For Frost the cow, there was nothing sweeter than victory — except maybe a post-show scrubdown.
The 3-year-old Holstein, owned by Alison Younker of Tulpehocken Township, was crowned the 2025 Berks Fair Supreme Champion Dairy Cow.
“That means she’s the best (dairy) animal here,” said Kylee Cammauf, 13, Mohrsville, who was keeping Frost cool and clean with a stream of hose water. “Best milk, has the most likely chance to have good babies.”
Frost seemed to be basking in the glory of her win, or at least the sunlight and shower, content under Cammauf’s wing.
Several dozen dairy cows were lounging in stalls and strolling the premises at the Berks County Fairgroudns in Bern Township Saturday morning.
Steve, a large black beef steer, stepped out for a brief walk alongside owner Jackson Manwiller, 13, Mohrsville.
Manwiller has been showing cattle for five years, and this year Steve took home a championship at the fair alongside his farm mate Riley, who was named champion Angus heifer.
“This is what they look forward to, coming and hanging out and being kids with their friends,” Jackson’s dad, Mark Manwiller, said of the livestock show. “It’s a good balance of work, responsibility and fun.”
Mark Manwiller, who owns Walnut Hill Farm in Mohrsville, said he competed in livestock contests as a kid.
He said steer are judged on features such as size and bone structure to determine their overall quality.
“Part of it’s genetic,” Mark Manwiller said. “Part of it depends on how you feed them, a good steer, sometimes if it doesn’t act good in the rain a judge will overlook them, there’s a lot that goes into it (judging).”
Russel Manwiller, 9, was looking to ace a quiz on identifying cattle breeds. One was easy to find since he owns Willy, an Angus.
Elsewhere Heather Ruth of District Township was busy feeding Presley, who at 6months old, was already a whopping 630 pounds.
“When they’re big, they’re kind of hard to handle but when they’re small, they’re not that hard, so they get used to (interacting with people),” Ruth, 12 said.
Presley, who won reserve champion in the heavyweight category, will likely grow to be 1,400 to 1,500 pounds, Ruth noted.
Pete and Lillian Kratz of Mohrsville were passing the downtime between shows by playing cards with their kids, Dustin, 11, and Rosie, 15.
“We were here Tuesday night, (we’ll be here) through tonight,” Pete Kratz said. “There is a lot of downtime but they have a lot of events for the kids besides just showing the animals.”
Besides the livestock shows, the fair’s five-day run featured rodeos, tractor pulls, line dancing, a hay bale toss, a demolition derby and more, in addition to the carnival attractions in the midway.
Further down the fairgrounds Grant Geosits, 1, of Wyomissing, was busy discovering a newfound love of tractors.
The child seemed thrilled to be near the 1938 Allis Chambers Model B tractor, presented by the Lyons family of Elverson. It was one of several antique tractors on display.
In another tent sat displays of award-winning plants and flowers: Lilies, black-eyed Susans, lavender and many more decorated the competition tent with sweet fragrances and vibrant colors.
No doubt enticed with the bouquet were the bees in the hive on display, under the purview of beekeeper Carl Cattau of Canal Trial Bees, Bern Township.
Cattau said last year’s harvest yielded about 1,000 pounds of honey.
He said he manages his 54 hives by himself, with each containing about 30,000 to 50,000 bees. He does this on top of a full-time job.
“It’s not that much work in the summertime,” Cattau said. “Spring is really busy.”
He said he is stung only once or twice per weekend when caring for them despite not wearing protective equipment other than a facemask
“They don’t even fly on me,” Cattau said. “It’s all in the genetics. If you have good genes to your bees, they’re calm and docile and you don’t even need to worry about it.”
He said overcast days can sometimes make bees slightly more aggressive.
Maya Bicksler, 20, Bethel, said she’s been showing at the fair for 18 years.
“I really like connecting with people who aren’t into agriculture and showing them kind of what my everyday is like,” Bicksler said.
She recently graduated from Lakeshore College in Wisconsin with a degree in agriculture and now works with herds at several farms.
Saturday is the final day of this year’s fair.
Source: Berkshire mont
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