Continuing its longstanding tradition, NC State’s Animal Science Club is preparing to have a strong presence at the North Carolina State Fair, which begins Oct. 15.
Fair attendees can expect to see members of the Animal Science Club showing off livestock, helping with the North Carolina Cattlemen’s Association and running the club’s iconic milking booth where, for $3, visitors can milk a dairy cow and enjoy a carton of Howling Cow milk.
The fair acts as an opportunity for the club to “promote agriculture and teach about the industry,” said Sarah Martin, a senior studying animal science and the president of the Animal Science Club. “People come looking for us at the fair.”
Meagan Noblin, a junior studying animal science and a second-year club member, said the fair typically excites new members.
“[The fair] is really geared for people who have never shown [an animal] before,” Noblin said.
New members of the club gain experience training for the fair, including teaching cows how to be guided by a rope, learning the proper way to show an animal and memorizing general facts about the animals shown at the State Fair. “It’s a really good way to learn about a species,” Noblin said.
For Noblin, teaching fairgoers about animals is one of the best parts of the event.
“You’re not only learning animal skills, you’re also learning how to educate the public,” Noblin said.
Whether it has to do with the size of the cows or what kind of cows chocolate milk comes from, members of the Animal Science Club work hard to clear up common misconceptions about the agriculture industry.
Martin said she often tells guests about the safety of drinking milk fresh from a cow’s udder. Because many people worry about their milk being antibiotic free, Martin informs them that milk has to be tested before it leaves the farm.
The North Carolina State Fair is the club’s main event each year. The club’s more-than-100 active members and strong ties with its alumni are what allow it to have such a strong presence year after year.
“We’ve kind of found a system that works for us, and we tend to have success with that,” Martin said.
