The tents and fences and carnival rides for the SEMO District Fair went up last week, but much of the work of the fair started long before.

The fair opens today and continues through Saturday at Cape Girardeau's Arena Park. For fairgoers who will stream through the gates, one of the most popular stops is the agriculture exhibits, especially the livestock.

People walk through the tents admiring heifers and hogs, mules and mares. But the work that went into bringing these animals to the fair isn't always evident.

Hundreds of high school students from across the region have been working on 4-H and FFA projects for the past six months or longer. Among them is Daniel Mothershead, a senior at Kelly High School. Mothershead will show Itchy, a Brangus steer that he has fed, petted and talked to since April.

In April, Mothershead, like all the youngsters who planned to show livestock at the pair, picked out the best-looking young animal he could find. "You want the best calf with the best mother," Mothershead explained. "You want a steer that will gain well but also handle well. They are like people with different personalities." He found Itchy.

The animals must be weighed and officially checked in six months before the fair to be eligible to compete this week.

Itchy and Mothershead started down the road toward the fair. "I put him in a feed lot. At that time he was getting about 8 pounds of feed a day and all the hay he could eat."

Gradually the feed is increased so the animal will gain weight. An award is given at the fair for the calf that gained the most weight.

By early August, Itchy was eating about 15 pounds of feed a day, plus hay. It was time to train the 1,300-pound animal.

Cattle in a field don't need much training. But animals that will be shown at the fair must get used to being tied, to sleeping on a bed of straw and to walking on a halter and lead.

"When we show the animal in the ring," Mothershead explained, "we have to be able to control the animal."

Actually, the training started much earlier. Twice a day, the animal is fed. "You try to bond with the animal," Mothershead said. "I sit on the trough while he eats so he'll get used to me. I use a curry brush to scratch his back. He likes that."

In fact, that's how Itchy got his name.

The training continues daily up to the start of the fair. This week, Mothershead will load Itchy onto a trailer and bring him to Cape Girardeau for another official weigh in and the start of the fair.

He will stay with the steer day and night for three days. The competition is Wednesday. Showing an animal as part of an FFA project is an excused absence, he explained.

Just before Itchy will be shown, Mothershead will bathe him with Dawn liquid soap, comb his hair and clip his tail. He might get a coat of shoe polish on his hoofs.

Thursday is the day of reckoning for much of the livestock brought to the fair. It's sale day. Itchy will be sold to the highest bidder.

"That's when the business comes in," Mothershead said.

Area businesses buy the livestock, usually at prices above market prices. "They do that to support the schools, the FFA and us," Mothershead said.

If Itchy shows well at the fair, Mothershead could get as much as $1,600 for the steer. He estimated that an average animal, including purchase price and feed over the past six months, would have cost about $600 to $800.

"It can be profitable," he said. "But it is a lot of work. It's work every single day."

When Itchy is lead off on Thursday, Mothershead said he'll be a little sad to see him go to slaughter, but that's what happens to steers.

"I've seen people cry after the sale," Mothershead said. "It is kind of sad. You've put a lot of work and a lot of effort into raising that animal."

The project provides a good life lesson, Mothershead said. "I think FFA makes you a more well-rounded person. A lot of kids have book smarts, and that's good. But it's good to have practical knowledge too. FFA has taught me to build things, to use my hands and to follow through on projects."

Mothershead looks forward to this week and all the fairgoers who will stop by to talk about his steer.

"I see all kinds of people," he said. "Little kids, big kids, white kids, black kids. Everyone has lots of questions. The livestock is always real popular, and it's always free."