BASHAW, Alta. – During the summer, the tent under the trees at the edge of the Bashaw Agriculture Fair grounds is the Fox family’s second home.
Unlike other cattle shows the family attends, in this central Alberta community parents Cindy and Wayne Fox can relax.
At the junior cattle shows in Bashaw there is a “no-parents” rule.
“This is one vacation we get to sit and relax,” said Wayne, who travelled from Hay Lakes, about 70 kilometres to the north, with three of his children for the three-day Canadian Junior All Breeds Heifer Show, Western Canadian Show Team Judging and the National Young Cattlemen of the Year competition.
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“Once you enter the gates, it’s no helping,” said Cindy.
The no-parents rule has helped establish Bashaw as the premier place in Western Canada to develop livestock skills in young people, said Wayne, whose oldest daughter, Amy, won a $100,000 U.S. college scholarship that he attributes to her time with 4-H and the skill-development programs at Bashaw.
“For a summer time show this is big on our priority list. It’s about youth and it’s about them doing it themselves,” he said.
The no-parent rule has been around since the Bashaw Agricultural Society established the Canadian National Junior Angus Heifer Show in 1976. Organizers felt there were plenty of cattle shows for adults, but if the society was serious about developing future cattle producers, there needed to be shows especially for youth, said Jackie Northey, manager of the Bashaw Agricultural Society.
They also require that children own their own animals to be eligible for the show.
“We started it so young people could be breeders in their own right,” said Northey, during a break in the three-day event.
Since then many breed associations have held their junior fairs and competitions at Bashaw and adopted their youth rules.
“We believe we’ve developed a niche others don’t have,” said Northey, who was the volunteer secretary of the society for 18 years before becoming the part-time administrator when the number of programs became too large to handle for a volunteer position.
“I don’t think anybody has duplicated it,” said Northey, who gets calls from across the Prairies asking about the skills-development programs.
During last weekend’s Western Canadian Team Judging competition, the young competitors went to the nearby Miller Wilson purebred Angus farm to judge unwashed and unclipped cattle in a corral.
Dawn Wilson, a member of the show committee and an alumni of the Bashaw programs, said she donates her time and cattle to help the youths learn how to judge cattle in a natural environment.
“I was given lots of help as a young person and I really believe in the program,” said Wilson, who uses kids who’ve gone through the program to help with her cattle.
Janet Kerr, regional 4-H specialist with Alberta Agriculture and member of the show committee, spends her summers at Bashaw to help co-ordinate the programs.
She said Bashaw is tops on the wishlist for most of the children and teens she works with.
“The kids say to each other, ‘Are you going to Bashaw?’ ” she said.
More than 800 junior participants a year come to Bashaw for the summer junior livestock shows, said Kerr.
During the Western Canadian Show Team Judging, one member of the team judges a group of cattle and tells the audience why the animals were placed in their particular order. The other member of the team acts as the ringman to help line the cattle in the proper order and ensure the cattle keep moving.
“Not having parents involved ensures the kids learn to do things themselves,” said Kerr.
Wayne Fox said it’s refreshing to come to Bashaw and see so many young people involved.
“When agriculture and the family farm is in decline, it’s nice to see young people taking an active interest in agriculture.”
