250 Youngsters In Cooperstown

For 66th Annual Livestock Show

COOPERSTOWN – Young exhibitors from Otsego and surrounding counties are at the Iroquois Farm showgrounds on Route 33 south of Cooperstown through tomorrow for The Farmers’ Museum’s 66th annual Junior Livestock Show. Admission is free and the public is welcome. More than 250 youth handlers and 750 animals from nine counties for the annual celebration of youth in agriculture. The event tests the skills of youth handlers ages eight to eighteen who present animals (dairy cows, beef, swine, dairy goats, and sheep of various breeds) that they own, care for, and have prepared for competition. Since 1947, The Farmers’ Museum has collaborated with the Cooperative Extension’s 4-H program to produce the show, the second largest youth competition in New York State.

The show began Sunday with a chicken barbecue, followed by a performance by the blue grass group, Gravelyard, and an ice cream social. Judging is underway today, and at 5 the New York Center for Agricultural Medicine and Health leads a discussion on eye, ear and skin safety. Prizes are awarded at 6 p.m. for the best posters displayed in the visitor tent in the 24th annual Farm Safety for Kidz Poster Contest. Tuesday, judging begins at 9 a.m. At 2:30 p.m., the Grand Champions in the dairy, beef, dairy goat, sheep, and swine divisions will join the winners of the F. Ambrose Clark Livestock Trophy, The Farmers’ Museum Cup, and The Farmers’ Museum Dairy Goat Cup in a Parade of Champions. The Junior Livestock Show is conducted in cooperation with Cornell Cooperative Extension County 4-H educators and clubs throughout central New York. On-site services are provided by the Leatherstocking Corporation. Food services are provided by the Cooperstown American Legion Post 579. The show is sponsored in part by Chobani and Stewart’s Shops.