It's not a Summer without a County Fair!

When people think about a county fair, they most likely think about rodeos, concerts, carnival rides, cotton candy, or even the good ole funnel cake. However, when  I think of a county fair, my first thought is all of the 4-H and FFA exhibits. These exhibits can range from food to livestock. Even though these exhibits get displayed for a short period of time, many don't realize how much work goes into getting a project ready to exhibit at the county fair. I can actually speak from experience as I am a former 4-Her and FFA member who took a variety of projects to the fair when I was younger. My favorite project that I took to the fair was cattle! For some reason I grew fond of showing cattle and enjoyed the work that went into getting my calf ready for the fair. We would spend every morning leading up to the fair rinsing our show calves and then combing their hair to get it to grow. This could take up to two hours each morning and could take even longer in the evening as we did the exact same thing. While it was a lot of hard work, it all paid off in the end as both my sister and I were fortunate enough to win numerous awards for our show calves.

Everything I just mentioned above is actually what my family experienced again this year as my sister showed at the Webster County Fair in Bladen, NE. We took six head of cattle over to the fair that included two steers, one market heifer, one breeding heifer, and a cow-calf pair. Overall, my sister had a great fair and won numerous champion and reserve champion awards due to all the hard work leading up to the fair.

Even though my sister and our family worked hard to get our calves ready for the fair, we weren't the only ones. Every 4-Her and FFA member that exhibited at the fair this year put a lot of time into their projects. That's why I would encourage anyone that attends a county fair, or even a state fair, to check out the exhibits. I think many would be amazed at how talented today's 4-Hers and FFA members are! They are truly the future of the agriculture industry!

Below are the pictures I took of our county fair! 

During our county fair, temperatures reached into the triple digits. To help keep our show calves cool, we used fans and kept them watered throughout the day.

My sister received Grand Champion Senior Showman along with many other Grand Champion awards.

This was our cow-calf pair my sister showed that received Webster County Supreme Breeding Animal.

My former FFA chapter had it's banner displayed so that people walking through the barns knew which club or chapter the exhibitor belonged to.

Before we take our animals into the show ring, we put them into a blocking chute that allows us to groom them and enhance their image for the judge.