Crops and livestock have starring role in fairs over the years

The United States was first an agricultural nation, and county fairs were originally started to promote and improve the quality of farm products by encouraging farmers to develop new and better techniques in producing agricultural crops and livestock.

In 1955, the editor of the Southeast Missourian, John Blue, wrote: "The fair is a major agricultural event. Top corn displayed at the event this year was grown by Mr. and Mrs. Leo Blattel of Chaffee. They won champion honors in both hybrid corn and corn open pollinated."

That was 100 years after the fair debuted. In 1855, records indicate, corn was the main agricultural product judged at the first fair, and cotton was also prominent.

Early fairs in Cape Girardeau County consisted mainly of a few wagons displaying the latest in farm implements -- horse and mule hitches, plows, hoes, scythes, sickles and grain tables -- as well as small exhibits of produce and livestock.

Considered a farmer's holiday, people came on foot, on horseback and in horse and buggy from all over the county to view the exhibits and watch plowing matches, which often involved gambling, and to see the award winners.

Horse-drawn reaping and threshing machines appeared at the fair after the Civil War. The first engine-powered farm tractors used steam and were introduced in 1868. According to county archives, they began to be exhibited at the fair in the early 1870s.

The advent of tractors in about 1913 revolutionized the way farming was done. Ford Tractor produced a Fordson, which was shown at the fair just prior to World War I. They were the first farm tractors to be affordable by average farmers and rural citizens.

Following World War I, the Massey Ferguson Tractor Co. built the Big Bull, a 25-horsepower, two-cylinder machine that featured a three-wheel design. It made quite a splash at the fair.

In 1921, Cape Manufacturing Co. debuted its new wheat separator at the fair. It was called the New Model separator, and it was manufactured locally.

The Polack Brothers Co. of Cape Girardeau showcased its Monarch Farm Water System. A newspaper advertisement in the early 1920s read: "Your livestock will be improved in condition, you'll greatly reduce your fire risk and you and your wife will live longer and everybody will be happier."

The distinctive green and yellow John Deere tractors have been a mainstay at the fair for decades.

Over the years, as farm machinery evolved and improved, the SEMO District Fair has showcased the best the country -- and the world -- had to offer.

Crops have also evolved, and so has the judging of them. Anthony Ohmes is a row crop and field crop judge with University Extension in Charleston. This year will be his third time judging at the fair. He said growers today get cleaner crops out of their combines than in years past, and weed and insect problems have been greatly reduced over the years, resulting in overall better quality.

"I'm sure the criteria for judging has changed some over the years," said Ohmes, "but the entries are similar, although we have new hybrids now. Improved genetics makes them look better now than they did even 60 years ago."

Ohmes said judging is based on aesthetics and overall production. When judging corn, he looks at yield determination, the quality of the cob and kernels, and how corn presents itself in a package.

"Other crops are judged in a similar way," he said. "The appearance is important. For soy beans I look at uniformity, at how well the bush is branched, the number of bean pods. I look for insect feeding and stress that might have caused shrinkage."

Ohmes said most judges use the same criteria, although standards can differ among judges.