The Moos Room™

[music]
[cow moos]
Joe: Welcome to the newsroom, everybody. OG Three here, and we are post-State Fair. That's what we're talking about today. We're talking about State Fair, how it went, how it usually goes. Glad that it's back, maybe not glad that it's back. We'll discuss all that as we go here.
Bradley: Still tired. I'll tell you that.
[laughter]
Emily: I'm still tired, too.
Joe: I think that's usually the consensus after fair for almost everyone in the extension. Just a lot of long days. We got some rain this year.
Emily: State Fair hangover. It's real.
Joe: That's different. Hangover in many different ways. All right. Emily, what did you do at the fair this year?
Emily: I was there helping with various things with the Minnesota 4-H Dairy project. Specifically, I was working with the workshops and case studies that all the dairy show people have to go through. That's always a really fun time. I know Brad helps with those as well. Then helping with the show on Saturday, which the Minnesota State Fair 4-H Dairy Show is Christmas Day for me. My favorite day of the year. Hands down.
Joe: I think that's fair. I'll admit it right now, I did not get a chance to go to the fair this year. I was pretty sad because it was the first time, minus last year, in a really, really long time. I definitely missed out on the interview process for the 4-H'ers and getting to look at all the projects. Really sad that I didn't get to go. Bradley, what'd you end up doing?
Bradley: Well, where do I start? First off, I was a parent, so I had two kids showing dairy heifers there. You have to manage all that amongst working with the genetic merit of the 4-H show, livestock interviews, the dairy show on Saturday, as Emily said, and also was at the Dairy Showcase on Sundays. It was long days, long nights, but it was fun.
Joe: How did the showing go for your kids? As a parent, how was the fair?
Bradley: It was good. They got red ribbons, but I think they enjoyed it. Learned some things, which is obviously important on what to try to improve next year and what you can do. Even though my kids might not have agreed with what the judge said, I didn't really either, but that's the way it goes.
Emily: I was in the show ring that one of Bradley's kids was showing in and I was just gutted when I had to hand him the red ribbon. I'm like, "No." [laughs]
Bradley: One of them showed a crossbred fall calf and another one showed a jersey winter calf. Only one of them showed the correct breed, but-
Joe: It's okay.
Bradley: -we'll try to get more of those.
Joe: Good deal.
Bradley: Now, they're on a kick, they want to get a Guernsey next year, so I don't know. Who knows what's going to happen?
Joe: I think we'll have to update all the listeners if there's a Guernsey that ends up at Bradley's house. I don't know if you'll ever hear the end of it.
Bradley: Exactly. We'll see, but it's fun.
Joe: All right. Well, food is a big question on everyone's mind. What did you try? What did you find? Anything new? What's the best thing? Old standouts as you just always go back to. All those things.
Emily: My go-to's are always chicken in the waffle and duck bacon wontons. They never disappoint. This year was no exception. Then the new foods I tried were the bison bites, the sidecar sandwich, and Greek stuffed ravioli. The ravioli was excellent.
Bradley: Well, bread's pretty boring. I go with the old standbys, of course.
Emily: Womp-Womp.
Bradley: Exactly. The go-to, corn on the cob. You can't beat that. Then, of course, I have cheese curds, deep-fried pickles, and Sweet Martha's Cookies, and a Foot Long Hot Dog. Foot Long Hot Dog is my [crosstalk]--
Emily: I got cookies too,
Joe: You can't. It's hard to pass up the cheese curd stands and Martha's. You've got to [crosstalk].
Bradley: Our University of Minnesota Gopher Dairy Club has a shake booth there, and I support that as well. I tried a caramel shake from them for the first time ever and I thought it was delicious and my kids really liked it, too. We had a few shakes. We got to support the dairy and Midwest Dairy shake stand, too.
Emily: The Dairy Goodness Bar, yes. I went there. What I like about the Dairy Goodness Bar is they sell fresh cheese curds. I like the fried ones, but the fresh ones are just really good, too. This really good garlic and herb one, they were from Metz's. They're down here in southeast Minnesota. They always try to sell local cheese there now and stuff. Yes, it's always good to support all the dairy.
Bradley: It's good to go up and see Princess Kay and her attendants get carved in butter, because you never know, one day you might become a meme, like Emily.
Joe: Exactly.
Emily: Yes, I am a meme now.
Joe: I love that.
Emily: Such an honor.
Joe: Such an honor. If we can get a link into the show notes to that meme, I will do it, because it's wonderful to see Emily sitting there getting carved in butter. It's quite a while ago now.
Emily: Yes, and that was the other cool thing. This year marked my 10-year anniversary since I got my head carved in butter. This was also the 50th year that artist Linda Christensen was doing the sculptures. She is now retiring from it, so she wanted to make it to 50 years. A gentleman by the name of Jerry is going to be taking over. He is a Litchfield, Minnesota native, so we're really excited to have him on, too. It was cool to bid farewell to Linda. I was there for her retirement ceremony. It was really nice.
Joe: Well, congrats, Linda. That's a long time to be carving butter heads at the fair. We've talked about food. We talked about what happened with these two. I guess the big thing is we should talk about the State Fair in general and what it means to each of us. I think I have a different perspective than Emily and Brad since I did grow up in the cities. Going to the fair as a city kid is a completely different experience than I'm sure it is going as a 4-H'er and-or parent of a 4-H'er. Emily, I know we talked in our 4-Hs episode a little bit about what 4-H meant to everybody, but what the State Fair-- I mean, there has to be just a huge anticipation every year and excitement leading up to it.
Emily: I said that that first Saturday, the day of 4-H Dairy Show was like Christmas for me, but really the entire fair is. It was always something that when I was in 4-H and wanting to compete to show at the State Fair, you have to qualify at the county level. It was always that extra motivation to work a little bit harder, get your heifer looking that much better, all of those things.
The State Fair, for me, just really became a place where I met a lot of my friends that I still have now from all over the state. We ended up going to college together, a lot of us, and, and we're still in touch. That always warms my heart a little bit and makes it really meaningful for me. Personally, I'm an achiever. I like to brag and I like that Minnesota has the best State Fair in the country. I am all about promoting that. I am not too humble to say our State Fair is the best.
Joe: I am right there with you. I know Iowa loves to talk about their fair and it's just not even close. I've been to both. I know. I might be a little biased, but it's a so much better fair.
Bradley: I've been to the Iowa State Fair as well. The cool thing at the Iowa State Fair you get is the cow carved in butter. I don't know if they still do that, but I saw that once and it's cool. I think they had Elvis carved in butter when I was there once, too. They do a lot of butter carving and [crosstalk]--
Joe: Shout out Jerry. Maybe you can get a cow in butter next year instead of just carving butter heads.
Bradley: I've been to a few other State Fairs. North Carolina, Wisconsin, North Dakota, and Minnesota by far. Sorry, Iowa. For those of you in Iowa, we know but-
Joe: Yes, I know. Sorry, Kevin.
Bradley: -Minnesota's pretty good fair. Going there since I was four years old.
Joe: Four. I don't think I started that early.
Bradley: Went to the Oak Ridge Boys concert there with my mom and dad.
Emily: Oh.
Joe: Nice.
Bradley: Long time ago.
Joe: Bradley, tell me. It's come full circle for you. You've been going to State Fair for a long time since you were four, and now you've got kids in 4-H. That's got to feel weird to come back as a 4-H dad now.
Bradley: Exactly. I still remember back to the days in 4-H and we'd run all over the fairgrounds and have fun and meet new people. Now, I see that with my kids and having a good time and meeting other people from all over the state. It's a good experience and I wouldn't change it for the world. It's a good thing that those of us in Minnesota are able to do that. There's lots of experiences that they'll remember for a long time. I still remember lots of things back when I used to be at the State Fair when I was 12 or whatever, started going there for 4-H. Some good, some not so good.
Joe: Some good, some are not good.
Emily: We can't just say all the things we remember while we're recording.
Joe: No, no.
Bradley: No, no. I don't like the haunted house, I'll tell you that.
[laughter]
Joe: I know. I was thinking that, knowing Bradley a little bit now, I think there had to be some mischief involved and some late nights as a 4-H'er.
Bradley: Never.
Joe: I wonder how much you think about that when your kids are off hanging out with other people. Does it cause some anxiety?
Bradley: No, I'm sure we used to do it a lot worse back in the day.
Joe: There you go.
Emily: Well, I never got into trouble when I was there.
Bradley: Of course, not. Of course, not.
Emily: I was well-behaved, focused on the animals, all that.
Joe: Always. I had a completely different experience at the fair growing up. In the cities, I didn't go as a 4-H'er. I went purely as attendant to the fair and just wanted to eat all the food I could. You walk through the animal barns and look at everything and it's amazing now, thinking back to how little I knew about the process and the animals themselves at the time. Walking through those barns as a city kid growing up, it's a completely different perspective to think about. Well, now if I see a cow along the roadside, I notice it because I'm always looking for cows, but at the time even walking through that barn and seeing one cow, it's completely amazing for a city kid being able to have that animal right there.
We're not talking about over a fence. It's right there. I think that experience is very important and it's a huge opportunity for agriculture, because I just remember being amazed walking through those barns and seeing people-- People were very open, too, if they weren't completely exhausted, which is oftentimes the case. They are very willing to talk to you about what's going on and their animals.
I don't know how much it really started my journey down that road, but it definitely put it on the map for me and getting involved in agriculture. I think that's the other thing. We focus a lot on the animals because of what we do, but there's so much more involved with agriculture there, and it's still one of the major ways that we have that lingering connection in Minnesota to agriculture in the cities. I mean, State Fair is in the heart of the cities. That's also I think part of what makes the Minnesota State Fair as amazing as it is.
Bradley: You can go see all kinds of animals. We talk about dairy, but there's beef and sheep and pigs and, secretly, I love the eight-horse hitch draft horse on wagons.
Emily: Same.
Bradley: It is a favorite of mine to sit in the colosseum and watch the draft horse shows. Yes, even we'd branch out and see different things and learn different things. I'm not all about dairy there. You do see other things.
Joe: I also remember as a kid wandering around Machinery Hill and being amazed up there. I bought what was available and not having any clue what any of those things did at the time, which it's funny to think back on now. I do think it's an amazing opportunity to connect the cities and rural Minnesota, which is something we have been struggling with for quite a while now.
Emily: Yes, I think you're absolutely right Joe, it's a really good platform to do that. Like Bradley said, there's all the other livestock species there and, two, there's the agriculture and horticulture building where, yes, I always have to go see the giant pumpkins and the crop art, and that's a cool thing, too. People making art out of various crop seeds and that's a connection to agriculture some people wouldn't normally have, and knowing what these seeds look like and what they can grow into and all of that. It's just I'm extremely biased. I love the fair but I think that it does do a lot in bridging that gap between urban and rural and just allowing us to celebrate how awesome Minnesota is.
Joe: As everyone goes to the fair, they're so excited and they're so amped up and there's a lot of pride in Minnesota that goes into that. I'm hoping that-- I mean, the fair is only 12 days. What I'd love to see is that if we can harness that energy and that feeling, that vibe and carry it through the rest of the year, that would be my ultimate goal because I think it's such a shared experience for Minnesotans and people from out of state as well.
I had friends drive from Chicago just to go the fair. They grew up here and they live in Chicago now, don't have family here anymore either. They drove back just to go to the fair. I think there's that connection that we can build upon and hopefully we can continue that education, that vibe, that good feeling of connecting rural Minnesota and the cities throughout the year on all the other days.
Bradley: Don't mess with our fair. That's sacred 12 days at the end of August that you just don't mess with.
Joe: Yes, it's true.
Emily: Don't schedule your wedding for then.
Bradley: Exactly.
Emily: Don't plan vacation. I have missed weddings for the State Fair.
Joe: Yes.
Emily: I will admit it.
Joe: Perfectly understandable. We've just reminisced, recapped about the State Fair, what it means to us. Hopefully, we can keep that momentum going, keep that vibe going. Don't forget that rural Minnesota and the cities are mutually dependent. We depend on each other. Try to keep that connection that we have in Minnesota, which is becoming more and more rare in the United States. With that, we'll wrap it up. Thank you for listening. If you have comments, questions, scathing rebuttals to this episode, I'm sure we'll hear from Kevin, because we kind of played down the Iowa fair. If you have any of that, please send them to the moosroom@umn.edu.
Emily: That's T-H-E-M-O-O-S-R-O-O-M@umn.edu.
Joe: Follow us on Twitter @umnmoosroom and @umnfarmsafety, and with that, no more plugs. Thanks for listening. We'll catch you guys next week.
Emily: Goodbye.
Joe: Bye.
Emily: Bradley, say goodbye.
Bradley: Bye-bye.
Emily: That's a [unintelligible 00:16:16].
[music]
Joe: Brad's pretty boring.
Emily: Personally, I'm an achiever, I like to brag and I like that Minnesota has the best State Fair in the country.
[cow moos]
[00:16:31] [END OF AUDIO]

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