Animal farm
Animals get their ears tagged for Bi-County fair

Chuck Schultz, left, holds tight while Lane Sauter tags a mischievous swine belonging to Kendra Power at the Bi-County Fairground in Prewitt on Saturday. — © 2009 Gallup Independent / Adron Gardner

Copyright © 2009
Gallup Independent
By Jim Tiffin
Cibola County Bureau

PREWITT — Lacey Becenti had four show lambs in the trailer as she waited in line to get the lambs ear-tagged Saturday morning at the Bi-County Fairgrounds in Prewitt.

The line of vans and pickup trucks pulling trailers with pigs, lambs and goats stretched from the front gate of the fairgrounds out to U.S. Route 66, about a quarter of a mile away.

Dozens of parents and members of 4-H clubs from Cibola and McKinley counties hauled their animals to the fairgrounds for the Bi-County fair ear tagging by New Mexico State University Cooperative Extension Agents Chuck Schultz and Kathy Landers. Duane Thompson, president of the fair board and Mark Waters, a member of the livestock board, and others, checked in the trailers one by one and tagged the animals, a tedious process at times.

Ear tagging is a way to assure the animals are not switched before the fair, which could give some participants an unfair advantage if the changed animal is better quality.

Lacey, 15, who will be a freshman at Thoreau High School this fall, and is a member of the Tohatchi 4-H Club in Thoreau, said she brought the lambs to show at the fair, which is on Labor Day weekend, from Thoreau.

“I brought seven show lambs, which are all Suffolk cross breeds,” she said. “I breed, raise and show lambs myself, and I am learning to set the prices for the quality of the lambs.

“It’s not easy,” she said.

Trey Henderson, 10, a fifth-grader at Crownpoint Elementary School and a Nahodishgish 4-H Club member from Crownpoint, said he brought one pig and two lambs and intended to show not only those animals but a steer and a heifer as well.

“Four-H is a lot of fun. I like the animals,” he said.

Danny Gordon, 12, a member of the Rockies 4-H Club, said this is the fifth year he has been a 4-H Club member.

“It gives me something to do, it keeps me out of trouble,” he said laughing.

“I have lots of animals,” he said, “Ducks, pigs, cows, turkeys and I’m going to show them all at the Bi-County Fair, I might even show a heifer this year.”

He said he also has a number of entries for the 4-H exhibit at the fair including, zucchini and all types of bread, welding, woodworking, sewing and gardening projects.

Brooke Eaves, 12, and her sister Kacey, 9, brought pigs to be ear tagged. Both are members of the Rockies 4-H Club.

Their cousin Cruza Armijo, 13, also a Rockies 4-H member, also brought pigs.

There are more pigs at 4-H show animals in both counties because they are relatively inexpensive to care for and do not take an extraordinary amount of time.

Landers said she thinks all animals will be slightly up this year at the fair. Steer tagging in April resulted in about a 50 percent increase in steers above last year.

“We had a lot of kids asking to show more than four animals, which is what we have always allowed,” Thompson said.

“But because so many wanted to show more, we changed the rule to allow 4-Hers to show as many as six animals,” he said.

“Some kids wanted to show steers, pigs, lambs and goats and this gives them the opportunity to do more at the fair,” Landers said

Information: Schultz, Cibola County Cooperative Extension, (505) 287-9266; Landers, McKinley County Cooperative Extension, (505) 863-3432.

On the net: http://bi-countyfair.com/