EDMONTON – Walking through the cattle barns at Farmfair International did not present visitors with the same obstacle course of cows, bulls, blow dryers and cattle chutes as in previous years.
The three massive show halls where the rows of purebred cattle are primped, pampered and promoted were noticeably less crowded.
This year cattle producers brought 792 purebreds to the show, 25 percent fewer than the 1,100 in 2007, and it hasn’t gone unnoticed.
“We’ve been talking about this all week,” said Loretta Paget, whose family brought seven Charolais cattle to the show, the same as last year.
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The Paget family of Donalda, Alta., knew the Charolais show wouldn’t go ahead without at least 35 head of cattle and wanted to ensure its success.
“We’re here to promote the Charolais breed, not just our own program,” said Darren Paget.
The drop in cattle numbers at the show is a worrying trend, said David Prokuda, who phoned dozens of Charolais breeders to encourage them to bring animals to the week-long fair to guarantee the breed could have a show.
Farmfair rules say 35 cattle must be registered for a breed to have its own show or else it enters the multibreed show.
For the past two years there haven’t been enough minor breed animals to hold a multibreed show.
In the end, 36 Charolais cattle were registered and paid for, but only 25 animals showed up at Farmfair, said Prokuda, president of the Alberta Charolais Association.
“I phoned guys all over Alberta. A lot of people said they weren’t coming because of the cost of being here and others said there was not a lot of traffic going through the barns,” said Prokuda of Glenevis, Alta.
He wonders if the days of week-long cattle shows are over. The increased cost of meals, fuel, hotels, hired help and registration has become prohibitive for many cattle producers.
More than 100 head of cattle are registered for a three-day Charolais event in Olds, Alta., the following week, he said.
Tim Chalack, a Simmental breeder from Carstairs, Alta., had extra help lined up for the show, but when they backed out, he bribed his kids to wash cows and clean barns.
Chalack said it’s not difficult to spend $5,000 to come to the show. It’s a price many breeders were willing to pay when the barns were full and commercial cattle producers were looking for bulls.
“Three or four years ago you couldn’t move for cattle. Guys used to be able to get the phone numbers of lots of guys looking for bulls,” said Chalack. “It’s hard to get excited about looking for bulls when they’re not doing so good.”
Chalack also wonders if Northlands wants the cattle show. It’s a fight for the limited number of power plug-ins, and the giant tubs for manure and shavings at the end of the alleys are no longer supplied by Northlands.
Ideally, Farmfair would merge with the Agri-Trade show in Red Deer, said Chalack.
“It’s got to be more like Red Deer, where it’s massive.”
Raymond Arntzen of Sedgwick, Alta., had one animal this year instead of the five he brought last year. With a three-month-old baby, Arntzen’s daughter was not able to spend hours in the barn fitting and showing the Simmental cattle and no one else was willing to work the long hours.
Deanne Young of Breton, Alta., also said finding help to look after the cattle at home and fit cattle at the show is tough. She and her husband convinced a young 4-H member to help them at the show.
While the number of visitors is down, Young said interest in the Simmental cattle has been high.
“There’s good quality people coming by wanting information on what’s available,” said Young.
But she doesn’t like the $12 parking fee, up from $8 to get onto the grounds, plus the $5 admission fee for entrance to Farmfair. It was the first time admission has been charged.
“I want my customers and neighbours to come and see what I’m doing,” said Young, who believes the admission fee discourages both urban and rural visitors.
“If we want the city people to feel a connection to agriculture, we want them to come. Why are we charging them to learn about agriculture and where their food comes from?”
Janice Wirsta said the number of exhibitors for the Hereford and Horned Hereford shows are up this year. The increase is a direct result of the Hereford Genes Gala, a promotional event created to generate interest and traffic in the breed.
For a $400 entry fee, a Hereford breeder could enter a bull in the gala and a chance to win the top prize. Each breeder was also given five pairs of tickets to give to past or potential commercial buyers for an evening out. The event included a chance to win a bull, meal, tickets to the ranch rodeo, a comedy performance and socializing with other cattle producers.
“We had a really good response,” said Wirsta, of Elk Point, Alta.
More importantly, it brought Hereford breeders back to Farmfair who hadn’t been to the show in years, especially those with Horned Herefords, she said.
Paul Lucas, director of agriculture for Northlands, said the organizers also noticed the buzz around the Hereford Genes Gala event.
“That brought in 300 targeted buyers.”
Lucas said Northlands plans to work with other breed groups to attract more cattle producers and spectators.
“We need to do a better job in marketing,” he said.
Darren Paget said Northlands should also look at a return to cash prizes for each of the classes at Farmfair. Northlands now focuses most of its $130,000 worth of prizes and money for the final day’s supreme championship event.
“You have to be a big name breeder to take home the big prize,” he said.
