Morgan Watts: Livestock shows at the fair were a blast

Published 12:00 am Friday, October 14, 2016

The Rowan County Fair has come and gone for another year, but boy, was it one to remember. With over 500 head of livestock being shown in a week’s time, it was busy but worth it.

All of these kids’ hard work paid off. We definitely have a great group of livestock kids in Rowan County. No fair would be complete without a little recognition for all of their hard work. Below are some placing and highlights of the fair for the livestock shows.

The Dairy Goat show kicked off the fair. We had close to 200 dairy goats shown. We started with showmanship. We had a peewee, junior, intermediate and senior division. Winning those divisions, respectively, was Austin Seitz, Madison Seitz, Maddie Noble and Casey Bright. We also had a dress-up/costume division.

Grayce and Katlyn Moore took first, Lane Moore took second, and Lucy Moore took third. In the Dairy Goat portion of the show, Sarah Moore had the Jr. Doe of the Show, and In Theory Farms had the Sr. Doe of the Show.

The next round of shows was the Breeding Ewe, Market Goat and Market Lamb. We had more than 150 animals exhibited for this show. Winning Supreme ewe in the ewe show was Lydia Wilson, and Winning Reserve Supreme ewe was Matthew Connolly.

In the Market Goat show, we also had a showmanship division with a peewee, junior, intermediate and senior divisions. Winners were Emery Starnes, Matthew Connolly, Cindy Connolly and Hannah Roberts, respectively. Cindy Connolly took home Grand Champion Market Goat, and Abigail Wilson took home Reserve Champion Market Goat.

In the Market Lamb show, Wilson took home Grand Champion, and Connolly took home Reserve Champion. In showmanship, champions were Lydia Wilson, Joshua Wilson, Abigail Wilson and Ryan Menius in the following divisions: peewee, junior, intermediate and senior.

Cooperative Extension Jonathan Luther and Coby Kivet display their showmanship skills in the Supreme Showmanship division of the Dairy Show at the Rowan County Fair.

Cooperative Extension Jonathan Luther and Coby Kivet display their showmanship skills in the Supreme Showmanship division of the Dairy Show at the Rowan County Fair.

The last show of the fair was the Dairy Cattle show. We had close to 150 head exhibited. La Foster Farms from here in Rowan County had Supreme Champion and Reserve Supreme Champion. In the costume/dress-up division, winners were Owen and Ansley Hoffner with their “milk rolls like the tide” costume and Katie Hoffner with her “Ms. Dianna gets married to milks” costume.

We also had a showmanship division for the dairy cattle; first in peewee was Coet Munden; first in junior was Mary Eston; first in intermediate was Austin Baker; first in senior was Jonathan Luther; and first in the FFA division was Hannah Roberts. Supreme Showman was Jonathan Luther, and Reserve Supreme Showman was Coby Kivet.

Even though it was a long and tiring week, the fair was a blast and I can’t wait for next year! Congratulations to all of the winners and participants.

Contact Cooperative Extension Agent Morgan Watts at 704-216-8970.