BURLEY, Idaho — The Cassia County Fair and Rodeo got underway on August 10th. All week long judging events for animal entries will take place. On Monday and Tuesday over 70 dairy heifers were shown by the FFA and 4H kids who raised them.
- The 4H and FFA Animal showing events began on Monday, and run all week.
- Over 70 entries in this year's dairy show.
- Five siblings entered into the contest couldn't attend the showing due to a family-member's funeral. Volunteers showed the cows on their behalf so they could be sold.
(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)
“You can see here we have to clip them here everything except the back and the belly so it will be big, and (the hair) stand out so it stays straight,”
This is the fifth dairy heifer Jose Reyes has shown at the Cassia County Fair.
"What we're doing right now is combing here, and we're trying to make their hair look as nice as possible for the judge so we have the most chance of winning,” Reyes said.
More than 70 kids have cows in the dairy heifer show. For some, it's their first time.
“Yeah it's spa day for the dairy heifers,” Brandon Brackenbury told me as the cows were getting shampooed, brushed, and vacuumed.
When Brackenbury became superintendent of the Cassia County 4h, there were fewer than a dozen entries in the dairy competition.
"One of the hard things for the kids was getting animals,” Brackembury said. “Unless they were directly involved in the dairy industry with their families, it was hard for them to get them.”
Brackenbury worked with dairy operators to create a pool of dairy calves that would be available to 4h kids who needed one. In a few years the number of entries went from less than a dozen to over a hundred.
“Especially for the dairy, this is the kind of the culmination of all the efforts that started whenever the kids picked out their animals,” Brackenbury said.
Brackenbury now serves as Cassia County Educator for the University of Idaho College of Ag, and he is still involved in the 4H program.
Before the show got underway, 4h made time to show five heifers that wouldn't be in the contest
The Anderson family had five kids entered in the show, but tragedy claimed the life of one of their siblings. Instead of showing their cows at the fair, the five Anderson kids were attending a funeral instead.
Sammi Smith wanted to help out, so she contacted their mother and asked if she and some volunteers could show the cows for them.
“I told her that I’d just love to show her kids’ cows for them and get them sold,” Sammi Smith said. “Because it's kind of not going to be very fun if you worked with your cow all summer, then you couldn't sell it.”
With more events through the week including turkeys< rabbits< swine< sheep and goats, over 400 kids have entries in this year's cassia county fair
“It's something really comfortable for me cause i love animals around them. I'm around all my childhood,” Reyes said. “It's just something that makes me happy.”
