Can someone explain to me the economics of showing livestock at the county fair ?
Just what is it that causes all the farmers to haul their livestock to the fair ? I see farmers there that have to be well over 100 miles away. That alone has to be a large expense. Then just sitting around the fairgrounds all week while there is work to be done back home.
I don’t get it, just what is the economic benefit to them for this ?
Where I live, most of the livestock is shown by 4-H and FFA kids, as the culmination of a stock-raising project. These programs are meant to educate rural children in practical skills and current best practices in livestock management.
There are also often livestock speciality shows within the context of the fair, such as specific breed or species shows (I go to the dairy goat show). The reason farmers haul livestock to the fair is, basically, networking. Interested buyers of breeding stock have a wide showcase of what is out there locally (100 miles is definitely local, in the west anyway). Breeders talk to other breeders, etc. When what you do is isolated physically from everybody else doing the same thing, you need a central place to occasionally meet and show off to each other what you’ve been up to.
My Facebook feed is filled with kids and teenagers showing off everything from their fancy chickens to their milk cows at various fairs. They might win a ribbon if they are good. Some may win a very modest college scholarship (usually a few hundred dollars) if they are at the very top but that generally isn’t the big incentive. It is the same reason people show off anything at a fair whether it is a prize hog (motorcycle) or a hog (bacon). They are proud of theirs and hope to meet like minded people. Making money directly isn’t generally the object. Some competitive events have modest cash prizes but that only partially offsets expenses. Only the largest events like the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo have prize money large enough to be a significant incentive on its own. People show off their livestock (or most anything else) at smaller fairs just because they want to.
Why does it have to make economic sense at all? Farmers (or 4-H kids) are proud of their work and they want to show it off. The benefit is that they get to feel proud of their accomplishments and be acknowledged for it.
Might as well ask what the benefit is of me paying for cable watching TV when there is productive work to be done.
Yes to all of the above.
Also, it’s fun 
It doesn’t matter what the product is. There’s always a good economic incentive for bringing the variants together so that new ideas can be dissimulated. The world always varies.
For livestock, one year you may want fatter examples, the next year leaner ones. You may want those who feed better on grass, or on hay, or on oats, or on some specific mixture. You may want to see the results of long-term breeding projects. You may want to know what has been imported from other areas. You may have some new technique of your own that you want to share or sell.
Everybody always beats anybody. Getting people in a central location improves the sellers, the buyers, the consumers, and all society. It’s critical.
I remember one fair in Montana in the seventies, where one of the categories was a bull plus four offspring, graded together. I’d imagine winning that would let you raise your stud fees a bit. Any big win would be an opportunity to get a picture of your critter with its ribbon, suitable for hanging in the office and for putting on pamphlets and websites.
I’ve also seen contests for how much milk a cow could give over X days at the fair. That would also be a bragging point for your established line.
That would be a cool class to see, actually!
There are also usually auctions at county and state fairs and it’s a chance for the 4-H or FFA kids to make extra money from their livestock. Local businesses usually bid well over market price just so they can hang a sign showing their support.
Here’s an article about the 2013 Wisconsin State Fair, the Grand Champion steer sold for $30,000.
Mostly it for the 4H kids.
Professionally, friends of mine own an Angus beef buisness, as it was explained to me was bragging rights and to raise fees. If your bull or cow wins at the county and state level you can charge more for semen or eggs. Going to Harrisburg or Denver the stakes go up dramatically. About 15 years or so ago my other friend ran a farm that was the lead buyer in a group that paid $250,000 for a single Angus cow. When I saw her, I was like WTF? Some of the ones at the county fair looked better, but “experts” and bloodlines said she was worth a quarter million. Go figure.
As a funny note, years ago I went with that first set of friends for the day up to Toronto from our place in NY. It was the Canadian Royal Exibition and Winter Fair at the CNE grounds. One truly sureal experience was of leading a bull on a halter to a tie out spot under the Gardner expressway for the night. Anyways- I was looking at the schedule and there was a catagory for herd something-or-other. You had to take 6 of your animals into the ring together. I saw that there were zero entries. I ran back to our stalls and told them. With minutes to spare, we got them there and won a grand prize ribbon for that event.
I salute your strategy and forward thinking. 
Why do people enter anything at the county fair?
Bragging rights.
Walk through the exhibits and look at the quilting, embroidery and such. Hundreds of hours of work, all for a ribbon. And the chance to lord it over all your friends for the next year. Believe me, the reason my beers headed out to the LA and Orange County Fairs each year wasn’t for a $.50 ribbon.
Also true. I try to mention my Blue Ribbon pickled carrots as often as possible. Like I did just there.
You know, something that would be nice is if we could get someone who’s actually won a Blue Ribbon at one of these events to post about their experience and why they enter.
Probably not gonna happen though, I would imagine they would be humble salt-of-the-earth types not willing to put themselves forward. Too bad.
My friend who is in his 50’s has a lifetime of ribbons. Heard of a lady somewhere and shipped her a box of them and a big check and is looking forward to the quilt she makes from them.
I won a blue ribbon for my peach upsidedown cake when I was eleven. I got a second for my handstitched Amish style quilt when I was in my thirties which really pissed me off because they dinged me for a couple of puckers in the back (you get a scorecard from the judges).
The similar class in horse breeding is called a Get of Sire class. Actually, Get with Sire, since the siring animal was present in your example. Usually they aren’t – sometimes they aren’t even alive any more, and are ‘siring’ via frozen semen.
There’s also a similar class for female horses: Produce of Dam.
These classes ae dying out, because they are a lot of work & expense in bringing several animals to the show, getting matching equipment for them, having enough attendants to show them all at once, etc. And often needs a lot of coordination – the various offspring may be owned by several different people. And who gets the ribbon & prize money?
These are still common in small-stock classes (sheep, goats). Easier to manage than cows and horses I guess.
One barn I always make sure to visit is the poultry house. Weird chickens! Love those.
They’re are a pretty big deal here in the UK too. Although the restrictions on transporting animals can mean that there are not so many as there used to be.
They are usually timed so that farmers are not so busy - ie not in August. The top price here for a bull was last year. They are a chance to show off and meet fellow enthusiast. They are also a sales opportunity for machinery and equipment manufacturers who are usually well represented.
Bulls fetch good prices: An American cattle breeder paid a world record price of more than £126,000 ($204,000) at a Limousin breed sale in Carlisle, Cumbria in February 2012.
That is a really cool idea. All of mine are just gathering dust in a box somewhere. A quilt would be cool (and warm-ish.)