The Richland County Fair provides more than fried food, fun events and cute animals for the public to enjoy; it’s also the culmination of months of hard work by young members of area FFA and 4-H clubs, ending with a Saturday auction. The skills they acquire may one day serve them in business or another profession.
Keba Lybarger, advisor for the New Edition 4-H club, detailed the extensive record-keeping, interviewing and showing process 4-H members go through leading up to and during the fair.
“It comes down to seeing [how much] you’re going to make at the end, and there’s a lot of work that goes into it,” she said. “They see the whole follow-through with it.”
Lybarger described how all 4-H members bringing a live animal to the fair complete a quality assurance lesson at the beginning of the year as they learn to feed, water and medicate their animals. Every action and expense is recorded in a notebook to show to either fair judges or potential buyers, and at the end of the fair members can show whether they made a profit.
Mathew Metzger, a four-year member of the Shelby FFA, said he has spent countless hours feeding, watering and walking his two market hogs Dr. Kaporkian and Oscar.
“You have to pay attention to them, it’s not like a piece of machinery where you put fuel in it and run it,” said Metzger. “It’s a lot of work.”
In Lybarger’s own experience, her youngest son decided to bring ducks to this year’s fair but unfortunately lost all but one duck before fair week.
“So he wasn’t able to bring his ducks to fair to sell, and he’s got a loss this year,” she said. “We show all of that.”
Caring for an animal for months on end and showing the finished product requires an accountability that each member learns throughout the fair. Jessica Albert, advisor for the Rusty Riders 4-H club, said responsibility is a key lesson learned in 4-H.
“There’s the responsibility of this is your project and this is what you have to do, you have to follow these guidelines and do these things and this is the end result,” she said. “With the livestock animals you have, you’re presenting this animal to all these business people that have the potential to buy this animal. So you need to make sure that it’s in a certain weight, you have to make sure it’s not sick and it looks perfect.”
Marketing an animal to potential buyers often starts long before the fair’s end of the week auction. Metzger had the idea to send letters to local businesses encouraging their support at the Junior Fair Livestock Auction, stating, “Your bids will make a difference whether you buy Dr. Kaporkian and Oscar or another member’s 4-H animal.”
Metzger plans on using the money he earns from his hogs to pay for college, where he plans on majoring in agricultural engineering. It’s a plan similar to many other 4-H members, including 14-year-old Kourtney Van Wagner from the New Edition 4-H club.
“I have two sisters in college so my parents appreciate that,” said Van Wagner with a laugh.
Van Wagner also wrote letters to local businesses inviting them to attend Saturday’s auction, making special mention of her two goats Oliver and Bella. Writing is a skill Van Wagner has honed as secretary of the New Edition 4-H club, where she said she has learned how to keep minutes at meetings and type efficiently. Other skills she has learned include working with goats, rabbits and ducks, and how to give speeches and demonstrations.
“Especially the speech one, if you have trouble talking to a crowd that really helps,” said Van Wagner, who plans on becoming a veterinarian someday.
Madeline Harriman, a nine-year member of the Farmhand Friends 4-H club, said she has learned life skills such as leadership, responsibility and respect for others along with the business and marketing skills that go with showing an animal. The biggest lesson learned, however, is friendship.
“We all show together, everyone knows each other and we all raise our animals,” said Harriman. “We have completely different lifestyles than some other kids in high school.”
Lybarger stated sportsmanship and friendship are first and foremost the lessons she teaches as a 4-H advisor.
“You want to teach showmanship and all that as well, but yet the friends that they come in contact with between camp and their clubs and the week at the fair, it’s amazing it doesn’t matter the age differences how friendly they are,” she said. “Between the adults and the parents, I think that’s the biggest thing.”
Albert agreed, noting participation in 4-H helps build young people into a well-rounded person.
“It teaches them about working hard for the end result,” she said. “It’s just life. It’s not just business; it’s life.”
“In marketing, if your product is broken you can’t really sell it,” said Mathew Metzger. “If you put all that time into it, it better have something that pays back.”
