The 2025 Wyoming State Fair (WSF) is over, and I’ll bet planning has started for 2026.
The Wyoming Livestock Roundup team is honored to be part of the WSF every year with the Roundup Tent. We were proud of the tent this year as it was the biggest one we ever had. We had 28 booths in the tent, and we were not crowded.
Thanks to the WSF for letting us put in a bigger tent, and thanks to the vendors who joined us, especially Farm Service Agency for bringing the popcorn.
Visiting with Del Tinsley, past publisher who started the tent at WSF, I figured the Roundup Tent had been at WSF for 44 years and started with two booths.
With this year’s hot temperatures, we provided a record 110 cases of ice-cold water. Thanks to Pepsi of Casper for donating the water and bringing it down.
The Wyoming Agriculture Hall of Fame Picnic, held each year on Wednesday evening, was great again with Juan Reyes, a rancher out of Wheatland, and Doug Miyamoto, director of the Wyoming Department of Agriculture, as the 2025 Wyoming Agriculture Hall of Fame inductees.
This Wyoming Agriculture Hall of Fame Award has been at the state fair since it was started by Tinsley some 33 years ago.
Throughout these years, there have been 76 Wyoming Agriculture Hall of Fame awardees. Wyoming agriculture is proud of Tinsley for having the foresight to initiate this award.
The award honors an individual or a couple who have dedicated their time and resources to promote and practice what is good for Wyoming agriculture.
Every year we announce opening for applications for the award until June 1. Around the first week of June, I appoint three judges – usually from the list of past awardees to select the winners that year.
The judges don’t know who the other judges are, and they are given a week to score the applications. They then send me the score sheets, which I add up and call to congratulate the winners. All of the applications we receive are eligible for three years.
We thank Sens. John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis and Rep. Harriet Hageman (all R-WY), all of whom were home from Washington, D.C. on a much-earned break to travel around the state visiting with citizens.
We also thank Gov. Mark Gordon and First Lady Jennie Gordon for their remarks and for being a part of the presentation. The governor announced he and others are developing a strategic plan to highlight the importance of agriculture in the state.
There was also a presentation where Wyoming Agriculture in the Classroom awarded Neil Long of Lander the 2025 Educator of the Year Award.
Following the presentations was a barbecue dinner for all of the 220 attendees surrounded by a beautiful summer evening.
One can’t talk about the WSF and not recognize the dedication of those involved in putting it on – the board, staff and all of those who help during the week of state fair. It is an amazing group of people who have a hands-on approach to assuring everyone who attends has a great experience.
Dennis Sun is the publisher of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup, a weekly agriculture newspaper available in print and online.
