The Saanich Fair had no 4-H cows on display this year, a marker of the changing agricultural landscape on the South Island. But there are more chickens.
Youths from 4-H clubs — the name stands for head, heart, health and hands — were on hand to show off their husbandry skills to the thousands who visited the Saanich Fair on Saturday.
But South Malahat 4-H district key leader Laurie Maloney, who has been involved in the organization for 43 years, said it was the first time in living memory that the 4-H Beef and Swine club didn’t have an exhibit.
There were four people registered this year, but only one person was available for the fair and the club decided to call it off, she said.
“This used to all be [4-H] beef years ago,” said Maloney, gesturing to the four barn stalls around her. “There just isn’t the agriculture around that used to be here.”
Maloney said when she first started in 4-H, there were dedicated clubs for dairy, goats, sheep, beef, and swine in the capital region. “There were so many clubs and so many kids.”
Dairy and beef farmer Kramer Lowe said the total number of cows at the fair has gone down by nearly half.
Lowe, who works at the Ladysmith-based dairy and beef company KTK Transport, brought down an unprecedented 12 cows for the Saanich Fair this year.
“This year, I brought extra to cover the difference,” he said. “Next year, I’ll fill the whole barn if I have to.”
Lowe said public-facing agricultural exhibitions like the Saanich Fair are important opportunities for people to get to know how their food is made and where it comes from.
“When you can put a face to the product you’re buying, it makes a huge difference,” he said.
The number of farming families on the Island have dwindled over the years, he said.
There were close to 60 farms that raised cows for beef and dairy on the Saanich Peninsula in the 1970s, he said. “Today, there’s just one.”
Part of it comes from changes in the industry, he said.
“We’re still keeping up with demand. Farms are getting bigger, cows are getting more efficient, but there is less of them,” he said.
Farming families are increasingly bowing out and selling their land to people who aren’t looking to take up the trade, he said.
However, Maloney said the interest in 4-H clubs remain high, with more kids looking to join programs than available volunteers.
In particular, the South Island’s 4-H horse and poultry clubs are seeing growth — clubs where the land-use barriers are lower, she said.
Horses can be rented and housed from riding clubs and backyard chickens are in style across Greater Victoria, she said.
4-H poultry club leader Matthew Smith said his club now has 35 members, up from nine members two years ago.
The club is the same size as it was 10 years ago, but the difference now is that the majority of the club raise their chickens in backyards, he said.
Club member Mesha Eakins said she was inspired to raise Silkie chickens in her North Saanich backyard after seeing them at the Saanich Fair last year.
The unusually fluffy chicken breed isn’t too hard to raise if you keep them out of the rain, she said. “If they get wet, they get really cold because their feathers are not waterproof.”
Eakins said that she would like to try her hand with larger animals but her family doesn’t have the required space.
North and South Saanich Agricultural Society president Diana McMurty said her society, which puts on the Saanich Fair, is concerned about the dwindling 4-H club participation at the fair.
They’re considering housing some 4-H clubs at the Saanich Fairgrounds year-round.
“The sheep, the swine, the cattle … we could easily do because that part of the fairgrounds doesn’t get used,” she said.
The society has also reached out to Central Saanich for a possible tax incentive for acreage owners who are willing to host 4-H club animals on their properties, she said.
As the number of 4-H club exhibit animals have dwindled, the society has reordered the fair’s layout to give more space to the midway, which featured a record 31 rides this year, she said.
The Saanich Fair, which began Saturday, continues until Monday. It has been attracting about 40,000 attendees each year with midway rides, food vendors, musical acts, agricultural displays and competitions, and craft displays.
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