County-fair livestock shows teach children far more than how to lead an animal into the ring, argues Heidi Crnkovic, associate editor of AGDAILY, in a signed column. The views are the writer's own.

Crnkovic writes that showing livestock has become a business for fitters, brokers, breeders, trainers and photographers, but that its heart is still children and families, and for many it starts at the county fair, where they learn responsibility, sportsmanship, and how to win with humility and lose with grace.

She criticises the contention that has grown around fairs, from rules and eligibility to judges, weigh-ins and protests. Families, she says, must learn the rules and speak respectfully to fair boards and volunteers, and those in charge must listen with the same respect, because "there are kids watching". Rules matter, she adds, but so does how they are communicated and enforced.

Writing as a single mother who grew up showing livestock after her own father died, she describes a community that has lost fair-board members, supporters and parents in recent years, and neighbours who haul trailers, lend equipment, feed animals and cheer for children who are not their own.

"The livestock show matters, but the people standing around the ring matter so much more," she concludes.

Photo: USDAgov / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

Source: AGDAILY