How the State Fair is Raising NC Agriculture's Next Generation
Youth at the center of the fair
Before the midway opens each morning at the N.C. State Fair, the livestock barns are already busy. Youth exhibitors are washing, brushing, and feeding animals they have cared for every day since spring.
The fair runs yearly in October in Raleigh, and its junior livestock shows remain the core of the event. They also serve as a workforce pipeline, building early experience for the state's future farmers, veterinarians, agronomists, lenders, and food-industry professionals.
A statewide show program
The fair's livestock program covers beef and dairy cattle, swine, sheep, goats, and market turkeys, with junior and open divisions classed by species, breed, age, and weight. Junior showmanship contests judge the exhibitor's skill, not only the animal’s.
Participation is statewide. 2025 champions came from Mecklenburg, Tyrrell, Buncombe, Pitt, Surry, Cumberland, and dozens of other counties (NCDA&CS). Most exhibitors qualify through a season of county and district shows, making the State Fair the culmination of months of work for participants across the state.
4-H and FFA: the organizations behind the exhibitors
Most junior exhibitors enter through a 4-H club or FFA chapter, supported by Extension agents and agriculture teachers.
Organization | NC reach | Ages |
275,000+ youth; 15,000+ volunteers; all 100 counties | 5–18 | |
48,879 members in 371 chapters | Middle and high school |
NC FFA membership has roughly doubled since 2021, when it stood at just over 24,000 (congressional office summary). The two organizations function in sequence: 4-H often introduces agriculture in elementary school, and FFA builds on it through school-based agricultural education, supervised experience projects, and 43 state-level career development events.
From the show ring to a career
A livestock project functions as applied training in four areas:
Animal science: nutrition, health, genetics, and biosecurity
Business management: feed costs, weight-gain records, budgets, and sponsor outreach
Communication: presenting to judges and explaining food production to the public
Persistence: a months-long daily commitment with a public result
The fair also invests directly in exhibitors' education. Grand and reserve grand champions are auctioned at the Junior Livestock Sale of Champions, and a share of every bid funds scholarships open to all junior exhibitors. The 2025 sale raised $214,830, the fourth consecutive year above $210,000.
In 2026, 33 students received N.C. State Fair Youth Livestock Scholarships, bringing the program's total to $677,500 since 2015. Recipients are enrolled at N.C. State, the University of Mount Olive, East Carolina, community colleges and out-of-state land-grant universities, including two 2025 reserve grand champions.
Why the pipeline matters economically
North Carolina agriculture and agribusiness generate about $102 billion in economic impact, roughly 13% of state economic output, and support about 965,000 jobs, nearly 1 in 5 statewide.
Sustaining that workforce is a growing concern. NCDA&CS reports a shortage of large animal veterinarians in rural counties and now offers grants of up to $25,000 to retain them, and state research stations report difficulty replacing an aging workforce.
Youth livestock programs build the skills these employers need, which places them squarely in conversations about local economic development. County-level economic impact research, such as our proprietary data platform, helps legislators and local officials see what that investment supports.
Supporting the next generation
The 2026 fair closed Sunday, October 25, with the Sale of Champions. Beyond the fair, individuals and organizations can support this pipeline by:
Sponsoring or bidding at the Sale of Champions and county shows
Volunteering with a county 4-H program or FFA alumni chapter
Offering internships and summer jobs to 4-H and FFA students
Sharing the value of youth agriculture programs with county commissioners and legislators
To see agriculture's impact in your county, explore the NCAP Foundation's economic impact research at ncapfoundation.org.
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