Author: Dana Anderson
Planning Unit: Mercer County CES
Major Program: Agriculture
Plan of Work: Agriculture & Environment Education for Youth
Outcome: Intermediate Outcome
In light of COVID-19, Mercer County Cooperative Extension Agents and staff teamed up with Mercer County Fair & Horse Show Board and Mercer County FFA to develop a plan that would allow Mercer County to continue with its long-standing, rich tradition of the county fair. Mercer County 4-H and ANR agents worked diligently with Mercer County FFA advisors to develop a set of guidelines that would allow the livestock shows to happen safely for exhibitors and staff alike. Mercer County FCS, 4-H, and Horticulture coordinated a set of guidelines that allowed for Floral Hall events for both 4-H and open division. Both of these plans were submitted to the Mercer County Health Department and Mercer County Judge-Executive to get the plan approved. One of the key pieces of this plan was requiring pre-registration of all entries (livestock and floral hall). Pre-registration was handled through an online entry company which allowed shows to run more efficiently, keep staff/volunteers/exhibitors safe, and increase the transparency of recordkeeping. In addition, this system allowed results to be published faster and allowed needed reports to be completed faster. The Mercer County Fair & Horse Show collaboration is a major part of economic development efforts completed by the Mercer County Extension Office and is an important economic driver for our community. This was one of the few county fairs conducted and even with necessary restrictions numbers of exhibitors and entries from most of the shows matched or exceeded previous years.
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