Coronavirus brings Changes to the Livestock World
If you are not familiar with the livestock world there is a lot that you will need to know first, before we talk about some of the changes being made in it. People who raise and show livestock put everything into their animals. These people would do anything to stay on top.
Raising and showing livestock can be amazing and wonderful, but it’s definitely not all fun and games. Sometimes it’s hanging out in the barn with your friends and having a blast, but sometimes it’s also getting up in the middle of the night because your cow is having her calf in the middle of a snowstorm, or sometimes it’s waking up at four in the morning to rise and feed your animals before school. Taking care of these animals is hard alone, but then you have to add on the showing and competitive aspect of it.
Showing Livestock is harder, more expensive, and takes more time than any sport or activity out there if you want to win. Some people will travel across the country to look at animals that they might not even buy. This is important because you need to make sure that you’re looking at all the best possible options out there. Then when it comes to bidding on these animals people can spend anywhere between five thousand, and thirty thousand dollars on just one animal. When you first get your animals, chances are they will not like you, and they will not like being touched. You will need to get them to trust you and love you, this is a long long process. Then you will need to rinse your animals one or two times a day, walk them and train them every day, train their hair to grow the right ways, and you will need to make sure they are comfortable walking in and out of your trailer. The tools and products used for taking care of these animals are not cheap, then you have the expense of bedding and housing for your animals. Most people treat their livestock better than they treat themselves just to make sure that at the end of the day,they end up in the winners circle.
After All this work and preparation gets put in, it’s finally show season. Livestock shows can be very competitive and full of people from all surrounding states. Show season is everyone’s favorite time of the year, but with the coronavirus, nobody knows what could happen. When coronavirus rates started going up back in March, the 2019/2020 show season was cut short in many states, in Ohio the last show, The Ohio Beef Expo was canceled. This is a big event in Ohio and the last show of the season for most people. When the season was cut short, this gave many people more time to go back home and get their animals ready for the fairs in the summer. The only problem was if we would be having fairs or not.
Luckily coronavirus rates went down and most county fairs were able to go on this summer. After the fairs, It is time to go back into the process of buying new animals for the next show season. This was a risk for lots and lots of people because nobody wants to go out and spend thousands of dollars getting animals ready for a show season that might not come. The people who did go out on a limb and spend the money, seem to be in luck because shows seem to be starting back up and happening this year, but do be expecting some changes to come.
NAILE (The North American International Livestock Exposition) is one of the biggest Livestock shows in the country and it is held in Louisville Kentucky every year. It takes place from November third through November the nineteenth. There are hundreds of each animal brought to this show and thousands of people show up to compete, watch, and just hang out throughout the weeks. Since this is such a popular event, most of the hotels in the city are booked full. This is obviously a risk because of the coronavirus so all hotels, and the convention center where the event is held are taking as many precautions as they can to make sure people stay safe this year.
People are doing everything they can to make sure that there is a 2020/2021 show season this year. To make sure that happens, at NAILE this year they will have Sanitation stations by all food vendors and near all entrances and exits to each building. The Kentucky Exposition Center cleaning staff will be cleaning all buildings and bathrooms frequently throughout the day. Restrooms' occupancy will also be limited to help keep people socially distanced.
When it comes to contact tracing, each person will need to give their name and phone number before entering the expo, then when entering, they will be given a wristband to show what species of animal they will be around. This will help with contacting people to let them know if they have been exposed to the virus or not.
Last but not least there is still a long list of rules for all participants this year. All Participants will be required to have a face mask or face covering at all times to attend. They must all have a written document proving that they have no signs of COVID-19 within the last 2 weeks. All participants will also be required to have an event pass to enter any building or outside arenas. Participants do not just consist of the people showing, but includes the individuals showing the animal, fitters, grooms, owners, and all people involved with the care of the animal. This year has thrown many curves at all of us but some of us are still doing everything we can to keep things as normal as possible.