The Faribault County Ag Society and the Faribault County Fair Board both held their annual meetings last Tuesday evening, Nov. 19. They reported good comments about the carnival this past summer.

The 2024 Faribault County Fair showed an overall positive net income of $15,541, but that only came about because of a transfer of funds from the Faribault County Agricultural Society, which operates the fair each year.

Without the transfer of funds, the 2024 fair had a negative loss of $78,158. The transfers from the Ag Society totaled $93,700, which created the $15,541 net income.

The information came during the annual meeting of the Ag Society on Tuesday night, Nov. 19. That meeting was immediately followed by the annual meeting of the Faribault County Fair Board.

Overall the County Fair had revenues of $113,014, which was up from last year’s total of just $78,000. A lot of the increase was due to a much larger number of sponsorships.

Costs were also up. All of the expenses of the fair itself, such as the grandstand events, carnival and other entertainment, totaled $118,965, while the other fixed costs such as insurance, advertising, repairs and maintenance, came to $72,207.

As far as the Ag Society itself, their financial report showed income of $159, 103, with the largest amount, $104,928, coming from rent of farmland that the Ag Society owns.

Their expenses totaled $180,402, with the largest cost being the $93,700 transfered to the fair. Other higher costs were for insurance, real estate tax and repairs and maintenance.

One major issue discussed at the meetings was the amount of land rent on one of the farms the Ag Society owns. Former fair board member Milt Steele pointed out that the rent amount from last year, $385 per acre, was not due to drop to $325 per acre as reported by the board.

Steele said it was a two-year contract that was made in September of 2023, so there was another year left on the contract.

The matter was going to be investigated further.

A motion was passed to keep all the same officers in place for the coming year. That includes Marlin Prange as president, Daryl Murray as vice president, Robin Stenzel as secretary and David Murray as treasurer.

Three persons on the Ag Society and fair board were re-elected to the board – Tim Beyer, Peggy Olson and Milo Goltz.

The board also elected a new person to the board – Nate Phippen of Winnebago.

Phippen said he works as a farm hand and in maintenance at Garden Court, and is a Winnebago fire fighter.

He related that he was at the County Fair this past summer and just wanted to help out with putting on the fair, so he asked to join the board.

Fair board members also gave a report on things from last summer’s fair, and what they heard about the fair.

Most of the reports were that it was a good fair and there were great comments about the carnival, the Auto Cross event and other things. Several said that people wanted the same carnival back again this year.

The board agreed that most things went pretty smoothly during the fair.