I’ve been attending and participating in country fairs for as long as I can remember. They have always been there and, until recently, I have presumed that they always would be. But things are changing and I’m concerned. I think people are forgetting why these annual events were started eons ago.
In the beginning these gatherings were all about assembling the best of the best livestock in a competitive environment where expert judges could select candidates that would improve the genetics of the cattle, swine, sheep, horses and poultry in a given area. When small family farms were the order of the day, they were the main engines for the advancement of the breeds. In regions like Nova Scotia where the one horse farms of yesteryear have all but disappeared the fairs and exhibitions have become less important. It’s too easy to hit the computer and find what you’re looking for.
Beef farmers have always wanted to raise the best livestock possible so that they could get the maximum return for their labor. Their goal is to produce a finished animal that best suits the requirements of the consumer; one that is a good fit for the packinghouses and the shelves of meat markets and supermarkets.
The steer shows and auctions at the fairs were traditionally the way that a given breeder could show case the quality of his herd.
In days gone by business owners, particularly those who sold meat, would compete to purchase the prize winning animals at the concluding auctions so they could boast that their stores were prepared to pay for the best.
This was not an altruistic gesture; it was one of the best advertising gimmicks available to retailers. Every year after the steer sale at Canada’s largest exhibition, The Royal Winter Fair in Toronto, clever store owners would have sides of beef festooned with blue, red and white ribbons displayed in their store windows and have customers lined up to purchase a slice.
As an auctioneer who has observed, and for many years officiated at local championship steer auctions, I am dismayed to see how little support food retailers are giving to the few beef farmers still in the game.
The first auctions I did at Annapolis Valley Exhibition were conducted in the main show ring in front of huge crowds. In those days there were as many a twenty farmers proudly showing their animals and getting a reasonable return for their trouble at the auction.
Sadly this is no longer the case. At the last auction I did in 2015 there were only four steers offered and not a single representative of companies like Super Store, Sobeys or other chains was present. These are the businesses that would benefit most from the advertising the purchase would get them. One of the major chains used to boast that it was “mainly because of the meat”. What’s the problem? Any money these thriving businesses spend at the auction is a promotional tax right off.
The steer sale, as it currently exists at Lawrencetown, has been relegated to a small isolated area of the fair grounds and the system for bidding on the animals has become a sham.
Where once the highest ranked animals commanded the highest price; now a complicated system where particular steer owners lobby year round, individually, to gather syndicates to buy their animals at inflated prices regardless of their placing in the show. More often than not the highest price paid is not for the champion animal. I see this as an affront to the farmer who worked so hard to produce the best and is forced to accept a reward that is often only half as much as his lower ranked competitor.
It is difficult for an auctioneer to be approached by a steer owner, before the sale, telling him that he has prearranged for his steer to be bid up to an extremely high number then face the embarrassment of trying to legitimately coax an unwilling crowd to come anywhere close to that amount for animals that have been judged superior.
I think all this could be changed and that major retail players could be convinced of the value their participation would afford them. Lobbying them on behalf of all the steer producers as a whole and not just privileged individuasl could yet save a fast fading institution.
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