No dairy cows at Shiawassee fair this summer: Officials

LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — There won’t be any dairy animals at the Shiawassee County Fair this summer, county and state officials announced.

The culprit, they say, is the presence of the bird flu in Michigan.

As of May 3, bird flu had been confirmed in 18 domestic animals in Michigan across Eaton, Ionia and Saginaw counties. Michigan has also had two confirmed cases of bird flu in humans.

Officials made the decision not to show dairy animals this year “after much deliberation and consultation,” in consideration of “the safety and well-being of our county’s dairy herds,” they said in online and social media posts .

They said the decision is “out of an abundance of caution.”

Though dairy cattle won’t be present at the county fair in August, dairy club members will create educational exhibits in the dairy barn “to share information regarding the dairy industry with the public.”

“The public is encouraged to visit the dairy barn, meet the youth exhibitors, and have fun learning about the dairy industry,” Shiawassee County Fair officials said.

As of now, the decision does not affect the beef barn or sale animals, county fair officials said in the post.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WLNS 6 News.