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My Farm Roots: Show Time at the Fair

Photo by Grant Gerlock/Harvest Public Media
Emily Lambrecht, 17, has been showing cattle at the county fair since 2009.

Show day at the Pierce County Fair in Nebraska starts early and goes fast.

I arrived around 9 in the morning, but Emily Lambrecht had already spent an hour and a half in the wash stalls, scrubbing and shampooing her calves so they would sparkle in the show barn.

Credit Photo by Grant Gerlock/Harvest Public Media
Before the cattle show, each animal is washed and dried and their fur is styled for the show. It takes Emily Lambrecht hours to get her cattle ready.

This was showtime. The 17-year-old 4-H and FFA exhibitor spent months working up to this one day.

There was the time spent selecting show calves from the family herd, then catching and taming those calves so they would walk obediently with a rope halter, like a dog on a leash. Once they’re used to a halter, the calves need to know how to stand square for the livestock judge to scrutinize their genetically-derived attributes. 

Credit Photo by Grant Gerlock/Harvest Public Media
Spectators watch the cattle judging in the makeshift show ring at the Pierce County Fair.

The purple and blue ribbons given to the county fair winners are nice rewards, but Lambrecht doesn’t just show animals at the fair to chase garlands. She also does it for the connection she feels both with her cows and also the other competitors.

 “I just like running into people with my animals,” she said. “We both know how much time and work goes into these animals and that we both love it no matter what happens. Everyone wants purples, but it doesn’t matter. It should be between you and your animal. If you love it, it should be between you and your animals.”

Credit Photo by Grant Gerlock/Harvest Public Media
The prize table for the Pierce County cattle show is piled with trophies and ribbons.

  At the fair, Lambrecht can bond with other farm kids over their days spent in the farm yard coaxing their calves to take orders. But she is also aware that there aren’t many people her age who have that kind of hands-on experience with the animals that may eventually end up on their plate.

“I was trying to get a friend out (to the farm) and he says ‘I‘m not a country kid,’” Lambrecht said.

She told him, “That’s not the point. I want to show you a cow. You’ve never touched a cow. You have no idea what it’s like. People have the wrong perception of what people do on the farm. It would be nice to show them sometime.”

 

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Grant Gerlock is a reporter covering Des Moines and central Iowa