Turlock feed company funds rehab of fair livestock area

Young livestock exhibitors started arriving Tuesday for a Stanislaus County Fair that will be cooler and safer than in years past for themselves and their animals.

The livestock area underwent a major renovation over the past few months, thanks to a $250,000 donation from Associated Feed & Supply Co. of Turlock. It has a new show ring, wash station and paint. The animal pens are sturdier. And the new fans do a better job of blowing away the hot summer air.

“It makes a difference because it helps keep our animals cool,” Cheyenne DeJarnett, an FFA member at Hughson High School, said just after hosing down a dairy cow.

“It’s cooler now,” agreed Matt Marshall, an agriculture teacher and FFA adviser at Denair High School. “The animals are more at ease. The kids feel better with the new fencing.”

The 10-day fair will not open until Friday, but cattle, swine, sheep, poultry and other livestock move in a few days early. Members of 4-H and FFA have spent many months raising several thousand animals that will be shown to fair judges and sold to bidders at two auctions.

Company President Matt Swanson, in announcing the donation in November, noted the need for increased private support for county fairs after the 2011 end of state funding. He said Tuesday that he was impressed with what the Stanislaus venue did with the money, along with in-kind donations from other parties.

“We’re just thrilled with the job that the fair did,” Swanson said. “They were on time and overdid on what we expected. We’re just happy for the partnership.”

The company, founded in 1971, employs about 220 people at five sites in the Turlock area. It has products for cattle, horses, poultry, sheep and other animals – many of them owned by farmers and ranchers who honed their skills at past fairs.

The livestock area is now the Associated Feed & Supply Livestock & Exhibits Complex. It is open to fair patrons throughout the event.

The upgrades include wider entrances for the public, a new restroom, electrical work and paint. Livestock auction workers have a new projector and public-address system, as well as a wireless connection.

This part of the grounds evokes the fair’s pastoral origins more than, say, the carnival rides or destruction derby. But things can get rough and tumble here, too, were it not for the railings and other protections.

“Safety is a big concern because you’ve got 1,200-pound steers coming through here,” said Chris Borovansky, the fair’s chief executive officer, during a tour of the livestock area last week. He added that the donor wanted to improve things as well for gentler fair animals, such as rabbits, whose old cages had some sharp edges.

The dairy exhibitors started arriving at 7 a.m. Tuesday, a day that would not get hot enough to require much from the fans. The new models will cut electricity use by a third, Borovansky said. People in the livestock area noted that they blow directly onto the cattle, unlike the old fans.

“The whole thing is mainly keeping the animals comfortable,” said Victoria Van Lieshout, a Modesto High School ag teacher, as she helped her FFA members get their dairy animals settled. She added that the improvements will protect the young people’s investments.

“We have 29 animals, and if you figure $4,000 to $6,000 per animal, that’s well over $100,000,” she said.

Modesto High junior Meredith Furtado said the new fans will help as she prepares an animal for showing and for Friday’s Replacement Heifer Sale.

“If they’re not comfortable, they’re not going to eat, and they’re not going to look good when you show them,” she said.

This story was originally published July 7, 2015 at 5:08 PM with the headline "Turlock feed company funds rehab of fair livestock area."