Raising Kids Who Raise Livestock: Coon Farm is Abuzz 12 Days Before Kickoff of Dutchess County Fair

Becky Schell has not slept in days, as she spends wee morning hours cleaning the afterbirth off newborn piglets. Teenager Emily Coon is breaking in her beef cow, Astro, who is about as cooperative as a mule. Show clothes are being pressed, mac-and-cheese meals prepared, and wheelbarrows and stall shavings will soon be loaded onto massive trailers for departure six miles yonder to the fairgrounds.

Dutchess County Fair Week, Aug. 20-25, is less than two weeks off, and the Coon family farm off Route 199 in Red Hook, like farms all over the county, is abuzz with anticipation and anxiety.

“Everyone’s blood pressure is up,” says Becky, who manages a blended family that includes her own sons, ages 11 and 13, plus Emily, Jack and Bobby Coon, 14, 12 and 10, respectively, who are the kids of her partner of five years, Pete.

The Coons, for whom raising farm animals is a third-generation affair, will be bringing roughly 13 pigs and 15 cows to the fair as market animals, to be judged on their structure, performance, muscle mass, volume, trimness, and condition. “You want to show the genetics and quality that the farm has to offer,” says Pete Coon, who also manages the family excavation business, A-W Coon & Sons, Inc.

The farm produces some 22,000 gallons of milk per year and 15,000 pounds of beef pork and chicken combined, Schell said.

Through 4-H, a youth development program with an anchor on America’s farms, the Coon-Schell kids also will show animals in a variety of categories. Emily, who will be a freshman at Red Hook High School, already has a storied history of grabbing ribbons. Last year, she snagged the junior showman blue ribbon at the Dutchess County Fair and then, minutes later, grabbed the top prize for hog showmanship, master showman.

She has prepped six pigs for show this year and plans to have Astro ready to go, too, as well as Holstein and Brown Swiss heifers. Born in February, Astro is her first beef cow. She begged Dad Pete for the opportunity to raise him.

“I love doing this,” Emily told The Daily Catch Wednesday afternoon after she blow-dried jet-black Astro to a golden sheen. “My bond with these animals is as strong as my bond with my human friends.” 

Coming up close behind her is brother Bobby, who’s been in the show ring since he was 2 and who, Becky Schell says, is going to give his big sister a run for the money at the fair this year. “I like winning,” says Bobby, blue eyes sparkling with a touch of mischief.

Jaedon, a top-flight rising baseball player at Rhinebeck’s Bulkeley Middle School, took a break from 4-H this year as did younger brother Connor. Jack also said he has hopes for a strong outcome in showman categories. 

But Pete and Becky, who also works a full-time job as a bookkeeper and secretary, never seem to rest. When Emily needs a guiding hand on Astro’s halter, Pete is suddenly nearby, quietly showing his daughter the ropes. When Bobby takes an unexpected fall off the cab of the pickup truck, Pete soothes him in silence, offering a calm embrace. And when the piglets are ready to make their debut, Becky pulls herself out of bed to guide their way and catch them one by one.

“Raising kids to raise livestock is a good life,” says Pete. “It’s exciting to watch all the hard work they put in all year come home at the fair.”

Each year, the Coon stalls are graced with a family tribute, and patriarch Bucky Coon’s wife, Wendy, has a hand in what will be celebrated. Last year, his late mom, whom the kids called Meme, was the celebrant. This year may include a nod to raw milk facts, Emily notes. That display needs to be organized, Becky adds.

Soon the trailers will be loaded – with 11 days’ of clothes, animal feed, and supplies. Then the animals will be escorted aboard. 

And they’ll be off to the fair.

The post Raising Kids Who Raise Livestock: Coon Farm is Abuzz 12 Days Before Kickoff of Dutchess County Fair first appeared on The Daily Catch.