208 Sheep and Goats Tagged for Upcoming May Fair

Brianna Boyd
Special to Dixon Patch

A steady line of trailers pulled into the Dixon May Fair grounds last Saturday morning, all carrying goats and sheep that needed to be ear tagged for this year’s fair.

Fair officials ear tagged 50 goats and 158 sheep between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. All of these animals are currently being raised and cared for by Solano County youth and will be part of the livestock show during the May 4-8 fair.  The animals will be sold in the Junior Livestock Auction on May 7.

Altogether, the May Fair will feature around 350 large animals. In addition to the goats and sheep, there will also be 120 swine and 19 steer.

As per fair requirements, all hogs, sheep and goats had to be ear tagged 60 days before the fair, said exhibits coordinator Sandy Bonesteel. All swine were tagged by advisors before that date, and the steer – which had to be tagged 120 days before the fair – were done in January.

While officials will not know the exact number of rabbits, chickens, quail or turkey that will featured in the fair until the April 8 entry deadline, Bonesteel can say for certain that the number of large animals in the fair is smaller than last year.

“I think the economy has hit us,” she said. “It’s harder for the kids to come up with the money, especially if they have never raised one. A lot of the kids who have raised a steer or a pig in the past put aside money to buy an animal the following year.”           

Indeed, while the number of sheep is up by six and goats have increased by 11, there will be 40 less pigs at this year’s fair, and steer are down by nine.

Bonesteel believes the decrease is likely due to the cost of purchasing the animal, as well as feed. Swine and steer eat considerably more than goats, sheep and the small animals.

“That could be very expensive,” she said. “The kids were saying they were also having a harder time finding hogs to purchase. The prices had gone up on the hogs and it was more than they could spend.”

Besides learning about the animals that will be included in the sale, the livestock superintendent, Carrie Peterson, also learned a lot about the exhibitors this weekend. Many are repeat exhibitors, she said, although there are quite a few new participants. They come from all over Solano County, particularly Dixon, Rio Vista and unincorporated areas.

The 136^th annual Dixon May Fair will open Wednesday, May 4, and entertain thousands of visitors through Mother’s Day on Sunday, May 8. For more information, visit www.dixonmayfair.com