and KJLS exhibitors are required to be Youth for the Quality Care of Animals (YQCA) certified. Youth who state nominate market and commercial female projects need to have a current and valid YQCA number or Youth PQA+ certification number at the time of nomination. A copy of each child's YQCA certificate or Youth PQA+ card must be attached to the Declaration Form. Certification(s) must be valid through October 4, 2020,to be accepted. Any nominations received without the appropriate YQCA or Youth PQA+ number will be considered incomplete. The Youth PQA Plus program was discontinued on May 31, 2018. So, youth who need quality assurance certification will need to complete YQCA training. The National Pork Board and the two state shows in Kansas will honor Youth PQA Plus numbers until they expire.
For youth who did not complete an instructor-led YQCA course by the second week of March, the online course is the best viable option available to fulfill the requirement in the foreseeable future. All participants must sign up through the YQCA website prior to training in order to receive their certificate and official number. Families need to visit www.yqca.org to register youth for the course. After completing the training, families will need to sign in to their YQCA user account, using the same method they did to register for a class, to view and print their YQCA certificate(s). There are also resources on the program, course registration, and printing certificates on the Quality Assurance tab of the KSU Youth Livestock Program website.
There is now an option for 7-year-olds to obtain certification, but they must attend an instructor-led class. The online course is NOT available for these youth. This means training options for age 7 youth is suspended until face-to-face classes may resume. As a reminder for the state show level, the requirement for 7-year-old exhibitors to be certified does not go into effect until 2021, so they will continue being exempt for KJLS this year. Those who have a county-level quality assurance requirement should discuss the situation with their fair board to determine how the situation will be handled locally.
For more information, please contact Lexie Hayes at adhayes@ksu.edu or 785-532-1264.