SASKATOON – Showing cattle, a competitive endeavour for breeders seeking to build a reputation for their stock, is stressful enough. Throw into the mix a tight timeframe for hauling prize animals from one show to the next, and people start to lose their sense of humour.
This year’s Saskatoon Fall Fair, held at Prairieland Park Nov. 15-18, found itself wedged in between Edmonton Farmfair International, held Nov. 3-11, and Canadian Western Agribition in Regina, which runs Nov. 20-25.
Last year, Agribition, the cattle industry’s largest Saskatchewan stock show, ran from Nov. 22-27.
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Ed Williams, who owns Bar E W Charolais in Macrorie, Sask., was less than pleased about the situation. Although he lives just an hour away from Saskatoon, he brought only three animals to the Saskatoon Fall Fair, when normally he would show five or six. Attendance at this year’s event was down considerably, he added.
“You need at least four days or a week between. It would be better to have a week off between Saskatoon and Regina,” he said.
Having Agribition’s opening day two days earlier this year has thrown a wrench into the works for many breeders, he said. “It’s Agribition’s fault.”
Province to province
Ryan Bender, whose family has operated Bender Shorthorns since 1955, held a similar view of the situation.
He was forced to rush to Saskatoon from the Edmonton show, leaving on Nov. 11 to arrive at the Fall Fair the following Tuesday.
“We’ll pull out of here Saturday night,” he said, adding that the weigh-in for his cattle at Agribition had been bumped up to Sunday afternoon, instead of Monday. To get around the tight scheduling, he hired someone to haul some of his cattle to the Regina event.
“It would be nicer if a guy could get a couple of days off in between.”
Lori Cates, agriculture manager of Prairieland Park, which has hosted the Saskatoon Fall Fair for years, said organizers were left with little room to manoeuvre because the 41-year-old event is booked three years in advance.
“Let’s say we move it back to give them some space, then we run into the Edmonton event,” she said.
