Back when I attended UW Baraboo, I knew several fellow students who were involved with raising and showing either bovine, rabbits, or poultry at the Sauk County Fairgrounds each time it was held in July (I believe if memory serves correctly). At the fair, I can remember there being at least two judging classes for animals entered into the fair that can be applied for through application forms. One of them was the Junior/4-H class, which is primarily intended for youth participation, and is administered/carried out by the USDA and NIFA. Most, if not all of these entrants to this class were/are involved with traditional livestock animals such as bovines, poultry, sheep and goats, and swine, etc.



The other class was what was known as "open class", and that class is typically open to nearly any other invididual/organization involved with animal keeping, propagation, or showing or otherwise intending to enter/exhibit show animals. Most of the "other livestock" and "miscellaneous animals" could be entered into this category, and I can remember there being open class judging for rabbits, some poultry, flowers and houseplants, and even for dogs. I would imagine that herps could also be entered into this category once some qualified and impartial judges could be located for judging them.



I would imagine that most other county and state fairs have similar judging classes when it comes to animals.



As for the infrastructure/hierarchy of how such judging contests operate/proceed, I am not entirely certain on this, but at the Sauk fair at least, such contests were only judged/awarded locally, to my knowledge with the yearly results being published/announced on their website. But it could be different for other fairs and organizations.

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