Till the Cows Come Home
Our project, Till the Cows Come Home, seeks to document the impact of the vanishing family farm on individuals whose lives intersect at rural county fairs. A staple of rural agricultural communities for more than 150 years, county fairs are diminishing as family farms disappear at alarming rates. In some counties, they exist solely for the rite of the demolition derby or the distraction of the carnival midway, with agricultural exhibits no longer relevant. For many attendees, the county fair is an oddity of quaintness and amusement. To those who participate, the fair has its roots in traditional farm values, economics, and social integrity.
Where family farming remains strong, the vitality of the agricultural exhibits comes from the young people who show there, some as young at 6-years-old. The work is hard, the hours long, and their dedication inexorable. In addition to the agricultural exhibits, we document the omnipresent carnival midway and the paradoxical, yet oddly patriotic, demolition derby. Surprisingly, these three separate entities demonstrate similar dedication to their tasks even as they differ in their cultural bearing.
The stories of the participants are the heart of our project. The rural fair provides an outlet for self-expression that is grounded in rural society’s system of values. Our portraits and prose are intended to reflect the reality of this observation. Participants are photographed with the object or objects of their passionate attention in the local environment of the fair. Accompanying original text is a descriptive narrative gleaned from interviews. Some direct quotations may be incorporated.
Dan Nelken, June 2005
