Each year, students from the Future Farmers of America (FFA) show animals at the Washington County Fair. This year, more than ten students had prizewinning animals at the fair.
The fair ran from Aug. 27 to Sept. 1 and had attractions such as rides, food, live musical performances, and animal shows. At least ten FFA students participate annually in the fair, showing often the same breeds of animals and often returning with prizes.
Senior Haley Bumgarner showed a heifer, rabbits, pigs, and chickens in this year’s fair.
“Preparation is all about what you feed them and how you train them,” said Bumgarner.
Junior Sara White took goats and rabbits to the fair this year, but this year’s fair was different from any other year for her. This was the first year her brother didn’t help her prepare and show the animals.
“Preparing is so stressful! If you give an animal a bath, it’s just going to want to get dirty again,” said White.
Owners start preparing the animals as much as a year in advance with feed for the animals, but wait awhile before the fair to seriously train the animals.
“You don’t know how you’re going to do each day. You can go in on a different day and get placed totally differently with the same animal. It just depends on how the animals behave,” said White.
The animals win prizes based on grooming, behavior, and overall appearance.
“It’s mostly the owner’s presentation of the animals that wins the prizes,” said Bumgarner.