Moooving to the show ring
Staff writer
For 7-year-old Lance McKinney, this year’s Marion County Fair meant showing two cattle.
A Goessel Goal Getter and son of Garrett and Laura McKinney, he showed a 1½-year-old Angus commercial heifer he raised and a Hereford calf owned by his friend, Nathan Voth.
Nathan’s calf and cow pair had to be shown for judging together. Nathan exhibited the mother, and Lance exhibited the calf.
While Lance waited for judging, he showed great affection for the calf, Harold, hugging him and draping himself over the calf’s side.
Growing up on a farm where his parents raise cattle, Lance always has had a love for the animals, his father said.
“He loves cows, mostly,” Garrett said. “We’ve had cows since he was born. He was 2 years old, playing with his little cows, and now he’s showing them.”
The family also raises chickens, ducks, dogs, cats, and a donkey.
FFA and 4-H members showed bucket calves, beef and dairy cattle, swine, goats, sheep, rabbits, and poultry at the fair.
Other fair competitions included visual arts, building block construction, displays, posters, photography, notebooks, woodworking, STEM, energy management, entomology, geology, wildlife, and food.