Fair Board 9/17/19 Meeting Wrap Up

At the September 17th meeting of the Fair Board the following items were discussed and voted on:

Below are the Superintendents and their respective divisions, that were approved by the Board:

Cory Frantz – 4H General Projects
Mark Covington – Beef/Dairy
Jessica Homewood – Bucket Calf
Alicia Hutto/Andrea Wood Co-superintendents – Poultry and Chicken Little
Heidi Matthews – Dairy Goat and Kids with Kids
Robin Megel – Jr. Fashion Revue
Casey Liles – Jr. Round Robin
Sara Nicolas – Market & Meat Goat
Diane Shipley – Mustang
Jessica Poynter – Open Living Arts
John Renzelman – Open Woodcraft
Darcie Lewis – Rabbit and Peter Rabbit
KC Milsap – Sheep
Nick Ladage – Swine
Other divisions will have the Volunteer Committee make recommendations, as there were multiple applicants and the Board will vote at the October meeting.

Positions still needed:

Cat
Pocket Pet
This Little Pig

Please contact Stoney Field at 970-252-4358 if you are interested in filling these vacancies.

Rules Changes

Below are the suggested rule changes for the 2020 Fair. If you have any questions, comments, or would be interested in joining the Rules committee, please contact either Chris Cohick- cohickchris@gmail.com, or Chuck Searcy – csearcy@montrosecounty.net.

2020 MCFR Rule Suggestions

Wood Craft
1. Youth Division, add class #11 Wood Burning.
2. Adult Division, add class #41 Utility Box, #42 Miscellaneous.

Dog
1. Remove the “closed tunnel” as an equipment option (Pg 40, ELITE class). This should be removed because it is no longer in use in any agility venue.
2. Change “6-12 months of age” to “6-18 months of age” It this is the age range in most agility venues that is an accepted puppy age (Pg 40, TENDERFOOT class).
3. Add “each dog will be measured at 1 week before the competition for jump heights. The handler may request an additional measurement on the day of the agility competition.” This will create official jump heights for the dogs, so the members may train their dogs for the correct height. Waiting until the week before fair, will allow puppies to grow (pg. 41).
4. Switch from NADAC jump heights to State Fair jump heights. The students should be training their dog’s with state trials in mind. Changing the jump heights will better prepare them for state (Montrose jump heights, pg. 41, the State Agility rules pg. 6).
5. Add “the handler may be required to complete a Heeling Pretest (as stated in the State 4-H Handbook) in order to compete in the agility class, prior to their run in the trial at the discretion of the judge or superintendent.” This is a required test at the State Fair, I would prefer to have this test completed during class times. It would be prudent to have this in our competition. This would fit in well on pg. 39 under the agility rules.
6. No harnesses allowed in Show Ring.
7. No treats allowed in tenderfoot class for agility.

Goat
1. Jr. Show – Division G Dairy Goats.
2. General Rules #5 suggest that all animals shown in Jr. Show cannot be shown in any Open shows.
3. #3 remove “…at weigh-in” . Dairy goats do not weigh in, except at Fair.
4. #4 remove “….Montrose County Fair tags”. Dairy goats do not get MCF tags.
5. Jr. Show – Division I Meat goats.
6. Section 4 add these classes to Division G because of specific breeds that are dairy/meat.
7. Open Show – Goats.
8. Overall the Open Show rules need to allow anyone to be involved not just in-County.
9. General Rules #10 suggest that all animals shown in Jr. Show cannot be shown in any Open Shows.
10. Proposal to lower goat weigh in weights from 10lb gain to 55 lb min to 110lb max – State Fair Weights.

Horse
1. Add Open Show to Sunday, with the correlating classes back into Fair Book.

Pig
1. Pig Carcass minimum weight to enter 250 – 300. This gets closer to a finished hog, instead of the buyer having to get the bought hog fed out for a period to finish.

Other
1. Buckles for Grand Showman only and only if 3 or more entries.
2. No Superintendents on announcers stand.
3. No coaching from anyone in the show ring, IE Photographer.
4. Combine Fair Books.
5. Simplify Rule Book.
6. Barn Curfew 9pm or 1 hour after last show ends.
7. Have a scheduled barn closing.
8. Implement 2017 Fair Bred and Fed Rules back into the new appended 2018
Montrose Bred and Fed – Open to all eligible animals in each class (not including the Champion and Reserve Champion Market Animal) that were born in Montrose County by a Montrose County Producer. All Montrose County Bred and Fed Beef must be branded with a Montrose County Brand. To be considered and eligible brand, Montrose County must be the county in which the ranch head-quarters and the address for the brand are located. Brand eligibility will be determined by the Brand Inspector at the initial weigh-in. The animal must be shown by a Montrose County 4-H or FFA member. All steers will be paraded and announced in the show ring. Only the top 2 placing eligible steers will be judged for Champion and Reserve Champion Bred and Fed.

Animals that are born to an eligible ——– 2018 on

9. Possession of animals and housing – All Montrose County 4-H and FFA Members will maintain possession of fair animals and must be housed in Montrose County at all times.
10. Only one County may be registered as Bred and Fed. If found that Breeder is registered or selling animals to multiple counties as Bred and Fed, they will no longer be a Eligible for Bred and Fed in Montrose County.
11. Brands in child’s name – in order to have owners kids to show their own beef, if brand not transferred to child’s name, owner and child need to both be on brand.
12. Leased animals – no leased animals will be allowed. 4-H permits, the board does not, ie. The brand rule. The Fair Board Rules trump the 4-H rules.
13. Changing pig and lamb dates and weights.
14. Open Breeding Beef in on Thursday. All open species in on Thursday and back out.
15. Vendor early cancellation Policy: Non-profits get 100% back if 2 weeks out from fair, 50% back if after that. Commercial – 50% back if 2 weeks out from fair, 10% if after that.
16. No alcohol on Fair and/or County Grounds at anytime.
17. Livestock Rule 19 – Exception for 4-H members showing dogs on show day & round robin show day. This would allow those Member’s dogs to be in wash racks, show ring and livestock barns.
18. Proposal for early checkout for all livestock animals not going through the sale, with penalties for animals taken early that should be in the sale. Proposal to lower goat weigh in weights from 10lb gain to 55 lb min to 110lb max – State Fair Weights.
19. Proposal for new rule stating all exhibitors confine their animals within their designated stalls or pens, no wandering in public areas.
20. Proposal that participant issues be addressed with respective division Superintendent initially, with Superintendent forwarding non-resolved issues to Fair Board for resolution.

Don’t forget everyone is welcome at the Fair Board meetings, they are held the third Tuesday of every month, in the Pioneer Room at Friendship Hall at 7:00pm. Be on the lookout for committee meetings, as the Fair is always looking for volunteers in any capacity. Interested in volunteering? Click here.

Fair Board Committees will begin scheduling their meetings and that information will be made available if you are interested in attending, for input, or to join the committee. All are welcome!

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