Isaac Hammock is the vice president, and he said this is the fifth time the organization has come to ODAC.
He explains how many people these kinds of events can draw.
“We have anywhere from 45 to 60 exhibitors every year,” he said. “It’s been up and down year to year. Every kid brings parents and grandparents to watch, so there’s usually 200-300 that watch. We had a really good turnout this year, more people than ever.”
Hammock would say close to 300 people watched, but he was not sure of the exact number since a headcount was not taken.
“That was really neat,” he said. “That was a little above average; we average about 75. What we’re hoping is that it is starting to grow, and we have a good show every year.”
Hammock hopes people who participate or watch learn one thing.
“Hopefully what people learn is what it takes to make a glass of milk,” he said. “A lot of people and kids that enter these shows and work with these cows, they don’t know where it comes from. What we try and teach is kids think when they see milk on the shelf of a grocery store, it gets made in the back, and that’s where it comes from. It’s a lot of hard work.”
Five farms were represented from within Pittsylvania County including Hammock Dairy Inc., Mountain View Farms, Vanderhyde Dairy, Witching Hour and Motley Dairy. Two were represented from about three hours away, Rhodes View Cattle and Richlands Dairy Farm.
Lots of classes were represented including: half pint, senior showmanship, intermediate showmanship, junior showmanship, novice showmanship, master showman, among many cow classes.
