April 17, 2023
YQCA Requirement for the State Shows
Youth for the Quality Care of Animals (YQCA) is a national, multi‐species youth livestock quality assurance program that focuses on food safety, animal well‐being, and life skill development, through age‐appropriate educational curriculum for youth 7‐21 years of age. This program is an annual certification that grows with a young person, so the learning modules are different every year. ALL exhibitors are required to be YQCA certified in order to participate in the 2023 Kansas State Fair Grand Drive and/or Kansas Junior Livestock Show (KJLS). This includes youth who will be showing market animals, commercial breeding females, and/or registered purebred breeding females. Families should contact their local extension office to see what options are available in their local area.
The YQCA program transitioned to a new platform in March of 2022, so families will need to create an account using the new website: https://yqcaprogram.org/. Families will be prompted to upload their YQCA certificates into the online system while submitting their state livestock nominations. The system will only ask once, so families need to be prepared to upload it, as well as their family’s completed Declaration Form, upon entering their first animal. More information may be found on the K‐State Youth Livestock website (https://www.asi.k-state.edu/extension/youth-programs/) under YQCA, by contacting the local extension office, or through Lexie Hayes at adhayes@ksu.edu or 785‐532‐1264.