The packed barns and hum of activity were par for the course as hundreds of cattle, some from hundreds of kilometres away, squeezed into Brandon’s Keystone Centre Oct. 25-28.
Ag Ex, the third and final fair hosted annually by the Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba, has always drawn the cattle crowds. It has typically featured at least one national breed association show each year and describes itself as the largest all-breeds show in the province.
For many seed stock operators, it’s the precursor to Canadian Western Agribition held in Regina each November.
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This year, one end of the fair was taken over by another livestock species.
Why it matters: Manitoba has the fifth largest sheep and lamb production in Canada, according to Manitoba Agriculture.
It’s the second year that sheep have been a substantial part of Ag Ex. The four-day fair featured an all-breeds market and replacement ewe lamb show, junior show and public demonstrations of how ultrasound technology and shearing feature in normal sheep production.
“Last year, [the Manitoba Sheep Association] approached us wanting to know if we’d be interested in partnering with them, so we said yes and it was popular, so they’re back again, and it’s gone well,” said Ag Ex committee chair Dallas Johnston.
“The kids like it because they’re not scared of [the sheep],” he said earlier in the interview.
Sheep association chair Simon Atkinson said he was happy with the turnout. Over 40 entries hit the ring in the adult show.
“New competitors from Saskatchewan came this year,” he said. “They’ve never showed at this event before. That’s really good to see. We’re expanding the field we’re drawing from, which is what we’re hoping for going forward with this event.”
Atkinson also pointed to the show’s use of technology. An ultrasound technician was brought in to get a more scientific measure of the ribeye and back fat of each animal. Those findings were aggregated with show ring results to crown the grand champion.
“We have some actual, technical data,” rather than just visual judgment, Atkinson said.
The shearing and ultrasound demonstrations were for the public rather than the producers.
Shearing “always interests the public and there is a lot of misinformation about it,” Atkinson said. Many people are unaware that shearing is necessary for the health and wellbeing of the animal.
It was also the second year that sheep joined the fair’s ag education programming, EweMania, which attracted local students to learn about the sheep sector. It joined the long-established MooMania, which focuses on cattle. Both events were targeted at Grades 3-5.
Atkinson counted 337 students at EweMania this year.
“That is significant and it’s important.”
Snowfall
While organizers expressed general satisfaction with attendance, livestock show participation was stunted by the first major snowstorm of the season. About 15 centimetres fell over Brandon from Oct. 25-27 and blanketed roads through much of the province.
“It’s stopped a couple of people from coming due to the road conditions,” said Johnston, adding that those same road conditions put urgency on the end of the show, since more distant participants wanted to get on the road quickly.
The show also had to dig deeper to source bedding. The straw stockpile, typically around 60-bales strong, had dwindled to six by the morning of Oct. 26. An extra 40 round bales had to be brought in.
Back to cattle
About 620 cattle passed through the ring this year, Johnston said, forcing the show to grab “every piece of steel that [was] available to stall cattle.”
“There’s not even one broken piece left, and then we had to use some that we had as spares.”
Four national breed shows were on the schedule – Angus, Charolais, Shorthorn and Simmental – along with this year’s national western Hereford show, and participants were drawn from across the Prairies and Ontario.
There were hopes that 2023 would feature the first Highland cattle show in Ag Ex history but that fell through, although one highland breeder made the trip.
This year’s junior cattle shows brought 145 kids to the ring, which Johnston estimated would be the third-largest junior show in Canada this year.
