Youth Livestock Shows during a pandemic

The volunteers in the area really came together to make sure that the Rough River District Swine Show was a VERY SAFE and INVITING event for all involved.  

As the state began to shut down, the committee said they were still committed to hosting the Rough River District Swine Show.  The Kentucky Department of Ag began to develop a safe operational plan, we were told that our show was going to be the first to roll it out in the swine showing arena with the new plan.  

The committee had to become comfortable with ZOOM meetings, then we all had to become comfortable with the NEW plan for conducting an in-person Swine Show which in the 2019 hosted over 300 hogs and 172 youth.  

The event began at least 2 months out by creating a registration site for the youth and the adults that were going to be in attendance.  The system was created by one of our volunteers and was replicated for other shows across the state.  

The committee helped to design the safe areas and enforce the rules for the event.  Exhibitors were informed well in advance of some very important items:  no wash rack, no penning inside a building, mask must be worn, social distancing was a must, families must clean up all of their own trash, families must check in at the gate and answer COVID 19 questions, and finally no concession stand.   With all these rules and the amount of parking that our fairgrounds had after a 2.5-inch rain, it was amazing that we still had 72 youth, 14 novice and 165 animals.  

These rules just played into what was needed to be done at the Breckinridge County Farm Bureau Youth Livestock Committee.  I was asked to offer suggestions and guidance for the 2020 Youth Livestock Shows that were postponed due to the cancellation of the County Fair.  Our Swine Show committee worked with Breckinridge County Farm Bureau and Fair board to provide rules for a ‘safe’ fair that were originally designed for the Rough River Swine Show and for the KY State Fair Livestock Shows.   Families were able to sign up for the shows and provide COVID 19 health information.  Worked with the Livestock Auction Committee to provide clerical assistance and to contact those businesses that were open in many different fashions, but I am a consistent visitor to those locations.  New volunteers stepped up and made good on their promise to bring a livestock show and auction the fairgrounds in such an odd year.     The Breckinridge County Farm Bureau Youth Livestock Auction brought in 25,564 above base price and an additional $15,000 was added on to their checks.  This was a record amount for the 16 youth that sold in the auction.  

The committee decided that all in all, the show went better from their work standpoint, even though there was a lot of planning for months in advance.  Families became more resourceful in planning their trip to our county.  

The 2021 Rough River Swine Show was conducted in its normal month of June.  There were several ideas that the committee adopted from the COVID year which will be the New Normal for Youth Livestock events.  2021 hosted almost 200 hogs showing out of the trailer.