A fair ending to June Dairy Month

No doubt many of you reading this are seasoned fairgoers and veteran animal exhibitors. We are still in the rookie stage of this — kids and most of the adults that are involved. If you recall me writing last fall about how we took cattle to the Hillsboro Labor Day Fair, that was us all dipping our toes in the waters of showing cattle. A trial run. Could we do this? Would the kids work as hard as the adults (or harder)? The answer to both questions was an emphatic, “Yes.” That doesn’t mean I didn’t shake my head repeatedly as we registered 11 head of colorful cattle and six stout pigs for the Elroy Fair. Nine giggly girls. One organized boy. 

Ira was our chief trailer driver. I think he was born with the skill set to back a gooseneck up smooth as silk. John, one of the dads, hauled the pigs with our small trailer. We also filled the back of his truck as full as possible with the extra supplies we needed. Decorating our areas fell to two of the moms and the kids. The final results were great — the kids gave their input and helped make it happen. Jen, a new show mom, made sure we all ate decent meals during the weekend, not just fried fair food. The card table that Dane had wanted so badly to play cards around became our meal area. As far as four days at the fair is concerned, cards and food are of equal importance.    

The pig show is always a test of your pig’s patience, as the trips back and forth to the barn get more frustrating each time. The first jaunt up the hill is one of nerves and excitement for both. The pig has new things to smell, and the jean and button-up shirt clad showman (or woman) is all jittery. By the time they are on their third trip to the ring and back to the pens, they are aggravated, ornery, hot, bothered, and done. Kids and pigs. Yet, the kids did well with the pig posse. We had a reserve gilt, reserve barrow and third place barrow. Olive Oyl, Popeye, Bluto, Sweet Pea, Blossom and Oreo have now all found new purposes, but they made an impression on three first-time, show-pig girls. Stella and Dane were the only ones who had trained pigs before and did their best to help the others. We even had five little girls take them back in the ring for the pee wee showmanship class, all full of smiles and wishes to show their own pigs someday soon. Our young exhibitors already know that next year more walking will be beneficial to not having pooped out pigs on show day.         

After the pig show, it was back to put our attention on the cattle. We had some clipping that needed to be finished up, and, of course, never-ending poop patrol. Our ages ranged from two calves a month old up to two spring yearlings. We had a Jersey calf, Rosie, and her Swiss friend, Wisp, that were small but full of spunk, until Wisp wasn’t. After observing her for a while, it was decided that I would take the crabby children who needed a nap back to the farm, along with Wisp. The trailer was not necessary; I have a farm-mom van that has hauled many things that would not shock any of you. With five kids and a sick calf shoved in the van, we headed back. Then I remembered that we needed to stop to get a butter donation for the Hillsboro Dairy Breakfast. Could it be more fitting that a van load of kids and a calf are now hauling two cases of butter during June Dairy Month? This humored the plant manager greatly as he carried the butter out for me and peeked in the van.  

Then came the rain. The rest of that Friday afternoon, it poured on and off. By show time Saturday morning, the route to the ring was filled with puddles that every child wanted to stomp in, and some animals wanted to lay in. All the girls were in their show whites, with their hair looking as nice and neat as the show cattle. Braids. Hairspray. Blow dryers. Wet wiping any smudges. There was much primping in the dairy barn that morning. Dane was our moral support. He may show a cow next year but did not want to show a calf. Stella and Gizzardgulper took first in the winter calf class, followed by Kendyll and Bean. Kailyn showed Kailyn the calf (this name thing led to endless confusion in conversations) and Sedona, her giant Holstein puppy from last fall. Kendyll also had Mrs. Robinson on a halter again looking mighty fine. Brynn, with her love of colored cattle, had Wisp’s yearling aunt, Waverly, all sleek and gorgeous, taking the reserve spot for any other breed. She also showed Rosie. Lila had Leonard; it was the first time in the ring for both of them and they did a fabulous job. The pee wee girls had their calves as well. Cora had her beloved Daylily, Tassia had Roger and Gemma shared Leonard with Lila. We threw Macy, Lila’s sister, on the rope with Brynn and Rosie in pee wee. Trophies in hand, they were all smiles. 

The farm girls had great support from their brothers, parents, friends and extended family in the stands. Mackenzie, their “show coach” got there just in time to help out and they soaked up every word she said. They were pleased with how the show went and are already looking forward to leading the trio of yearlings after they calve next year. 

Within 15 minutes of the dairy show being over, the littlest of the ladies was barefoot and mud covered from playing in the sandbox turned mud puddle. The calves were cleaner than the kids by the end of the day. It was too hot to cuddle cattle, so the kids retreated to the hammocks strung above the pigpens for the afternoon. As the fair wrapped up Sunday afternoon, all pitched in to clean up and haul supplies and animals home. Exhausted, but happy, I believe we will be doing this for years to come.

Thank you to all of you who work so diligently to make the Elroy Fair such a wonderful place for children to exhibit animals. You have made some children, especially Cora, who wrote on her summer bucket, “Show Daylily,” very, very happy.                                                              

Jacqui Davison and her family milk 800 cows and farm 1,200 acres in northeastern Vernon County, Wisconsin. Her children, Ira, Dane, Henry and Cora, help on the farm while her husband, Keith, works on a grain farm. If she’s not in the barn, she’s probably in the kitchen, trailing after little ones or sharing her passion of reading with someone. Her life is best described as organized chaos, and if it wasn’t, she’d be bored.