“The best part of the N.C. State Fair is coming together with those life-long friends that make it worth it,” said Whitney Meadows, a long-time participant of many livestock shows at the fair. Meadows enters lambs and sheep with her two sons; Hesston, age 11, and Brantley, age 15.
Meadows was raised on North Creek Livestock, a farm in Leicester. Her sons were also raised on this farm. North Creek Livestock raises high quality sheep, most of them being the club variety, or lambs raised for 4-H and FFA livestock shows.
The Meadows Family has been entering sheep into the fair since 1991. “It’s an annual tradition for our family at this point,” said Meadows. “I first entered a competition in 1991, when I was four. My son Brantley started showing sheep in 2013 when he was two. It’s a nice family tradition of ours.”
“The N.C. State Fair looks a lot different than it used to be,” said Meadows. “I remember when I first entered that everyone from all species competitions came and presented at the same time. Specifically, everyone came down on a Wednesday and left on a Sunday. These competitions used to be much smaller back in the day.”
North Creek Livestock is dedicated to raising high quality sheep. AI is part of their production process. Not artificial intelligence, but artificial insemination. “When we first started out our batch of sheep, we bought our materials for AI from Iowa,” said Meadows. “Over time, our batch narrowed down the best and we’ve raised and breed the best ourselves.”
“When we are choosing which livestock to enter into the competitions, a good friend of ours comes over to help us,” said Meadows. “While we have an idea of what to pick, our friend has judged professionally, so he helps us pick the best. After he picks them, the rest are sold. But sometimes the ones sold are better than the ones kept. In fact, one of our sold lambs was sold to the Glass Family, who won grand champion market lamb in 2021 with that same lamb.”
The Meadows Family is well known for winning competitions at the N.C. State Fair. Hesston won N.C. State Fair Grand Champion in 2025. The family is active in their local ag community and are active in FFA and 4-H.
“My favorite part about entering these competitions is the friends I’ve made over the years,” said Meadows. “Our fellow competitors are like family to us. While we are all very competitive and like to win, we all cheer for one another at the end of the day. Those lifelong friends are what make it worth it. That has likely been the greatest reward for these competitions.”
Besides the competitions and the camaraderie of the fair, Meadows enjoys the delicious food that she has each year. “My favorite thing to eat is actually three things,” said Meadows. “The cinnamon buns outside the Graham Building, the gourmet apples, and Peachey’s donuts (even if the lines are long).”
This year, Brantley and Hesston will be entering turkeys in the State Fair for the first time. And, of course, the Meadows family will be submitting market lambs and ewe lambs for the other competitions. They are all very excited about the fair this year. Be sure to look for their animals at the State Fair livestock shows.
