Summerland Fall Fair a celebration of agriculture

Sep 11, 2019

The Summerland Fall Fair on Friday and Saturday was a community celebration of agriculture.

The two-day event featured a tailgate party and entertainment in Memorial Park on Friday evening and displays of produce and the pioneer workshop at the Summerland Curling Club on Saturday.

Denise MacDonald, chair of the Summerland Fall Fair, said the event has evolved and changed over the years.

This board has adapted and made adjustments. It’s really quite nice to be working with them,” she said.

The fair is a Summerland tradition dating back to 1909.

For three years, from 2015 to 2017, the fair was not held.

In 2018, the fair was brought back with its present structure.

MacDonald said the tailgate party in Memorial Park provides an opportunity for people to meet those who grow their food.

“It showcases industry and hobby farmers, commercial farmers and it connects the consumers to the farmers,” she said.

She added that younger farmers find it valuable since it gives them an opportunity to connect with others involved in Agriculture.

“They had to sacrifice a little bit to show up at the tailgate party, but I think everyone was quite pleased,” she said.

Click here to see more...

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.