Friday was a busy day of showing livestock for 4-H and FFA members at the Ringgold County Fair in Mount Ayr.
The 4-H and FFA swine show kicked off at 8 a.m. at the Ringgold County Fairgrounds, located on the north side of Mount Ayr along Highway 169. Of course, scheduling and organization of this year?s fair ? and any others that are taking place throughout the state ? was challenging due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Loran Sneller, Ringgold County Extension youth coordinator, talked with the Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network about the team effort to make sure the show went on this year in a safe manner.
?We just wanted to give the kids the most positive experience that we could give them,? Sneller said. ?Yes, we?re taking those safety measures. You?ll see us walking around with gloves and wipes and wiping everything down between shows. During the swine show right now, in between classes we?re actually spraying everything down so we?re not carrying anything from person to person. We want everyone to be safe.?
?As you can tell, people are spread out throughout the stands,? she added. ?Nobody sitting in a huddle of 20 people. They are kind of all spread out.?
The swine show was very impressive, and Sneller says you could tell the kids have been working extra hard this year to get ready for show day. This year?s livestock shows were done in a ?show and go? fashion.
?You could tell these kids have been home more and have been working with their animals more than they normally have,? Sneller said. ?We have some kids who are super excited to be here, but then we have other kids that are excited as well, but they are like ?oh man I only get to be here for one day.? Animals come in the morning. You show, and then you leave.?
Sneller adds several 4-H exhibits were on display inside the 4-H building on the fairgrounds.
?Not our normal huge numbers, but we did have some exhibits in our 4-H building,? she said. ?I like going through all of the exhibits and looking at them. There is some really cool things. You can tell the kids have been home for so long and have been able to work on things.?
Events that were scheduled to be held over the weekend included the 4-H bucket calf show, pee wee wrangler show, 4-H and FFA beef show, and the Ringgold County Cattlemen contest. Our video coverage from the fair can be found below.
https://www.facebook.com/IowaAgRadio/videos/278074860283413/
