In the midst of all the delicious fried food and exhilarating entertainment at the North Carolina State Fair, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS), along with the Animal Science and Poultry Science Clubs, delight and teach many members of the general public about different types of cattle, livestock and more.
With over 200 volunteers at the State Fair from the Animal Science Club and the Poultry Science Club combined, the presence of NC State students and organizations at the fair is anything but small, just like the fascinating and educational booths that the clubs run.
Payton Smith, a third-year studying animal science and the Milk Booth Chairperson for the Animal Science Club, spoke out about all the interesting opportunities members of the Animal Science Club were able to participate in this year at the fair.
“Every year, the Animal Science Club puts on a Milk Booth, which is a huge learning opportunity for our club members and the community as a whole,” Smith said. “Leading up to the fair, those who are interested go out to the NC State Dairy Unit and work with some of their cows there. Our main goal while doing this is to get the cows used to us petting and handling them. Then, we bring two groups of six to the fair to run the milk booth. Here, people have the opportunity to pay $3 to milk a cow. Since the entire booth is run by our club members, NC State students are able to teach people how to milk a cow, answer any questions they may have about cows, and we even hand out cartons of milk to the participants when they are done.”
In addition to the Milk Booth, members of the Animal Science Club, along with the NC State Beef Unit, show dairy heifers from the NC State Dairy Unit. Just like the cows, members go out at the beginning of the semester and work with the university’s heifers in order to gain familiarity with one another.
The Animal Science Club also participates in community service while at the State Fair. Smith shared more information about the opportunities included in this.
“For community service, the Animal Science Club helps out with the Junior Shows,” Smith said. “For this, anyone in the public or in the livestock field can bring their animals to the fair and have them shown. Our club members supplement this. We watch the ring, make sure no animals get out, and pass out ribbons to all the kids that participate. Basically, wherever the Livestock Office needs us, we will be there.”
Similar to the Animal Science Club, the Poultry Science Club is also very immersed at the State Fair. Kat Wilhelm, a fourth-year studying poultry science and the treasurer of the Poultry Science Club, reflects on all of the many different possibilities members of the Poultry Club get involved with at the fair.
“The Poultry Science club has an exhibit set up in the Poultry Science tent,” Wilhelm said. “In this tent, we display chickens that are for sale, and in the corner, we have a booth were we provide information for the public and many different things for them to see, like 3D models of different types of chicken houses,” Wilhelm said. “We also display different kinds of feed and informational posters, as well as conventional and educational coloring pages with different poultry anatomy for kids. Parents like to pick up these pages if they homeschool their children; they like to teach them the egg-laying cycle. We try to answer any questions for the public and engage with them as much as we can.”
If you are interested in viewing these exhibits, be sure to head out to the State Fair, which is running until this upcoming Sunday, Oct 21. If you are interested in helping out with these exhibits and booths next year, or want to join any of the clubs mentioned, you can contact the Animal Science club at ansclubncsu@gmail.com and the Poultry Science Club at poultryscienceclub.ncsu@gmail.com.
