Premiums are in essence the many exhibits found at the fairs, mostly agricultural in nature, from horse shows to the 4H displays.  Each fair may receive up to $15,000 in matching funds, where the money may be spent on anything from grounds improvements to rental of tents to house the exhibits.  None of these funds are guaranteed and all must be applied for. In harness racing, up to 75% of the purses paid are funded by MDA.The Michigan Department of Agriculture also does a lot with food safety, as well as management of groundwater and manure.  As one might think, these come into play quite a bit at the county fairs, so the MDA has several people looking into these aspects of the fair.  One such person is Cinda Karlik of the MDA's Lansing office.  She walks the grounds at the fairs looking for possible problems and tries to help out as much as she can to make each fair a safe and sound success.  Because the fairs rely on volunteers to operate, and because these volunteers invariably change from year to year, Cinda can be seen as a brain trust as she brings with her a good deal of experience and knowledge concerning the operation of fairs.  In that respect she spends a lot of her time answering questions for the volunteers and fair managers.

When walking the grounds, Cinda tends to look for several things including: water, where it comes from and where it goes; exhibitions, clear labeling, their cleanliness and general appeal to the public; and signage, that is, the signs found on fair grounds directing visitors to various exhibits.  She also looks at manure management at the fairs, making sure the manure is stored and removed from the grounds in a proper and timely fashion.  Really, the list goes on and on (hand washing facilities, animal wash facilities, abandoned wells, chemical storage, and on and on).

On a recent walk of a county fair grounds, Cinda pointed out several things.  For instance, because water demands are high at fairs, and supply is scarce, many facilities are forced to split a single source such as that illustrated in the photograph on the left.  This is fine if appropriate measures are taken to ensure no cross contamination occurs.  In the case illustrated by the photograph, one half of the water is going to a food trailer and the other half is going to a water ride.  Without proper backflow measures, a bacteriological problem in one could be transferred to the other.  A close up of this particular setup reveals this: Here Cinda is pointing at a backflow valve.  This valve is positioned to prevent the primary water source from being contaminated by backflow; however, a close examination of the dividers and the hoses attached to them shows no backflow valves.  At that point Cinda needs to investigate the ride and food trailer to see if they have backflow valves themselves.

Next we see Cinda taking a closer look at a spigot and hose outside the livestock barn.  The main concern here is that small children will drink from the hose when in fact the end of the hose is resting on the ground in residual animal waste.  This one is particularly difficult, as the livestock need plenty of fresh water to maintain their health and cleanliness.  Proper signage could help prevent improper use of this water source, as could some type of barricade preventing the public from accessing it directly.  In any case, the concern here isn't as large as some others, such as waste-water disposal.Cinda looks at several aspects of waste-water disposal; in particular she examines animal wash disposal, food trailer waste water disposal, and campground waste water disposal.  Often times the campgrounds aren't open to the public, so we don't think of fairs as camping sites, but there's a large staff involved, some of whom are traveling to fairs across the state and are miles from their homes.  A concentration of such campers can make for some difficult disposal problems.  In addition, there are other concerns to watch out for, such as space between the trailers illustrated above.  In case of fire or other emergency, enough space must be available to allow access to emergency personnel.Here we see a possible waste-water disposal problem.  If the drain in the image on the left is part of the city or township's overall sewer system, then everything is ok.  If, however, the drain is an ordinary storm drain, then the waste water is simply being released untreated into run-off ponds and rivers, possibly contaminating them with bacteria or other health hazards.

Every year Cinda prepares a water safety study, which is a formal report presented to the Fair Board.  This report details her findings in her grounds inspections and includes photographs and charts.  The report is used in preparing for future fairs as well as in making fair grounds improvements.  MDA Director Dan Wyant ordered these studies as a preventative measure after fairs in other states had bacterial problems resulting in illness.  To date, Michigan fairs have not experienced these problems, in part due to the MDA's preventative measures.As Cinda walks the fair grounds, she is often stopped by various fair personnel who may wish to ask her a question, or share some insight, or simply to chat, as Cinda's is a familiar face at fairs across the state.

Here Cinda listens to a "fish tale"
in the livestock barn.
Here we see Cinda and MDA
Director Dan Wyant talking to
an Ionia County Fair Manager.

Another way in which the MDA interacts with county fairs is simply appearing at official functions such as the Governor's Lawn Party at the Ionia County Fair this year.

Above we see MDA Director Dan Wyant at the Governor's Lawn Party in Ionia.  Governor Granholm couldn't be there this year and asked Director Wyant to go in her place.
While there, Director Wyant delivered the keynote speech on the importance of agriculture to Michigan's economy.
Here he took a moment to pose with this year's fair queen
and her court.  One of the few perks of the job!
As a side note, this year's Governor's Lawn Party featured
harpist Lorie Petersen.  She did a fantastic job.

Finally, many of the Michigan Department of Agriculture's staff and their children participate in the fairs, either as volunteers, or, as seen below, as contestants (technically the horse is the contestant, its owner, Brian Preston, is simply showing her at the fair).

MDA Agriculture Development Division employee Brian Preston
poses with his horse, Beth, and helper, Sarah Kennedy.
Here Brian demonstrates some of the finer
techniques in horse-show competition.

As you can see, the MDA's interaction with county fairs is extensive and far ranging.  The MDA stands as a resource to all fairs across the state while simultaneously protecting the interests of Michigan citizens.

For more information on Michigan fairs, take a look at the MDA fair pages.