Pictured: An Exhibitor and her pig at the 2019 Wisconsin State Fair.
County fairs throughout the state have been canceling for weeks and now the Wisconsin State Fair has officially been called off for 2020. Sure, it’ll be a summer that lacks copious amounts of cheese curds and elephant ears…but for youth livestock exhibitors it is so much more than that. It is a lost opportunity to exhibit their projects, win that blue ribbon, and auction off their animal on a warm summer evening.
“Certainly for young people it’s a downer” that fairs are getting canceled, says Bernie O’Rourke, Extension Youth Livestock Specialist. “It’s sad and it’s frustrating and certainly for many it’s just not what they planned.” O’Rourke explains that the impact goes far beyond youth exhibitors and extends to the families and communities behind them. “It’s parents, grandparents, community leaders…it’s impacting everybody.”
For many, their county fair or the State Fair is the premiere summer event that is circled on the calendar as soon as the ball drops on New Year’s Eve. It’s a time that all of the late evenings and early morning working with an animal comes to fruition. But many are unsure what fairs being canceled means for exhibiting and marketing their projects.
One of the biggest questions that has been consistently raised in the aftermath of fair cancellations is whether or not kids will be able to market their projects. Many local butchers simply do not have space available at this point in time. “Ideally here in Wisconsin with all of our processing plants you’d think we would be okay but there are plants booking out way into next year,” says O’Rourke. She also mentions that fairs are working with processors to make sure the spots that are normally available during a fair year are still open for youth’s animals. At this point, it is a county by county basis. “Some fairs may still have an auction…some may not.”
So many things are up in the air when it comes to youth exhibiting and marketing their projects this year. The Mid-West Farm Report has heard rumblings of alternatives that could fill the void for exhibitors but nothing concrete has occurred at this time. In the coming weeks, there will hopefully be some more clarity with all of this. But one thing is for sure, the impact that this has on 4-H and FFA exhibitors is tremendous and it needs to be recognized.
A full list of canceled county fairs can be found here.
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