March 7 saw another successful Boorowa Show, with nasty weather holding off until 5pm, at the conclusion of the day.
Boorowa Show Society Inc secretary, Narelle Nixon, says the overall show was well attended, although some changes may need to be made in the future.
“Our numbers through the gates were down, but those who attended had a great day,” she says.
“The kids enjoyed free entertainment and activities, and we had a great display from New South Wales Transport on Road Safety and Crash Awareness.”
Their annual Yard Dog Championships went all day, and Narelle says it was a highlight for many of their visitors.
“Junior Judging and Parading was also keenly contested in the cattle arena, and there were good entries in poultry,” she says.
Their good fortune, however, was doused by a smaller number of horses that were entered into the competition.
“I don’t know if it’s a trend across the shows,” says Narelle.
“There is a lot of competition from shows around the state, and that’s probably why we didn’t get any horses.”
This has given the Show Society pause as they consider how to better the Show’s prospects for next year by encouraging more entrants.
Despite this, the Show’s other accolades were on full display, with approximately $25,000 on offer for their poultry section.
“That’s a fair [amount of money] from a small country show,” says Narelle.
“The Pavilion display was colourful, and it was one of the best ones I’ve ever seen.
“That was a real plus.”
A record number of entrants were also received for the dog competition.
“We’d like to [now] work out how we can improve the ring events in the arena,” she says.
“If we’re not going to get any horses in the future, and sheep numbers for the stud sheep, we’re going to have to reassess a couple of our sections that have always been strong in the past.
“Due to various reasons… we will see whether we can improve them or supplement them with other activities.”
Nationwide, small shows (such as the Boorowa show) are struggling to continue attracting horses and other animals to ring events.
“That’s a trend you’ll see across Queensland and New South Wales,” says Narelle.
“The cost of showing an animal is considerable, so therefore, once you have that [knowledge], [entrants] really want to make their money count and they will choose a larger show in many cases.”
Over the past few years, Narelle says she’s noticed several specialised Merino and British breeds sheep shows, which are taking away from the traditional agriculture shows (such as the Boorowa Show) as they are a better industry tournament.
“A small show is usually the collateral damage for those sorts of decisions,” she says.
“It’s just something we’re going to have to deal with.
“We may be able to concentrate on a particular area to improve our numbers or specialise in certain classes, and we might attract entries there.
Despite this, Narelle says the Boorowa Show continues to hold their own as hosts of one of the largest alpaca shows in southern NSW.
“We had just under 100 alpacas in the Pavilion,” she says.
“I don’t think there is any alpacas in any of the other shows around here, so it’s very popular and they’re a lovely bunch of people that support us.”
Despite the smaller numbers, Narelle says their Pavilion was bursting at the seams with displays.
“It was unbelievable,” she says.
Overall, the general consensus remains: support your local show to ensure events such as this one aren’t left in favour of larger and more mainstream shows.
– Elizabeth Kovacs
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