Do all cows lie down when it rains? Can you tip a cow? Your family has done WHAT for 51 consecutive years? These are some questions a dairy exhibitor at the North Carolina Sate Fair might experience on a daily basis. As an annual exhibitor of the North Carolina State Fair for the past 20 years, yes, my entire life, my family has received these questions from fairgoers both young and old.
Over the years I have personally seen the State Fair change in many different aspects, especially in the agricultural facilities, such as the Jim Graham building. With these facilities kept up to date, more dairy farmers are attracted to come to our State Fair rather than attending others. Many of the cows you will see as you walk through the Jim Graham building this weekend are from North Carolina, but some have traveled from all over the eastern United States just to come to our North Carolina State Fair.
In the more recent years, I have heard more thought provoking questions from the people walking through the Jim Graham building, the building where the cows are kept during the State Fair. These questions most likely arise from the lack of contact most people have with agriculture on a daily basis. These questions range from people wanting to know things about cows and our lives, such as the cow’s mannerisms, what exactly “showing a cow” is and why we have been showing for so long.
As the 2008 National Guernsey Queen, I love having the opportunity to answer these sometimes obscure questions about dairy cows (Guernseys are a breed of dairy cows), so people are educated about the dairy industry and where their milk, cheese, yogurt and ice cream come from. Even though the number of dairy farms, especially ones who exhibit dairy cattle, has decreased over the years, the State Fair has kept the numbers of dairy exhibitors approximately the same. Having these consistent numbers can be attributed to the great facilities like the Jim Graham Building, which are available to the exhibitors each year.
Since the Jim Graham Building provides a house for both the cows and their caretakers, for four days every year it is like a huge family reunion, which would not be possible otherwise. Many of us do not even leave “the barn” since it is such a high-quality facility, and it has both the rings and the tie stalls used under one roof. We always get quite a few fairgoers in the barn, especially when the weather is bad!
Our State Fair is something for every North Carolinian to be proud of, especially with all of the forward changes it has gone through over the years. So be sure to come and join us for the dairy exhibits Friday through Sunday with the five major dairy breeds — Holstein, Guernsey, Brown Swiss, Ayrshire and Jersey — in competition throughout those three days.
See you at the fair!
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