Students participating in the exciting goat scramble during the Minard Livestock Show and Beef Festival at Minard Estate in Brown's Town, St. Ann, last year.
November 7 (JIS):
The 22nd annual Minard Livestock Show and Beef Festival, slated for Minard Estate in Brown’s Town, St. Ann, on November 9 promises to be an educational extravaganza for students of all ages.
More than 8,000 students, representing up to 300 schools from the kindergarten to tertiary levels, are expected to participate in the much-anticipated event.
The festival is organised by the Jamaica Cattle Breeders Society, in collaboration with the Jamaica 4-H Clubs and Ministry of Education and Youth and sponsored by Nutramix.
Other sponsors include the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining; the Jamaica Dairy Development Board; Agro Invest Corporation; Discovery Bauxite; HEART/NSTA Trust, and H&L Agro.
Education Officer in the Ministry of Education and Youth, Okemo Duckie, who sits on the Minard Show Planning Committee, told JIS News that the festival will primarily showcase local livestock, particularly cattle.
Indigenous breeds, such as the Jamaica Hope, Jamaica Red, and Jamaica Black will be on display, with special spotlight on the nucleus herd from the Bodles Research Centre in St. Catherine, he further informed.
“There’ll be a lot of exhibitors from various sectors from across the country exhibiting what they have, so our students can see and benefit from that,” Mr. Duckie noted.
He stated that one unique feature of the show is the goat and calf scramble, where students have the chance to win a calf or a goat to take home, making it one of the few shows in Jamaica where attendees can leave with a tangible prize.
“The calf [or] the goat [is placed] in a ring and the students go in and get an opportunity to catch them. Once they are in control of the animal at the end of the scramble, they are a winner,” Mr. Duckie explained.
“We have the rabbit scramble as well [where] patrons can come and draw and they can go home with a pair of rabbits,” he added.
The institutions with the highest student attendance will be recognised, with the high school being awarded a calf and the primary school, a pair of rabbits.
As part of the beef festival segment, attendees will have the opportunity to, among other things, partake of delicious culinary offerings such as corned beef and corned beef soup. Other activities will include a maths race and milk-drinking competition.
“We will have a big opening ceremony where we’re expecting the Minister of Agriculture as our keynote speaker. The Minister and our main presenters will be talking to our students. We are expecting members from all sectors related to agriculture to be part of our event,” Mr. Duckie informed.
“We are going to announce the winners for our dairy-quiz competition, which is a tertiary-level competition. We are also going to have essay competitions for primary and high-school students,” he added.
The gates will open at 8:00 a.m., with admission fees of $800 for adults and $400 for children.
“We are hoping for good weather to have a wonderful day. Last year, we had a bumper crowd. Our patrons really turned out in their numbers, and we are looking forward to a similar turnout this year,” Mr. Duckie indicated.
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