BRANDON — There’s something cattle show veteran Jazlynn Birmingham associates with cattle shows.
“Fun,” said the Forrest, Man., girl, who had just won the reserve champion junior heifer calf competition in the Angus show at the Manitoba Ag Ex, as she helped get another animal ready for the ring.
That fun is something she hasn’t had much of in almost two years since the COVID-19 pandemic started. However, she was happy to get back in the ring, even if it felt unfamiliar after all that down time.
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“I was nervous at first, then it started to get more fun, then I wasn’t so nervous,” said Birmingham, who has been competing since she was three years old.
There were lots of smiles and chatter around the barns and in the stands at the Manitoba Ag Ex, which is a yearly show for cattle breeders from a wide region. This year had breeders from Manitoba, Saskatchewan and even Alberta, creating a feeling of normalcy for this slice of the cattle industry, which puts a lot of focus on shows like this.
“It’s a great way for us to get our cattle in front of people,” said Kristine Sauter of Moosomin, Sask., as she prepared an animal for the arena in the busy barn.
“It’s so nice to see other breeders. (Usually) we’re all at home, looking after cows, making feed, all doing the same thing. It’s just so nice to see everyone, after so long.”
Sauter hasn’t been to a show since fall 2019. She, like everybody at the show, was masked and double-vaccinated, which were requirements for the show to go ahead. All visitors’ vaccination status were checked by facility security upon arrival and other than smiles being partially concealed by masks, there wasn’t much different about this show to pre-pandemic times.
Brent Crowe of Gilbert Plains, Man., was relaxing with his seven-year-old son, Bentley, by their cattle in one of the barns, enjoying the return to the show.
“It’s nice to get out and show a couple of these calves,” he said. Across the barn Wade Beck of Lang, Sask., was feeling the same way. He was at the show with his 16-year-old daughter, Jorja, who was showing her cow-calf pair.
“There’s a few new rules, but it’s just good to be here,” said Beck, relaxing in a foldable chair against the wall across from the cattle.
“We need to support these shows. Without us they don’t survive. They’ve had a tough go, like everybody else.”
The event had all the regular features of a cattle show with a constant flow of animals gathering outside show rings, being shown, then returning to the barns, except for the winners, who were shunted over to the show photographers for their victory photos.
Lots of kids were in the barns and around the rings, showing cattle or helping Mom or Dad get cattle ready.
Katie Steppler was sitting with her sons Brayden and Declan in one of the barns while her brother-in-law readied another animal for showing. It was the first show since the onset of the pandemic for the Miami, Man., family.
“It feels awesome seeing everybody here,” said Steppler.
Some things have changed during the pandemic. Like much of society, the purebred business has seen some trends accelerated. That includes the popularity of online bull sales.
Those had already been embraced by some, but being prevented from attending shows for most of two years made more people put on and attend the online sales.
“That’s really caught on in this last year,” said Sauter, who, like many at the Manitoba Ag Ex, said the show is something they use to help raise interest in their upcoming bull sales.
Show chair Dallas Johnston said the fact that so many breeders would attend this show regardless of the pandemic shows how important it is still to get cattle folk together.
“The cattle business is a people business,” said Johnston.
“Everybody is here because they want to be here and everybody is enjoying being able to visit again in the barns and see people that probably haven’t been able to see for 18 months.”
What’s going to be “normal” for cattle shows after the pandemic? Nobody wanted to hazard a guess.
But right now, the live, in-person cattle show seems to have just as much purpose is it did before anybody heard the term “COVID-19.”
