No, He’s Not a Buffalo: Why We Can’t Avoid Their Questions Anymore
“Is this a buffalo?” asked a young 20-ish fairgoer as he stood before the Grand Champion Market Steer in the Hall of Champions at the Illinois State Fair.
He looked at me – dead serious – awaiting my response.
To my credit, I didn’t laugh. I quickly and calmly answered, “No, this is a steer. But he certainly has fluffy hair, doesn’t he?”
As the fairgoer wandered off to their next adventure, I stood there in a bit of shock. A buffalo? Is our society so removed from production agriculture that they don’t know the difference between bison and cattle?
Maybe.
This is just one of many questions that we answered while our family was in the Hall of Champions at the Illinois State Fair last month. My son was fortunate to exhibit the grand champion market barrow. The grand champions are housed in the Hall of Champions for an additional eight days after the animal wins the show. During this time, the Hall is open to the public.
Each year, the exhibitors are reminded they may have to answer questions that seem rather obvious to kids who show livestock and are raised on a farm. They are encouraged to carefully answer fairgoers’ questions because of the important window these kids are to production agriculture.
Now please understand I’m not trying to make fun or joke about this. These are real questions from real people who have a real impact on how we raise livestock.
I will be the first to admit if I was standing in the Baseball Hall of Fame, I am sure I could come up with some ridiculous questions of my own. But my lack of knowledge about baseball isn’t going to hurt anyone’s lives. I can’t say the same thing about the general public’s lack of knowledge about livestock production today.
And if you are looking to argue these animals in the Hall of Champions don’t represent real-world production agriculture, that’s fine. But those animals and more importantly, those kids, represent an incredible opportunity for us to stand behind.
How would you answer some of these questions we fielded?
• Is this market barrow going to have babies?
• Do your sheep have broken legs? Is that why they are wearing leg wraps?
• Is this steer pregnant?
• Will you be able to keep semen from your barrow to raise another one like him?
• Where do you buy the “outfits” for your goat and does he wear a different “outfit” every day?
But the biggest question I got, time and time again, was this one: What happens to these animals after the fair?
If I’m being fully transparent, I later found out we were encouraged to answer ‘it’s up to the buyer’s discretion,’ which is true. But I didn’t answer that way (I must have been distracted when they discussed that suggestion in our meeting). Instead, I had many hard, but good, conversations with fairgoers of all ages about why our kids raise market animals and the important role these animals play in providing food – good, nutritious protein – for people of all ages.
I spent about 30 minutes with one family with two older parents and two daughters – I’m guessing in their 20s and 30s. The older daughter had never touched a steer before, so I took her over to pet one of the steers. She was beyond elated. Then she asked me the question. And darn it, I knew it was coming and tried to divert her, but I couldn’t.
As I carefully answered her question to the best of my ability, I noticed her eyes welling up with tears and before I knew it, mine were a little misty, too.
“It’s hard,” I said. “And it really doesn’t get easier. Our kids are out in the barn from sunrise to sunset with their animals. The older our kids get, the more time they spend out there because they love it so much. But they understand the important purpose of their market animals – and we provide them with a good life. They receive top veterinary care, nutritious feed and a high-quality environment.”
“How do your kids do it?” she asked.
“They love animals, and they love providing care for their animals. They consider it an important responsibility,” I said. “But they also have had to learn that these production animals don’t live forever. We focus on providing them with the best life possible while they are here – like all farmers do.”
She smiled back at me and thanked me for answering her questions. I thanked her for asking them.
I understand why I wasn’t supposed to just say, “They go to the packing plant.” I realize I could have found myself in a predicament with some people. But I couldn’t just stand there and avoid the hard questions they were asking. We need their questions. We need people to feel comfortable enough to come straight to us. We need them to trust us to tell it to them straight.
Did I explain everything perfectly? Probably not. But I felt responsible to try and hopefully, I helped them see one example of how much farmers care about the animals they raise to feed the world every day.
I am proud to say all the champion animals were donated to the University of Illinois Meats Lab to be harvested and the meat then donated to food banks across the state. That’s a life full of purpose – a life that matters. I’m proud our kids get to play a small role in feeding the world. I hope they can continue to grow in their knowledge of livestock production and build on their empathy skills to be able to convey what they do with those far removed from production agriculture.
It wasn’t lost on me as I listened to kids and parents answer questions in the Hall of Champions that we need to embrace and support youth in livestock programs across the country. Let’s arm them with knowledge and help them know how to answer those tough questions so they can be prepared for the “buffalo” ones we never saw coming.
Read More from Jennifer Shike:
9 Rules Parents Throw Out the Window During Fair Week
There’s Just Something About Stock Show Friends
