ABOVE: Beef exhibitors listen to rules in Keitzer Arena at the Martin County Fairgrounds ahead of showing Thursday afternoon during the Minnesota Youth Livestock Expo.

FAIRMONT– The Minnesota Youth Livestock Expo (MYLE) kicked off Thursday at the Martin County Fairgrounds in Fairmont. Between Martin and Jackson counties, the expo will run through July 9 and in that time roughly 650 exhibitors will show about 1,700 entires.

While the event is only in its fourth year, it’s proven to be wildly popular and successful. Steve Pomerenke is a cofounder of the event and co-chair of its committee, along with Kent Thiesse. The two have worked together on committees at the state fair for over 20 years. Pomerenke explained how the youth expo first came to be.

“When the state fair was cancelled in 2020, I called Kent up and said, ‘we really need to do something if we can and if you’re up for something, I am,'” Pomerenke said.

The two called some friends of theirs who had also been involved with various committees at the state fair, including swine, sheep and goat committees.

“I remember the first meeting we had, it was at the Martin County Fairgrounds on the 28th of May of 2020. At that first meeting we had 15 people who came and were interested in what we were doing,” Pomerenke said.

At the next meeting a few weeks later, 30 interested people were in attendance and Pomerenke said it took off from there.

In that first year, there was no state fair and very few county fairs in the state so youth had no opportunities to show their livestock and there ended up being about 2,000 entries in MYLE.

“When we first started it, I don’t think Kent and I thought it would be a continuous thing. We were just doing it because the state fair was cancelled but everyone liked it and right from the start were talking about the next year,” Pomerenke said.

He said that once county fairs and the state fair picked back up, they weren’t sure what participation would be, but each year since numbers have remained strong.

The event is open for people ages 6 through 21, many of whom are in 4H or FFA. They have to be from Minnesota and Pomerenke said participants come from all over the state.

“Some people that have come in past years have come from northern Minnesota and I remember one from East Otter Tail County,” Pomerenke said.

He pointed out that MYLE is nice for younger children because they have to be through 6th grade to show in the state fair.

“It opens it up to a broader audience,” Pomerenke said.

He said he thinks that people really like the atmosphere that’s offered here and noted that many people camp on the fairgrounds and that the event fills up the hotels in Fairmont. Pomerenke said he was told by the Best Western that this is the biggest thing that comes to Fairmont.

Nice prizes are also given out to the top five in each category. In the first year, MYLE was during the week the Martin County Fair is usually held. Pomerenke said in just over two months, they were able to raise $225,000, which was in part because there was no state fair and few county fairs so organizers went after a lot of money.

“We knew we’d never have another year like that, though the support has been fantastic,” Pomerenke said.

Since then, over $100,000 has been raised each year and Pomerenke expressed appreciation for those who support it.

“We have a tremendous committee and we’re all volunteers,” Pomerenke said.

There’s an executive committee of seven but about 30 total on the committee and overall about 100 volunteers who work to make the event possible. The committee has about half a dozen meetings throughout the year.

Through Saturday, beef, meat goat, sheep and rabbit will be shown at the Martin County Fairgrounds and swine will be shown from July 6 through the 9th in Jackson County.