Sheep, goats and pigs. Name any animal and it is probably for sale at the Kern County Fair. One local businessman has a special connection to showing and selling his livestock. And part of that connection involves giving back to the community.
Seth Kushman owns a feed and farm supply store and owning his own business didn't happen overnight. But the lessons he learned through handling livestock has brought him to this point.
His love for animals started at an early age. "I had some neighbors when I was a kid that showed sheep and livestock and horses and stuff, always been an interest of mine growing up playing cowboy and all that." Now Seth gets to play cowboy for real in his own store full of saddles, brushes, and feed.
Seth joined 4H club and showed sheep for almost a decade and now he is helping children show and sell livestock. "We have showmanship classes once a week. We do that with Flying S Livestock and Granite Station as well for the goats and we really just do anything we can to help with the kids."
Seth teaches kids that this is a way of life and not something you do when it is convenient for you. "It's something you gotta work really hard at and it's 100 percent of your time you can't just do it when you wanna do it." And that ultimately it is a business. "The first couple of years it was tough because they were not just a business project, they were pets when I was younger but as I grew older I realized that it was a business.
But if you ask Seth what the best part of this business is he will say the people and the connections he has made. "The coolest thing this year was getting to go to the fair and see so many of the people that came in here every week buying their feed and they just kicked butt this year." Sharing his knowledge while teaching the next generation is all in a day's work for Seth.
The Kern County Fair is still going on through the weekend so there is still time to get out there and see all the livestock that are up for sale.
