ABOVE: Jack Van Nurden, a 17-year-old from the Willmar area, prepares the coat of his sheep a few hours before he is due up in the Senior Sheep Showmanship competition on Thursday.

FAIRMONT – The Minnesota Youth Livestock Expo (MYLE), the second largest youth livestock show in Minnesota behind the State Fair, opened Thursday at the Martin County Fairgrounds in Fairmont with sheep competitions.

The show, now in its seventh year, started in 2020 when the COVID pandemic cancelled the state fair. While originally planned to be a one-time thing, the event has now become a regular fixture and swelled into an early prime event on the schedule for people showing beef cows, meat goats, sheep and rabbits.

“We certainly didn’t want to put county fairs in a position where people had to make a decision whether they wanted to go to their county fair or whether they wanted to come to the MYLE,” MYLE Coordinator Steve Pomerenke said. “By having it at least here in Fairmont the last week in June, especially in southern Minnesota, there are very few county fairs at that time.”

In ensuring there are few conflicts with any fairs, the show also gives all the entrants, who can be anywhere from 5-21 and must be in either Minnesota 4-H, FFA or a Junior Breed Association, a chance to gauge where they are at and work on their skills before their local or state competitions.

This year, over 700 youth from across Minnesota are expected to compete in the four animal divisions, with over 2,300 entries across the regular show, which focuses on the quality of the animals and showmanship that showcases exhibitors’ handling of the animals. While there was a similar number of animals last year, the number of exhibitors grew by over 60.

Sheep are spread across Thursday and Friday morning, while Saturday and Sunday are the main days, chock-full of competitions for meat goats, beef cows and rabbits across the Kietzer arena, Livestock Show arena and Bank Midwest building, respectively. Pomerenke said this is by design.

ABOVE: From left: Jaxson Lewer, Sadie Trom and Jayson Lewer bring their sheep around for Judge Wade Franklin in the Kietzer Arena for the Junior Sheep Showmanship event on Thursday.

“We’ve really found that the largest, as far as pure numbers and numbers of exhibitors, the largest show we have is the sheep show. It’s best to have them by themselves, so we start out with them. They go home when the goats and cattle come in, and that makes it quite a bit easier on the weekend to make it work for the goats and cattle as compared to having the sheep on the weekend.”

Compared to the state fair, or even local county fairs, Pomerenke said the MYLE benefits exhibitors by providing a more relaxed starting point for their season.

“We’ve got a number of people that camp here; they bring their campers and they camp for a couple of days. They can house their animals in the barns if they want to, but there’s an awful lot of people that are set up to be able to show out of their trailer, and they really like doing that.”

Dozens of trailers lined the grassy areas of the Martin County Fairgrounds on Thursday, with families and mentors alike watching as sheep were groomed and prepared by competitors. To make sure all of this ran smoothly, Pomerenke said it took a good committee.

“We are all 100 percent volunteers,” he said. “No one who’s involved with the MYLE has ever gotten any money from the MYLE. Most of us would say it costs us a fair amount of money to put the show on, but we enjoy doing it. We think it’s really important for the youth to have a show like this.”

Thankfully for them, with sponsors and funds raised, they have been able to raise around $100,000 each year to help keep the event going. In doing so, Pomerenke said the interest and intrigue from this event have been great for Fairmont.

“That’s one of the reasons why I’ve really pushed hard to have it in Fairmont,” he said. “Luckily, we have the facilities that we are able to handle it, and we have the support. That’s what’s really important. I’ve heard from various businessmen in town that this is the largest thing that comes to Fairmont each year. I know there are an awful lot of people that are eating in restaurants, definitely staying overnight in the motels and hotels, they’re buying a lot of gas.”

As the MYLE gets underway, Pomerenke said overall he hopes everyone has a good time.

“I hope they enjoy the experience of coming to Fairmont and showing up to the MYLE and in the type of show that we’re going to be putting on here.”

For more information, visit mnyouthlivestockexpo.com/

ABOVE: Tucker Tiesler, who finished third last year, came from the Ellsworth-Adrian area to take home first place in the Novice Sheep Showmanship category, the first event from the 2026 Minnesota Youth Livestock Expo to take place in the Kietzer Arena.