HIGHLAND – There’s nothing better than heading out to the fairgrounds for an early morning livestock show.
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Year after year, this is a way of life for dozens of livestock farmers around the region. At this year’s Madison County Fair, the exhibitors had the opportunity to show their best dairy and beef cattle, poultry, swine, sheep, pigeons and even rabbits to win some cash prizes.
Tyler Carter of Greenville took the reigns as the judge for the morning’s Dairy Show, which took place at 9 a.m. this Wednesday at one of the many show barns on the fairgrounds in Highland.
“For the most part, you’re just looking for, like for heifers, one that’s very uniform with a good body structure, with a good level rump that walks on with good feet and legs,” Carter said. “Healthy, good height. You don’t want them to be too overweight, dairy cows especially.
“For the cows, you want a good mammary system on them, good attachments to the fore udder and the rear udder and you want their teats to be located very centrally underneath them,” he said.
Carter has been judging at competitions for about three years. He shows cattle himself in higher level competitions and has judged at Missouri State Fair’s Junior Cattle Show.
Heifer calves born as early as March 1, 2016, as well as yearling heifers of all four seasons cows were separated into one of five classes (guernseys, holsteins, jerseys, axshire and milking shorthorns). Dry cows and cows that were three to five years old were also judged. Prizes were chosen for the best uddered cow and the champion female received a ribbon. A grand champion female was awarded a cash prize.
As the cattle made their way through the judging space in the barn, Carter made quick but concise rulings on his top three choices. After the cattle had made their rounds, he praised the exhibitors who placed and offered advice for improvement to the others.
Over $15,000 in prizes were available for the show, with the first, second and third heifer or cow in each the first three classes receiving cash prizes of $100, $75, and $60 respectively. Axshire and milking shorthorns received $80 and $60 prizes respectively. All of the cattle must be purebred and registered and must be owned by the exhibitor for at least 30 days prior to the show.
The Madison County Fair will continue on with a variety of activities until Sunday, July 31. For a full list of activities, please visit MadCoFair.com.
