‘Our way of life’: State Fair traditions keep a Minnesota farm family close across generations
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Sarah Schmidt grew up a Minnesota farm kid in McLeod County, working her family’s dairy operation with her three siblings. There were chores at night and long days on weekends — and she loved it. When she married, she hoped her kids would embrace those same rhythms of rural life, including raising animals and showing them at the Minnesota State Fair.
She didn’t need to worry.
Her daughters Aubree, Kate and Britta needed no coaxing in the wee hours Wednesday as they helped load up two prized pigs and headed out for a trip to the State Fair a bit after Midnight. Sunrise was hours away, but family energy filled the barn as they set out for the fairgrounds and the 13 days they look forward to each year.
For Sarah, 42, it’s a tradition that ties together four generations of her family. Her grandfather Raymond Olson showed at the State Fair, and she has many memories watching her father, Loren Olson, show as well. The fair is also a sweet payoff for months of work getting animals ready to show.
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“It’s so special, right, to see your children interested in the things you were interested in,” she said. “And it’s a lot of fun, because we all come back to the McLeod County Fair. So people I showed 4-H dairy with, they’re here with their kids and their kids and my kids are friends. It’s extremely special, and it’s one big reunion.”
Her mother, Laura Olson, said it’s simply who they are.
“This is kind of our way of life. The girls were babies and we took them to the fairs and things like that. It was just natural,” said Laura, a city girl from the South Side of Chicago who wasn’t thinking about farm life when she met her husband Loren at the Minnesota State Fair in the 1970s.
‘My days are just never dull’
Sarah and her husband Kelly Schmidt moved to their New Ulm farm 15 years ago. Kelly is from Tracy, west of New Ulm, and grew up with beef cattle. They knew they wanted their girls to grow up with livestock and hopefully try showing animals if it was something they felt drawn to.
When she was young, “there wasn’t really any question about working off the farm. You worked on the farm. My role was working with the cattle, feeding baby calves, milking cows,” Sarah said. “My mom worked off the farm as a family practice doctor, so we knew that mom was busy with her career and dad was busy on the farm. But we were always together. That really solidified for me later on the importance of working together as a team.”
Her team these days includes Kelly and daughters Aubree, 17, Kate, 16 and Britta, 11.
Ask Britta what she loves most about growing up on a farm and it’s an easy answer: She’s never bored.
“When I wake up, I don’t just sit around and wonder what I’m going to do next,” she said. “You have to feed the cows, the pigs, the dogs and cats. We go out and do morning chores and night chores. It’s like a routine, and so my days are never just dull.”
The family has a long history of showing livestock for judging. The Schmidt sisters grew up around cattle, so when they wanted to start showing animals, cattle made sense. Every summer they show their grandparents’ cattle at the McLeod County Fair.
As the sisters got older, they became interested in another State Fair favorite, pigs.
“These pens were all converted to what we call show pig pens,” Sarah said as she and the girls led a tour of the family barn, which was filled with memorabilia, stickers from the girls’ favorite bands and a few barn cats.
“Each pig is on its own diet. They have different nutritional needs based on how they're growing, and so individually they are hand fed two times a day,” she said. “They are walked every day, sometimes multiple times a day. They’re in fantastic shape.”
There are nine pigs this year, two females and seven males.
Each girl is also working with cattle this year and Aubree recently started showing sheep as well. Every year the family has a theme for the pigs' names. For 2025, it’s a dedication to University of Minnesota wrestlers. This year includes Sparks after Andrew Sparks and Mac after Max McEnelly.
Pigs are usually purchased in March and early April and soon, they have all the ones they know they want to work with to get to the State Fair. Once they first get them, it’s important to simply sit with them, said Aubree.
“When we get them, they’re really little, my dad is always like, ‘Just go out there and sit with them. You don’t need to do anything. Just sit.’”
Friendly competition
The girls focus on preparing the pigs by walking, practicing good hair care and even suntanning them to get their fur darker colors. Smaller “jackpot” shows start at the end of May and end in early July. These shows help the pigs get comfortable with being in the ring before the county fair.
The sisters show them at the Brown County Fair in the beginning of August, and if they meet standards, they get to represent their county at the State Fair.
It’s a lifetime of preparation, and the skills aren’t learned in a few months. The experience comes from years of spending weekends at shows, early mornings and late nights tending to the animals and having the confidence to mess up, but try again.
Over the years, Kate said she’s learned more about herself and what drives her to keep showing the animals.
“Showing gives me an added sense of discipline. It’s something in my summer that teaches me lessons. I’m never not learning something new,” she said. “When I was younger, I think I only did it because it was fun. But now it’s just so enjoyable to learn something new.”
Each of the sisters acknowledged a bit of a competitive edge. When they show, they’re focused. When anxiety creeps in, they know what to do.
“Usually, I pray a lot … for me, that helps,” Kate said. “Because deep down, I know exactly what I need to do. I’ve watched enough, I’ve done it enough. It’s just about me, fighting with me.”
Aubree agreed. She said her parents always emphasize that anxiety is normal, and they’re in it together.
“There is definitely stress and anxiety that leads up to it like, ‘Oh, I really hope this goes my way, I want to do good,” Aubree added. “Just getting that award or recognition from other people, it just feels great because it’s like, what I am doing is working. What I am doing is paying off.”
Britta said she thinks about her mom, who is also a former Princess Kay of the Milky Way, the state dairy ambassador chosen each year at the start of the State Fair.
“I always think about when my mom did this when she was younger, at my age,” said Britta. “I think it’s generational. My grandpa did it and then my mom did it — and now I do it. I think that's the most important part to me.”
At the time of publication, Aubree had been named reserve champion advanced showman and Kate was named fifth overall senior showman in the barrow division. Up next the girls will compete in the junior barrow show, which begins Monday.
Reverb intern Anita Li contributed reporting to this story.
