Livestock Qualifying Deadline Nears
By Diane Booth Conway,
Merced County Fair Communications & Marketing Director

   May 16 is the date to circle on the calendar for independent junior exhibitors to qualify to enter their sheep, swine or goats at the 2008 Merced County Fair.
   That qualification deadline is 60 days before the fair, which is July 15-20. The 2008 Fair theme is "Come Rock With The Flock," a salute to sheep, one of the county's top agricultural products.
   Independent junior exhibitors entering market animals in the fair must provide fair management with a copy of their birth certificate or driver's license as proof of age. This is a local requirement implemented last year.
   According to state requirements, independent junior exhibitors entering market animals must provide fair management with a photo of their animal, appropriate proof of ownership, permanent tag, tattoo and/or hog ear notch information.
   State rules for California fairs require independent juniors who want to exhibit market sheep, goats, or swine at the fair must be at least nine years old or in the fourth grade by January 1, 2008. Exhibitors are eligible to compete through December 31 of the year in which they turn 19 years of age.
   All required information must be submitted to the fair office at 900 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Merced. For information, call the fair office at 722-1507 or email to info@mercedcountyfair.com or fax at 722-3773. Visit the 2008 Merced County Fair’s award-winning website, www.MercedCountyFair.com

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