By JULIE CARLE
BG Independent News
The Wood County Fair Board approved a new rule at the March board meeting that implements a fee if junior fair exhibitors can’t bring their livestock to mandatory identification days.
With a Mandatory Market Lamb and Market Goat ID Day on April 18, sheep department chair DeAnne Corken reported she had been contacted by a family who has a conflict on that date and is unable to attend. The family also didn’t want to risk contaminating the animals by having someone else bring them to the ID Day.
“What should we do if somebody can’t come to the mandatory date?” she asked. “They don’t have to weigh in (unless they are competing for rate of gain awards), but they have to be ID’d.”
After extensive discussion, the board decided to offer the family another date earlier in the week and to establish a $100 fee per family—not per animal—for IDing on days outside the scheduled mandatory dates.
They chose not to publicly advertise it at this time to prevent too many people from taking advantage of the additional date. The make-up date would only be possible if people have a conflict and contact the fair in advance.
“We’re bringing this up because it could be a potential problem with the (beef and dairy beef) feeders, too,” said Secretary Conni Grames. She tossed out the idea of charging an extra fee for those unable to attend the regular day.
“If you just make it another day, people are just going to come that day,” First Vice President Tony Violi said. “I would limit it, but if they’re willing to pay, we can limit it when they say they have something else going on.”
Before voting on charging $100 for anyone who requests to attend the alternate ID day, Fair Director Bob Strow said, “I hear this in the community that we’re forcing these ID days down these kids’ throats. And what are we really accomplishing that we aren’t accomplishing by having them send the information in pictures?”
“We’re just making people mad. Then it carries on to the fair, and they are already in a bad mood,” he said. “I don’t see any point” for the four larger species. As chair of the swine department, Strow does not require mandatory IDs for the hogs.
Violi responded that the mandatory identification allows “you to get your eyes on the animal” and it keeps exhibitors honest.
“You don’t think that these animals can be changed once they leave here, even if they come in here and you put eyes on them?” Strow pointed out.
Kyle Culp, former fair board director whose family shows sheep and goats at the fair, heard about the plans for the mandatory market lamb and goat ID Day. He believes the system doesn’t prevent cheating from happening, but instead, encourages it.
“ID Day unintentionally creates a convenient cover for those with the means and intent to swap ear tags,” Culp said. “By relying on a single identifier, the fair board unknowingly enables this behavior under the assumption that it is preventing it. That is the definition of an unintended consequence.”
He believes a photo-based identification like the swine department uses would work.
“The system is broken and unnecessary,” said Levi Richards, whose family has been longtime livestock exhibitors at the Wood County Fair. “They are turning a blind eye to the reality. My trailer is going to have five goats and seven sheep. They will have zero recollection of what my animals look like.”
Using photographs of the animals, their tags, and the kids worked during COVID, he said. “It should still work.”
In other business, the board:
- Accepted the resignation of fair director Nick Hannan and voted to delay filling the position until the August fair board elections.
- Postponed an election for the board treasurer position, which became vacant in February when Kalen Bloom resigned from the board. No existing board members were interested in that role. Because the treasurer does not have to be a member of the board, the board approved a motion to seek a treasurer outside of the current board.
- Agreed to allow the nonprofit organization Let’s Build Beds to use a fair building/barn to host build events during the winter months.
- Heard the junior fair board is hosting a fundraiser at the South Main Street McDonalds on April 22 from 4 to 7 p.m.
- Learned that approximately 25 commercial hogs will arrive at the fairgrounds on April 11 for the junior fair commercial hog class. Junior fair members who are competing in that class will pick them up and pay for them that day
- Announced the Catch-a-Pig contest currently has 44 sponsors for pigs and is open to a few additional sponsors. If anyone is interested in sponsoring a Catch-a-Pig for $100, they can call the fair office.
- Approved a motion to spend no more than $6,500 for two refurbished golf carts from Welch’s for the maintenance crew to use year-round.
- Set Aug. 9 from 1 to 6 p.m. in the Junior Fair Building for the fair board’s annual election, and Dec. 17 for the annual meeting.
