Livestock comfort at the fair

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Radio interview source: Glen Arnold, Extension specialist, Ohio State University

Why is it the hottest days of the year are always at county fair time? We make sure the animals we're showing have plenty of fresh, cool water and are fed on a regular schedule. We have fans running, too, because air movement in the building is the most crucial factor to keeping the livestock cooled off.

A lot of county fairs are now installing fans that circulate the air in a racetrack fashion, or have all the fans blowing in one direction. Glen Arnold is an Extension specialist at Ohio State University, and says people in the cattle barns are trying to get away from so-called butt fans.

"That's where you would have three fans blowing air at the butt of the animal," Arnold says. "Each individual exhibitor would have their fans blowing only on their animals and all they did was circulate a lot of warm air in a building. By everybody working together to have the fans blowing in a single direction, then everybody's contributing to the well-being of all the animals in the barn."