Minnesota State Fair rolls out new dairy show schedule

FALCON HEIGHTS, Minn. — Minnesota State Fair dairy cattle staff member Barry Visser believes the changes being made to the open dairy class show schedule for this year’s edition of the Great Minnesota Get-Together will prove to be a change in a positive direction.

This year the fair will depart from the practice of having the four breeds with smaller numbers competing the first day and the three with larger shows competing on the second day. Instead, heifers of all breeds will be judged Aug. 26, and cows of all breeds will compete Aug 27.

“This idea came, really 100% from the exhibitors,” Visser said. “On the last day of the open class encampment, we hold an exhibitors meeting that is very well attended, and the idea first came up there a couple of years ago and got tabled. This last year we did a straw poll vote, and a vast majority of exhibitors were in favor of trying it.”

Like previous years, there will continue to be three rings being judged at one time.

The show Aug. 26 will get underway at 9 a.m. with Red & White Holstein heifers showing. At 10 a.m., Brown Swiss  and Ayrshire heifers will start. The show will resume at 1 p.m., with Holstein and Jersey heifers; Guernseys and Milking Shorthorns will alternate, by class, in the third ring.

Cows will begin to enter the ring Aug. 27 at 9 a.m., beginning with Red & White Holsteins. Brown Swiss and Ayrshires will begin at 10 a.m. At 1 p.m. the show will resume with Holstein and Jersey cows. Guernseys and Milking Shorthorns will continue to alternate, by class, in the third ring.

After the exhibitors approved the idea last fall, Visser said Deb Krause, dairy cattle superintendent, took the idea to the state fair board and presented it again at the Minnesota Purebred Dairy Cattle Association meeting in March.

The idea was a cow-centric one, Visser said.

“The biggest reason for doing this is to give the cows in those smaller breeds some extra time,” Visser said. “Everyone has to be here by noon on Monday, but the first group of cows hits the ring at 1 p.m. on Tuesday. It can be pretty hard to get them ready in that short time frame.”

Open class exhibitors have to wait for the animals from the 4-H encampment to leave and for the barns to be cleaned and disinfected before they can access the fairgrounds. The time frame varies, and it is not an infrequent sight to see trailers lined up through the evening hours with exhibitors waiting to enter and set up their exhibits. Access is usually gained  early Monday morning.

Exhibitors of Holstein, Jersey and Brown Swiss heifers will lose the day to prepare their animals, but Visser said he believes the new schedule will benefit the show overall.

“Those exhibitors would still like the extra day to get their heifers ready,” Visser said. “But if you think of the show as a whole and every exhibitor,
I think this is a really nice compromise for those that have been showing on Tuesday.”

Paul Fritsche, a dairy farmer from New Ulm, has been exhibiting his family’s Guernseys at the fair for over 50 years. Fritsche and his family have faced the tight turnaround from move in to show day for their cows for years. As an exhibitor, Fritsche echoed Visser’s sentiments about the new schedule.

“It’s like giving reasons; I can argue it either way,” Fritsche said. “One minus is convenience for the spectators. They’ll have to get a hotel room, spend two days at the fair to watch a certain show. But who is the show actually for, the spectators or the exhibitors who come to compete? We had a year we were late getting in. … (We arrived) just before noon on Monday and we had cows going to the ring in 25 hours. This will be much better for the cows.”

Visser, like Fritsche, said he recognizes that spectators will now need to stay two days to watch a class.

“I get that’s an inconvenience or deterrent, but overall the changes were tremendously popular from an exhibitor standpoint,” he said.

This year’s show will feature Lynn Harbaugh of Marion, Wisconsin, placing both the Holstein and Red & White Holstein shows. Allyn Paulson of Rockford, Illinois, will take the helm of the Ayrshire, Guernsey and Milking Shorthorn shows. Rick Thompson of Darlington, Wisconsin, will place Brown Swiss and Jerseys and Kyle Demmer of Farley, Iowa, will serve as the associate judge of both the Holstein and the Red & White Holstein shows.

Visser said he feels the changes have been well-communicated to exhibitors, but is concerned there might be spectators caught off guard.

“The general public could have missed the changes,” Visser said. “Especially spectators coming over to watch the shows from Wisconsin, (as) there are a lot of people from Wisconsin who are a lot closer to the Minnesota State Fair than most of the exhibitors from Minnesota.”

Fritsche said he believes the changes will be an improvement.

“Anything we can do to make it a little better for the cows, I think that’s a win,” Fritsche said. “That’s just the way us cow guys are.”