CLAY COUNTY, Fla. – County fairs and livestock shows across the state were canceled due to COVID-19.
In Clay County, students who have been working for months on livestock projects were no longer able to compete and sell their animals at the annual livestock show.
The students took as many as eight months to raise an animal from start to finish to ultimately sell at their local fair or livestock show.
With the Clay County Fair canceled this year, they didn’t get to see the success of their hard work in quite the same way.
It would have been Cooper Hickey’s first time showing in the Clay County Fair.
The third-grader at Shadowlawn Elementary in Middleburg fed, walked, bathed and trained pig “Little Orphan Hammie” for five months getting her ready for the livestock show.
“I was a little disappointed but then I knew that they had to do it because if they didn’t cancel it some people would think they are not looking out for people in the community," Hickey said.
County Fairs are the Super Bowl of livestock shows. 4-H and Future Farmers of America (FFA) students spend hours on their animals every day.
Clay High School sophomore Brody Mauch would wake up before the crack of dawn to train his pig.
“This year I was mainly focusing on showmanship because I was training my pig every day I was taking it out of his pen and walking around the house and everything like that,” Mauch said.
After the virus spread, Cooper, Brody and 4-H members across the state had to find creative ways to show and sell their animals. 4-H agents and volunteers helped connect kids to buyers through online auctions and website listings.
Cooper took part in a virtual showing and the sale was at a social distance.
“No one could get out of their car anything. They unloaded them, put them in a ginormous trailer and took them off to the slaughterhouse,” he said.
The virtual show including a video of the exhibitor and their animal prepared as if they were entering the show ring. But instead of doing it in front of an audience, it was recorded on video.
While most youths were connected with buyers, there were still students struggling to sell their animals, so the Clay County Fair stepped in to help.
The fair donated $600 per swine participant and $1,100 per steer participant, according to Tasha Hyder, General Manager of Clay County Fair.
Hyder said a total of $60,000 was donated by the fair, $12,000 of which came from outside contributions.