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Youth Market Turkey Show

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Registration for YMTS has been delayed until April 9, 2024, due to unforeseen circumstances. We apologize for any inconvenience.

The Youth Market Turkey Show is an opportunity for youth to raise and show a market turkey at the N.C. State Fair. The competition is open to any NC youth between the ages of 5-18 who will be in grades K-12 on the day of the show. The youth will register in March, pay a $30 entrance fee, and complete their Showorks & W-9 registration forms to be eligible to pick up three poults at the university in June. From this point, youth will rear their birds at home, and then bring back their best market turkey to the N.C. State Fair show in October.

Apply for the 2024 NC State Fair Livestock Scholarship!

If you are a high school senior or college student who has participated in the Youth Market Turkey Show, you are eligible to apply for the North Carolina State Fair Livestock Scholarship. Up to 25 $2,000 scholarships will be given to NC young people. Applications are due March 1, 2024. Find out more at the NC State Fair website or check out the application.

2024 YMTS T-shirt Design Contest

The deadline for 2024 entries is February 15.

Do you know youth interested in poultry, art, and/or design?

Any youth, 5–18 years old, may enter; no 4-H/FFA affiliation is required. A sketch or hand-drawn design is acceptable; snap a photo and load it in the 2024 YMTS T-shirt Design Contest Submission Form. Preference is given to original hand-drawn or digital artwork. If parts of the design are not made by the youth, then where it came from and copyright info must be included.

Designs are to promote youth, turkeys, North Carolina, and/or the North Carolina State Fair. The artist who submits the winning design will win a free 2024 YMTS registration and a T-shirt with your design on it.

The submission deadline is February 15, 2024. Submit your entry here.

Congratulations to our past t-shirt Design Winners: 

      2023  YMTS  t-shirt design co-winners: Meredith Poole and Valerie Poole 

2022 YMTS t-shirt design winner:  Ava Proctor

2021 YMTS t-shirt design winner: John Tucker

2020 YMTS t-shirt design winner: Camille Clark

2024 YMTS Pen Sign Contest

art pallettrophyturkey cartoonArt/Pen Signage Contest Rules 
     1) Anyone participating in 2024 YMTS is eligible to enter. The prizes will be Ribbons, T-shirts, and Free & Guaranteed Registration for next year’s contest.
     2) Award will be given to the most creative, eye-catching signage for each of the Lil Gobbler, Junior, and Senior Age Categories.
     3) The sign should be made a standard 12″ x 6″ size (this is the size of a license plate), made of turkey-proof material like wood, heavy plastic, or heavy cardboard, and displayed in the upper part of the pen. Make sure to have some way to secure the sign to the pen; examples include predrilled holes and zip ties. Not responsible for loss or damage of signs; remember to hang signs out of reach of curious turkeys. Extra credit is given for upcycling/recycling materials.
     4) Information that needs to be on the front of your sign is Your Name, Age, Number of Years you have been doing the YMTS and Turkey’s Name. Everything else is up to your artistic license.
      5) The sign will be judged night of Oct. 9th; you must bring and install your sign the day of the Weigh-in.

Important Dates

YMTS Weigh-In – October 9, 2024, Wed, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Each participant’s turkey can be dropped off at the State Fairgrounds Kelley Building between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Drive into the fairgrounds through Gate 4 on Youth Center Drive to drop off turkeys. When you arrive at Gate 4, signage will indicate where you will need to go.

Your bird will be checked for health and weighed. Your turkeys must be transported with bedding like shavings/straw (non-slick surface) to prevent slipping. Birds with infections or weighing less than 12 lbs. will not be accepted for show and will be returned to the exhibitor. Once birds are accepted, they will be numbered with a leg band and put in their pen. You will be asked to bring feed and water and provide it for your bird.

2024 Youth Market Turkey Show – October 10, 2024, 9 a.m.

The show starts at 9:00 a.m. in the North Carolina State Fairgrounds Kelley Building.

Registration 

Registration is DELAYED due to unforeseen circumstances. We apologize for any issues this may cause. The new registration date is April 9, 2024, open at 9 a.m. 

Please be sure to have the following information for each participant: full legal name, county of residence, physical address including city, state, zip code, age, and  T-shirt size. Please note, that this year’s ages will be based on a January 1st cut-off (rather than the June 1st cut-off used in past years).

The age divisions, based on age as of January* 1 are:
Lil’ Gobbler (5-8)
Junior (9-13)
Senior (14-18)

Acknowledgments

A special thanks to the Prestage Department of Poultry Science at NC State University for helping to make this event possible.

Thank you to Aviagen for providing poults for each participant in 2023 YMTS.

Thank you to Circle S Ranch for sponsoring this event in 2023.

For additional information contact

Dr. Mary Fosnaught

E-mail: mhfosnau@ncsu.edu
Phone: +1 919.515.5529