This year’s Saskatoon Fall Fair livestock show may have been lacking in
quantity, but made up for it with quality, says a show spokesperson.
The number of entries in the purebred and commercial competitions was
down by about 100 this year, with 557 animals in the purebred show and
134 in the commercial section.
But considering conditions in the livestock industry, those numbers
aren’t too bad, said Donna Bohrson, agricultural manager of the
Prairieland Park Corp.
“We didn’t think that the drop was too significant,” she said, adding
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the number of visitors to the show was about on par with last year. “I
anticipate we’ll be up again next year.”
She said that given the difficult economic circumstances in the
industry, many breeders decided to bring fewer animals. As a result,
the overall quality of the show was probably higher.
“They’re just bringing their featured animals. In each of the shows,
the range in quality from first to last was a lot less noticeable.”
The reduction in commercial cattle show numbers also reflects the fact
that there are fewer bred heifers out in the country.
This year for the first time the Saskatoon fair was on at the same time
as the show and sale in Brandon, but Bohrson didn’t think that was a
factor in the lower numbers.
“We see some people on the show circuit that go to Brandon and then
come here, and they were at our show,” she said. “It might have
affected them more than us.”
