Gate entries are rising despite a fall in the number of sheep and cattle on show, Taieri A&P Society president Dale Harris says.
The Taieri A&P Show in Mosgiel on Saturday will be the Henley dairy farmer’s second as president.
One of the biggest gate takings, about $2000 more than the year before, was collected last year.
A trend was fewer people entering livestock to show.
A reason for fewer people entering animals included a rising cost to get them there and farmers being time-poor.
"Showing animals is very time-consuming."
More farms owners were corporates than families, which was impacting the number of livestock being entered in shows, he said.
Consequently, fewer pedigree dairy cattle were around to show.
He had recently entered a sharemilking agreement and bought a herd based on production and fertility rather than pedigree.
"We can’t spend all this money on show cows that won’t give you milk at the other end or won’t get in-calf every year."
A reason for being on the society committee was to give back to his community, to have an activity off-farm and he wanted the tradition to continue for future generations to enjoy.
Mr Harris was expecting 5000 people or more to attend on Saturday.
An aim was to increase the gate takings each year by attracting many people by putting on a show, which was good value for money.
The cost for a family to enter was $25.
"I think you get a fair bit of value out of that."
The show was designated to host the Ayrshire New Zealand South Island Championships, he said.
Ayrshire New Zealand Southland and Otago member Peter Allison, of Waihola, said a reason for fewer people entering dairy cattle in show could be due to more people paying big money to have their animals professionally prepared, making it hard for a "Joe Bloggs" or young farmer to compete.
"It is win at all costs for these people."
Some younger dairy farmers were more interested in putting milk in the vat than showing cows.
He showed Ayrshire cattle because when he was younger he was given an Ayrshire bull by an older breeder.
"I feel like I owed them."
Tokomairiro Agricultural & Pastoral Society
Tokomairiro Agricultural & Pastoral Society held its 158th show in Milton in early December.
Society president Nigel Woodhead, of Milton, said there was a trend of more people attending their show and fewer people showing livestock.
Although livestock had dropped significantly, they remained an important part of the show.
Sheep numbers had dropped to a point were hard questions needed to be asked.
"I’ve asked my committee what the show would look like without a sheep section in the future because it can’t carry on like this forever."
A quality show sheep was not necessarily a top producer in a farm system.
"We are all paid on production."
Gate entries at the Toko show had risen year-on-year, he said.
The committee worked hard to give people reasons to come to their show, rather than relying on livestock to be enough.
"We have had bigger crowds at the Toko’ A&P Show because we have had stuff which complements the animals."
Committee members were clear on the demographic they were targeting and provided them with activities they wanted to see, he said.
Successful activities included the Toko Talent Quest.
"The quality of the performers on the stage is amazing and it creates an atmosphere and provides something for people to sit down and watch."
West Otago A&P Show
The 111th West Otago A&P Show was held in November last year.
West Otago A&P Society secretary Emily Donovan said sheep entries were up because the show featured a Perendale competition, which had royal event status.
A reason could be the show being held at a busy time of year for dairy farmers when their cows were being artificially inseminated.
Also the next generation of farmers seemed to be less interested in showing livestock, she said.
About 1750 of the general public attended the show each year.
"Our gates are reasonably consistent."
The weather was cold on the latest show day, which increased gate numbers.
If the day was hot, farmers would have caught up on tractor work instead, she said.
Farmers were often under the pump at that time of the year and the show was a good way to take a much-needed break.
"It is good timing for the community because everyone just needs a bit of a day to relax."
Royal A&P Society
Royal A&P Society president Rachel Walker, of Mosgiel, said generally A&P show committees across New Zealand were happy with the number of livestock being entered.
She considered A&P shows to be in good health
"What we’re seeing and hearing from our members is that they were certainly far from failing."
She was the equestrian convener at the Taieri A&P Show and entries were "very strong".
A&P shows in New Zealand were getting record gate entries year-on-year.
"They were really strong coming out of Covid. We thought maybe they would ease off again immediately after Covid, as there was no longer a novelty of being able to get out of the house. It didn’t happen."
