Hayley Sanchez / The BulletinHalie Bates, 19, from left, her mom Ellen Roberts, 43, and sister Abigail Bates, 16, groom their sheep in preparation for the sheep show at the Jefferson County Fair on Wednesday afternoon.

MADRAS — The Jefferson County Fair & Rodeo kicked off with fried food and carnival rides, but the farm animals were a major highlight for many in Madras on Wednesday.

Every year, Jefferson County Fair partners with Future Farmers of America and hosts the 4-H show and auction of sheep, pigs, rabbits, and more — all taken care of exclusively by kids 5 to 18. The fair and rodeo run through Saturday.

Hannah Young, 12, of Culver, has participated in the 4-H program at the fair for the past two years and was last year’s junior rabbit showman champion. She also won market rabbits pen of three champion, which is a pen of three rabbits auctioned together for meat. This year, Young is competing in the market and showman competitions with seven rabbits.

In the market competition, judges determine the quality of a rabbit’s body to sell it for meat, but in the showmanship competition, rabbits are judged on physical appearance and how well owners have taken care of them, Young said.

“My first year when I competed I won I think $308 from the auction,” she said. “Last year I made $750. We usually just buy the rabbits back though because the people — they don’t actually want the rabbits for meat or anything. They just want to support me.”

Young said she delivered cards to a few local businesses to try to earn support for this year’s auction and is hoping to buy her rabbits back again this year. She also entered a rooster and a duck; her younger sister also entered a duck.

“I’m most excited for the (rabbit) showmanship competition,” she said. “My rabbit Destiny and I have competed together last year and the year before, so this will be our third year together.”

Many kids at 4-H are repeat entrants to the Jefferson County Fair like Jared Alps, 15, of Culver, who was last year’s market sheep grand champion. He said he has been participating in 4-H for six years now, but this year will be different.

“This is my first year putting (my sheep) in the showmanship competition,” he said. “All the other years I just do the market competition.”

Derek Burbank, the youth adviser of FFA for Culver, said 4-H is a leadership program that provides youth with the opportunity to show off their animals.

“Many of these kids come from farming communities,” he said. “And they’re not just showing off their animals. These young kids are running businesses. These kids are getting involved in their communities, not because they have to like the adults here at the fair, but because they want to. These are our future doctors, lawyers, teachers, police officers … They’re taking on big leadership roles.”

Linda Thomas of Bend, a regular fairgoer, said her granddaughter was showing a sheep and agreed with Burbank, saying that kids can build character through 4-H.

“It’s pretty exciting for all the kids,” she said. “They’ve worked hard. They’ve done all the grooming for their animals and done the (outer appearance) of their animals and will be judged on how poised they are when they’re showing. It’s not whether they win or lose but that they are out there and willing to give it a try.”

Halie Bates, 19, of Redmond, said she participated in 4-H until her senior year of high school and said it was a rewarding experience, even though she never won anything. This year, she is helping her younger sister, Abigail Bates, 16, with her sheep.

“Fairs have just become a part of our summers,” she said. “Every year we are here participating, and it’s nice to be involved and meet new people. We prepare the sheep by shaving down all their wool and giving them a bath, and then we have to blow dry them. Each sheep takes about three hours, so it’s definitely a lot of work.”

Just a few pens over, Alps also brushed and groomed his two sheep for a while. He was 30 minutes away from the market competition and said he was going to prepare by making his sheep “look like a million bucks.”

— Reporter: 541-382-1811, hsanchez@bendbulletin.com