KENDALLVILLE — Noble County 4-H Fair animal shows have gone even higher tech.
One shift in this year’s Noble County 4-H Fair is the wider use of a higher-tech results system.
The Noble County Extension has been using bar coding for animals and competitors since 2015. But last year, the horse and pony and poultry shows used a new system.
This year, all but the swine show have moved to a new binder system.
Previously, each entry in a show class had its own card. There may have been 10 or more entries in that class, which meant the committee running the show had to keep track of all those cards just for one class.
When someone won an event, the proper card had to be found and scanned.
Now? All of the entries in a class are located on a single sheet in a show binder. The person recording results simply has to find the entry on the sheet, then scan in the corresponding barcode. Once that barcode is recorded, a scan is made on a different sheet which denotes the placing as first, second or third and so on.
A computer pairs of the results with the placing animal.
There’s less paperwork involved. At least on show days.
Noble County Extension Educator Joanna Claudy had to create a computer entry for every animal in this year’s fair.
“Every single entry has its own barcode,” Claudy said. “I get a lot of it done before the fair.”
After last year’s successful trial, Claudy and the Extension offered it to everyone.
“We gave the committees the choice,” she said. “If they wanted to stick to the cards, they could.”
Only one show chose to stick with the older way.
Claudy said the acceptance of the new method has gone “pretty well from I’ve heard,” she said.
International appeal
The fair’s not just for local residents.
Nor just for Hoosiers or even Americans
Albion’s Whitney Baierle spent the morning taking her mother-in-law and two companions through the projects in the Log Cabin on the fairgrounds. That proceeded a stroll through the swine and goat barn.
Her mother-in-law is Joice Baierle, who was visiting from Brazil. Two other women from Brazil, Dora Guimaraes and Della Bacconi, were also in the group.
Each has family that lives in this area.
None of the ladies were well-versed in English, but they were all well-versed in farm animals and fairs.
Joice Baierle had milk cows for a time in Brazil. Before her family’s small farm became partially automated, Joice had to milk a dozen cows by hand.
Mostly speaking through Whitney, the ladies compared the Noble County Fair to fairs in their home country.
“All of the cities have this kind of fair,” Dora said. “I think it’s similar. It’s smaller (in Brazil).”
The size and makeup of fairs involving animals varies from region to region.
“They have a lot of projects,” Dora said of things in her home country.
Dora seemed particularly taken with the photography entries put together by Noble County’s 4-H’ers.
“They’re very beautiful,” Dora said.
Bella Lemmon came by to give Dora, her grandmother, a hug. Bella said she was enjoying her visit.
The type and quality of animals in the barns are similar to what the ladies have seen in Brazil.
Noble County’s fair features Angus beef cows and herefords.
“It’s the same in Brazil,” Della said.
One thing that is different is the food offerings available to spectators at the fair.
“It’s natural food in Brazil, rice, beans,” Dora said. “Not everything is fried. The women are cooking all the time.”
Whitney is well-versed in Portugease, the native tongue spoken by the visitors.