UP State Fair 2022– 8/19/22

As I write this, I am sitting outside our camper at the UP State Fair, listening to the sounds of the fairgrounds waking up for the day. Brianna has gone over to the Dairy Barn, bathed, fed and watered her cows, been back to the camper for breakfast and is back to the barn again. Nathan is about the campsites playing with his friends and living his best life. Andy left early to go home and do chores at the ranch and main farm, and will be back later, who knows when.

Time goes by so fast when you are having fun, and our stay at the UP State Fair is no exception! We rolled onto the grounds on Sunday afternoon with a load of animals, a load of grills and patio furniture, one fifth wheel camper loaded to the brim with our belongings and hearts full of hopes and dreams for Brianna and Emily’s 4H projects!

Right away, we were met with disappointment as Emily’s hog didn’t quite make the weight required to participate in the Swine Barn. She was very disappointed, but acknowledged that it was likely that our trip and her busy work schedule contributed to her inability to feed often enough to achieve the required weight. She quickly recovered, and decided to help Brianna with her cow & calf, and is already planning on showing our new steer Blaze next year, who is Kaloha’s calf from this summer.

We didn’t have time to grieve long as we had campsite and stall set-up to complete. We got Karmel and Kutie set up in the dairy barn first with hay, water and some straw for bedding. We then brought the rejected hog back home and packed up more furniture for Andy to run back to the fairgrounds. I stayed home to clean and pack up the camper, and he came back for me and it. We started setting up our campsite, our friends were setting up too, and once that was done we enjoyed supper together, and celebrated the beginning of another fun-filled fair week!

Monday morning after bathing and feeding both cows, we decorated our stall. It’s important for us to get that done before the fair is opened to the public in the afternoon. Every year there is a barn theme, and this year ours was ‘Fall.’ Here’s a snapshot of what we did, just in case you didn’t get to see it for yourself:

On Tuesday, our good friend David Oman clipped the cows for us. It’s customary to shave dairy cattle for the show, while over in the beef barn, where bulk matters, you puff their hair up. Go figure! Here are some shots of Dave clipping the girls-

On Wednesday we got to take it a bit easy, hang with friends and just do the bare minimum. Here’s Brianna with some friends, Nate sleeping in-

Then Thursday came along, SHOW DAY!!!!

They started with the showmanship class, where the judge watches the exhibitor, how they present the animal and how they conduct themselves in the ring. Brianna was very happy to be awarded 3rd place, even though Kutie tried to lay down!

Next were the breed classes, first up were Holstein, they are the typically black and white cattle you are familiar with seeing on dairy farms. Jerseys were next and then Brown Swiss. Brianna showed Kutie in the Six Months and Younger heifer class, and Karmel in the Aged Cow class for cows over 5 years old. Even though Karmel is dry (not making milk because she’s preparing to calve), she did pretty well!

All in all, Brianna received 3 first place ribbons, one third and one Reserve for the Brown Swiss, which is pretty darn good for her first year I must say!

Of course we would not have had such a successful year if it weren’t for the help of our new friends in the dairy barn, David Oman, the Grondine family, the Benson family, Crystal Mellgren, and the DeVooght’s. They were all so helpful in letting us know what to do, loaning us some equipment, and they welcomed us warmly to the barn community!

Today, Friday, Brianna received 6th place for her decorations in the barn and we enjoyed a pizza party lunch with all the other exhibitors in the dairy barn. Now, we will just enjoy the rest of our stay here, until it’s time to pack up and go home Sunday.

We hope you all got to enjoy the fair this year, and if you didn’t, we hope you enjoyed this taste of it through the eyes of a thankful farmwife.