4-H plans big showing at Great Northern Fair

After being canceled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic the Great Northern Fair will return later this month, and Hill County’s 4-H is gearing up to put on a big show.

Hill County 4-H held its own fair last year, but without the backdrop and visitors of the Great Northern Fair and with reduced audiences, asking people generally to attend online.

Hill County’s Montana State University Extension Agriculture Agent Colleen Buck said she and the students involved in the program are eager to get back to the fair and show everyone what they’ve done with their projects this year.

Buck said July 13 will be interview day for the students presenting their projects to judges.

The 4-H Chuckwagon will open the next day to show off the exhibits and will feature students talking about their projects which range from sewing to cooking to arts and crafts, robotics, and the educational setups of the livestock students.

July 15 will feature the weigh-in, and the Horse Show where 4-H students will demonstrate their teamwork skills with their animals.

July 16 will feature the Beef Show, and July 17 will have the Swine Show, Sheep Show and Round Robin.

Buck said the Beef Show will feature market steer, that are 500 to 800 lbs. when the students get them in the fall, but grow to be 1,200 to 1,500 lbs. by the time of the fair.

She said pigs are provided to students in April and grow from between 50 to 80 lbs. to around 240 lbs. and the lambs go from about 40 lbs. to between 120 and 130 lbs.

“I really enjoy watching the kids as they show their animals, and realizing how much work they put into them,” Buck said.

She said all these animals will be featured in the livestock sales where buyers will bid on the animals, an event that has gotten a fair amount of interest from the community all ready.

She said she sent out buyer forms and has gotten quite a few back from interested parties, and she’s hoping for a good year of sales.

“The community always supports 4-H extremely well,” she said.

Despite the interest already received and her hope for a good year, Buck said, COVID-19 was tough on a lot of people and ultimately she’s not sure the effect it will have on this year’s sale turnout.

“I know it’s been a rough year for everybody,” she said.

Buck said while the quality of the animals is still premium, the prices will likely be a bit lower this year due to the events of the last 18 months.

Outside of livestock, she said, the fair will also have a Small Animal Show where students who couldn’t or didn’t want to take on a large animal can show off smaller ones they’ve worked with this past year, including dogs, cats and pocket pets.

Buck said anyone who wants to know more about the animals or the projects should visit with the students during fair and ask them what they learned.

The event 4-H put on last year went well, but it it required a tremendous amount of work to organize and run, especially with masking guidelines changing shortly before the fair and the community experiencing a substantial COVID-19 spike in the wake of Independence day.

Buck said it is clear that 4-H’s efforts are enhanced by being at the Great Northern Fair and the fair is made better by their contribution, so it makes sense that everyone in 4-H, herself included is excited for the fair’s return.

“I think everybody’s looking forward to getting back to it,” she said. “We definitely had some challenges last year and we realized that in order to make things work and be a big community event we need the 4-H part of it and the Great Northern Fair to come together and have a spectacular event for Hill County.”

Buck highly recommended that anyone going to the fair take the chance to visit the Chuck or Pepsi Wagon and get themselves a Chuckwagon Burger.