Missouri State Fair officials are looking at options to offset increased costs associated with livestock bedding, including raising 4-H, FFA and open livestock entry fees.

“First and foremost, we have not decided to do anything just yet,” says Mark Wolfe, director of the Missouri State Fair. “We are discussing a lot of possibilities.” The fair is looking at adding a stalling and bedding fee not only for the fair dates, but also for year-round livestock events.

However, just a mere mention of the idea ignited an online petition asking the Missouri State Fair to find the funds to cover expenses somewhere other than increasing fees for exhibitors. The petition created by Melissa Jacobs, whose family shows goats at the state fair, created a stir on Facebook.

In the petition, she says that the fair is looking at increasing fees to $20 per head for cattle and hogs and $10 per head for sheep and goats. However, Wolfe says no numbers have been set, and the stalling fees were just part of a much larger discussion.

Currently, 4-H and FFA livestock entry fees at the fair range from $4 per head for sheep, goats and swine to $11 per head for beef cattle. They dip down to $1 per head for poultry, and reach as high as $25 for horses.

“Many, if not most, larger county fairs and state fairs charge higher fees to cover the cost of premiums, bedding and stalling,” Wolfe says.

For instance, for junior beef cattle exhibitors at the Ozark Empire Fair in Springfield, Mo., it costs exhibitors $50 per head. Market goat, lamb and hog exhibitors pay $12. Breeding sheep and goats are $10 per head, with swine remaining at $12.  

“We want to make the fair affordable for exhibitors, but we are facing increasing costs in removal of livestock bedding,” Wolfe explains.

Waste problem

While some exhibitors bring in their bedding, they do not take it home. Where does all that waste go? To the southwest parking area outside of the fairgrounds.

Wolfe says that the fair received a grant from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources for a concrete pad to place soiled straw, sawdust chips, wood chips and sand from various barns. During the 11 days of the fair, it piles up.

“We try to give it away,” he explains. “Sometimes people have stepped up and taken 20 tractor-trailer loads, but that is getting harder to find.”

The fair looked at disposing of the used bedding at a landfill, but the hauling cost continues to rise. The waste removal price tag went out for bid, and early indications show it will be three times the cost of past years.

The fair doesn’t have the resources to offset the expense without additional revenue. Since 2011, the Missouri State Fair has not received any funding from the state’s general revenue fund for operation.

Instead, the state legislature took money from the wine tax and gave it to the Missouri Department of Agriculture to establish the Agriculture Protection Fund. The tax brings in about $5 million a year, which funds various ag activities around the state, including the fair.

Wolfe says the fair receives about $550,000 from the fund for operations. “That is the payroll for the month of August,” he quips. So, he relies on sponsors, visitors and exhibitors to generate additional revenue to make up the difference for the fair’s $5 million budget.

It is a small budget when compared to other state fairs such as Iowa, where it takes $25 million, or Minnesota, at $65 million. Granted, there are more people attending those fairs, but they also charge more and have higher fees to offset costs.

Searching for solutions

Since Wolfe took over as state fair director in 2009, he has not asked for any bailout money from the legislature. He manages the finances conservatively. “We can’t spend more than we make,” he says.

But the fair has seen a decline in attendance. The 2019 fair saw nearly 340,000 people walk through the gates. “Last year was rough with all the flooding events,” Wolfe says. “We feel the effects of that down here.” That was a reduction from 2018, which also was a lower year for fairgoers.

“You can only suffer hits so many times,” he says, “then you have to look for alternatives.”

And that leads back to finding an answer to one increased expense item — livestock bedding. State fair officials floated the idea of increasing exhibitor fees to 4-H and FFA, cattle associations, and breed associations. Wolfe found overall support of the measure.

But the $20 and $10 per head referred to on social media has not been solidified. The fair talked about perhaps making it per entry or looking at bedding usage and the cost breakdown per animal. “For instance, when I go to the sheep barn, there are multiple animals in one pen,” Wolfe says, “so we may look at per pen.”

Fair officials also discussed placing all the increase on exhibitors or having exhibitors pay half the cost and the fair funding the other half. And Wolfe is even looking for sponsorships. “If we can figure out a way to absorb that cost,” he adds, “we most definitely will.”

At the end of the day, Wolfe does not want to overextend the Missouri State Fair financially. “We must be very frugal, and it may require a change,” he says. “We want to be in a financial situation to put on fairs for years to come.”