Carnival of Soul

“Isn’t it great to be around people?” Ricketts said at a get-together in the Pump & Pantry Party Pit before the opening ceremony.

He then asked for a round of applause for everyone who helped make this year’s State Fair a reality.

Nebraska has 140,000 4-H members across its 93 counties, Ricketts said. The state is home to more than 190 FFA chapters, which have almost 10,000 members.

The fair is a great opportunity to highlight all the things that young people are doing “and to be able to get them excited and engaged in agriculture,” Ricketts said.

This year’s fair will have everything from livestock to live music, he said, and he noted that it’s presenting bullfighting for the first time.

“I just talked to a couple of kids in the pig barn,” Ricketts said. Those kids gave “rave reviews” of the Friday night bullfight. “Apparently, one of the bullfighters did a somersault over one of the bulls.”

Fairgoers were to have another chance to see the bullfighters Saturday night.

Other popular stops on the fairgrounds, he said, would include the UNL Dairy Store and the Nebraska Cattlemen’s Beef Pit.

“It wouldn’t be the same without the Cattlemen’s Beef Pit,” Ricketts said.

In the opening ceremony, held in the Five Points Bank Arena, Ricketts noted that the state to the east of us — Iowa — canceled its fair.

To be able to put on a state fair, he said, people have to work together.

The weather will be great this week, and families will gather from all over the state, Ricketts said.

Before he introduced Ricketts in the Party Pit, Grand Island Mayor Roger Steele welcomed the governor and congratulated the State Fair Board on “planning this wonderful event under difficult circumstances.”

The people of Grand Island, Steele said, had two goals all summer — having the schools open on time and having a Nebraska State Fair.

During his address, Ricketts pointed out that the fair predates Nebraska.

“The first territorial state fair was in 1859 in the city where I was born, Nebraska City,” he said.

The State Fair highlights agriculture, which “is the heart and soul of what we do here in our state,” Ricketts said.

Nebraska agriculture “has had a tough time over the last year and a half. We had the floods, we had the trade disruption, we had the pandemic, we’ve had low commodity prices, and I think that the opportunity to come together in the State Fair and celebrate Nebraska agriculture is so important — to remind us of all the work our farmers and ranchers do to be able to feed our state and our nation, the hard work they put in throughout the year,” Ricketts said.

Focusing on agriculture might remind some folks in Lincoln and Omaha “where food comes from, that it actually has to be grown and produced right here in our state, and that’s what our farmers and ranchers do,” he said.

Ricketts thanked State Fair Board Chairwoman Beth Smith, Executive Director Bill Ogg, Steele and the Central District Health Department.

He also recognized UNL Chancellor Ronnie Green and his wife, Jane, who were present, thanking them for their work in getting the university “back up and running.”

In addition, Ricketts thanked the five state senators who were present — Dan Quick, Steve Halloran, Robert Clements, Steve Erdman and Dave Murman — and took time to emphasize the Legislature’s accomplishments this year.

Like the State Fair Board, the Legislature had to adapt and manage through the pandemic, he said.

But in spite of the difficulties, legislators “had a very successful session,” Ricketts said in the Party Pit.

LB1107 will phase in an additional $375 million in property tax relief. Combined with $275 million in the Property Tax Credit Relief Fund, the total annual property tax relief will be $650 million, he said.

When both of those programs are fully phased in, Ricketts said, the owner of a 980-acre farm in Hamilton County will see more than $14,000 in property tax relief — a 21% reduction on his property tax bill.

In addition “to that generational bill on property tax relief,” legislators also renewed the state’s incentive program and approved a University of Nebraska Medical Center project, he said. They also approved veterans tax relief, pandemic relief, flood relief, a University of Nebraska scholarship program ”and the most significant pro-life bill we had in a decade. That is a lot of work to get done in a legislative session.”

Agriculture spawns many great careers in Nebraska, Ricketts said. Those jobs are not just in production agriculture, but all of the “other careers that go along with it.” Those include working as a market crop analyst, veterinarian, microbiologist, soil scientist, geologist, grain elevator operator, welder and diesel mechanic — “all of the careers that are dependent on agriculture here in our state,” Ricketts said.

Bryan Willey, a 17-year-old senior at Aurora High School, sang the national anthem at the opening ceremony.