With slightly more than a month until the 2021 SA Sheep Expo, organisers are confident the event will be a success, even in the absence of interstate entrants.
The difficult decision to only allow South Australians to enter was made at a committee meeting last month, with COVID-19 to blame, according to SA Sheep Expo president Peter Button.
"It was hard to make the call, many kids from interstate who would love to get over here for the event, but we had no other choice this year than to disallow interstaters so we could safeguard everyone and the future of the expo," he said.
"With borders opening and shutting at a regular rate, if something was to happen overnight, our volunteer committee would all of a sudden be responsible for looking after young ones from interstate.
"And if we have less people there, it will give us a bit of flexibility around the practicality of running the expo, under whatever the COVID guidelines are at the time."
Since first being held in 2016, the expo has grown considerably in popularity, peaking at about 140 entrants in 2019, of which about a third were from interstate. The pandemic forced the cancellation of the 2020 expo, but this year's event will be held on April 14-16, with registrations closing Sunday, March 14.
"We'll welcome the interstaters back with open arms next year, but for the SA entrants this year, there may be benefits of having less participants per group in the hands-on sessions - we could potentially have groups of eight or 10 rather than 15-20," Mr Button said.
With physical distancing and hygiene measures set to be in place, the expo's COVID-19 safety plan will be finalised just prior to the event, based on requirements at that time.
Looking ahead, SA Junior Heifer Expo coordinator Justine Fogden said interstate entrants would likely be accepted for the July event.
"We're hopeful that three months on from the sheep expo, we will be in a bit of a better position to make sure people from interstate can enter," she said.
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