For months, kids and teenagers across Arizona have been breeding and raising pigs, rabbits, chickens, sheep, goats and cows. Earlier this month at the Arizona State Fair, a lucky few got a shot at being the best of the best.
Most livestock competitions at the state fair are judged on the appearance of the animal, but the final contest is more about how that appearance is presented.
In the back corner of the fairgrounds — past the Cyclone and mini bumper cars, balloon pop and fried frog legs, right behind the big ferris wheel — is the agriculture center and cattle barn.
The Arizona State Fair’s agriculture center looks like a cross between a barn and a warehouse. Inside the tall, domed, air-conditioned building on a recent Saturday afternoon, families sitting in camping chairs cluster around hundreds of sheep, goats and pigs. It’s youth week, which means the building is swarming with 6- to 19-year-old 4H and Future Farmers of America members. It’s a sea of neckties, flared jeans and huge decorative belt buckles.
Amber Victoria Singer/KJZZ
On the other side of the barn, kids are leading animals into brown metal enclosures behind a makeshift stage area. They’re getting ready for Karen Searle’s favorite competition. She’s the fair’s director of entries.
"Today, the round robin competition is the best against the best. So it’s the best pig showman against the best goat showman and sheep showman and beef showman," said Searle. "They have to show species they may not have shown before all to win the title of round robin champion."
The stage is a fenced-in rectangle of concrete covered in sawdust. As the brown bleachers start to fill up, 13-year-old Baylynn Johnson stands in an enclosure with three goats, looking around nervously. She’s wearing a white long-sleeve button-up with a teal necktie and white pants. Her belt has a huge silver buckle with turquoise accents and an Arizona flag. It says ‘champion,’ because Johnson is this year’s Arizona State Fair intermediate champion dairy goat showman. This doesn’t mean she had the best goat, it means she did the best job showing off her goats.
"This one right here is Avi, that one is called Bud and that’s Paloma. I don’t know the names of those two, though," said Johnson.
After checking in at the judge’s table, 18 competitors across three age groups line up to be introduced. All except one contestant – whose pants don’t have belt loops – wear their champion belt buckles.
Competitors "show" the species, and then answer questions from the judges. Things like: How many stomachs does this have? What’s its natural market weight? What do you feed it?
Each animal is shown a little differently. The goal is to show all sides of the animal while maintaining eye contact with the judges. For goats and sheep, the kids hold the creatures’ heads up and reposition their legs. For swine, long skinny whips are used to gently guide the pigs around the enclosure. A few competitors have to rush after runaway pigs.
Throughout each round, one thing stands out about Baylinn Johnson. She’s the only contestant grinning from ear to ear. Another competitor, 12-year-old Mary Edwards, who is the junior champion meat goat showman, says it’s not a good idea to smile while showing livestock.
"You kind of have to look a little mean to win," said Edwards.
According to Xavier Arias, one of the judges, this is a big part of the score.
"What kids make eye contact and are showing that competitiveness and don’t break eye contact and consistently have their goats set up and are in the right positions," said Arias.
As she shows each animal, Edwards lowers her chin and locks eyes with the judges, staring them down.
And as for how she prepares to show animals she hasn’t raised herself?
"I go around the couple days beforehand and I ask people who have shown their animals really well and I try to get info from them," said Edwards.
The dairy and beef cattle portion of the competition takes place in a different, smaller, smellier barn. One one side is a maze of dozens of cows in pens. On the other side, two types of cattle are lined up on opposite sides of what looks like a tiny arena. Two age divisions at a time lead the two types of cattle in a wide circle around the judges before answering questions about the animals.
After tallying the scores, the judges announce the winners. Johnson earns a modest third place. She smiles politely at Arizona Miss Agriculture, who is wearing a large crown and a bright pink jacket, as she accepts her ribbon.
Edwards crosses her fingers when it’s time to announce the winner of the junior division. It’s down to her and one other competitor. When she’s competing, she saidall that’s going through her head is: "You better win."
And this time, she does.
Edwards bounces toward Miss Agriculture to accept her buckle and ribbon. She says this is the third round robin competition she’s won in her five years of raising animals. This is her 22nd belt buckle.
Although there aren’t any more competitions quite as exciting as round robin, a variety of animals, including winning livestock, will be on display to the public through the end of the Arizona State Fair, which ends Oct. 27.
