COOPERSTOWN – The 60th annual Farmers’ Museum Junior Livestock Show is hard work, says 16 year-old participant Brian Graham, but that’s what makes it special.

“Kids have to learn their responsibilities on their own,” said Graham, who lives on a goat farm in South Otselic. “It (the livestock show) is good in that way.”

The three-day event starts 9 a.m. Sunday. Over 300 youth handlers ages 8 to 18 and 750 animals from a nine county area are expected to participate. They’ll be judged in a number of skill areas related to handling dairy cows, beef, swine, goats, and sheep.

“It brings together a lot of different livestock,” said Cornell Cooperative Ag educator Janet Pfromm, “and our kids get to meet kids from different counties with the same interests.”

There are around a dozen kids from the county attending, including 4-Hers from both the Evans and Stoltzman farms in Georgetown and the Abrams farm in New Berlin.

“A lot of my friends go,” said Graham. “It’s a fun competition.”