Lorin Fahrmeier is the partnership and council development director for MU Extension and responsible for this year's Mizzou Central building at the Missouri State Fair.
August 5, 2025
Contact: Cary Littlejohn, carylittlejohn@missouri.edu
Photos by Andy Ramirez
For more than 120 years, the Missouri State Fair has brought together citizens from across the state to celebrate agriculture, community and tradition. Among the many partners who help make the event meaningful year after year is the University of Missouri.
Whether it’s through interactive exhibitions, educational programming or support for young leaders, Mizzou — especially through MU Extension and the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources — plays a proud role in helping the fair fulfill its mission to champion Missouri agriculture and inspire future generations.
Lorin Fahrmeier, BS Ag ’04, embodies the spirit of Mizzou’s connection to the fair. She’s attended nearly every fair held during her lifetime. She’s also a longtime employee of MU Extension who brings all of that experience to Mizzou Central, the university’s one-stop shop at the fair.
“We want it to feel like people have the ability to kind of step onto campus, in a very small space,” Fahrmeier, the partnership and council development director for MU Extension, said. “Obviously we can’t move the Columns to Sedalia, but we want folks who are connected to the university to feel like they’ve come home.”
A homecoming at the heart of the fair
Mizzou Central sits just a short walk from the State Fair Grandstand, where this year’s entertainment ranges from Wynonna Judd to Blues Traveler to Flo Rida. In addition to providing homecoming space for alumni from around the state, the building is intended to show “what’s new and exciting to those who might not know the university that well, especially potential students,” Fahrmeier said.
She pointed out that Mizzou’s presence at the fair has evolved.
“It used to be mostly Extension and the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources,” Fahrmeier said. “But now we have several academic units, such as the College of Health Sciences and College of Arts and Science, Mizzou Athletics, the Tiger Team Store and Admissions represented, as well.”
Mizzou Central will see visits from Truman the Tiger, and it’s the home of Tiger Stripe ice cream, found at the Buck’s Ice Cream Place booth.
There will also be cooking demonstrations to promote farm-to-table meals.
“We use as many local Missouri-grown foods as possible to highlight the vast landscape of Missouri’s ag community,” Fahrmeier said.
University representation can be found in just about every area of the fair, she said, crediting staunch support from university leadership.
“We might not all be wearing black and gold all of the time, but it’s really gratifying to see how intertwined Mizzou is with so many of the happenings at the fair,” Fahrmeier said. “It’s so fun to see Mizzou grads who are now Mizzou grandparents. It’s like a family reunion. All types of people, from alums to casual fans, visit Mizzou Central, but the connection is always the same: the university.”
The head, heart, hands and health of Missouri
For Fahrmeier, the Missouri State Fair begins with Missouri 4-H, which is an MU Extension program. The volunteer-led organization teaches young people about leadership, citizenship and life skills.
She pointed out that 4-H is an often overlooked part of Mizzou’s connection to the State Fair.
“The average fairgoer likely has no idea that the university is the home of that four-leaf clover,” Fahrmeier said, referring to the organization’s distinctive logo.
Because MU Extension has offices in every one of Missouri’s 114 counties and the city of St. Louis, 4-H is also in every county. Children as young as 6 can join 4-H, and they can begin exhibiting at the fair at 8 years old.
Each year, thousands of young Missourians take part in nearly 1,200 4-H clubs across the state, including community clubs, special interest clubs, after-school clubs and in-school clubs.
“Whether it’s cake decorating or a woodworking project or a welding project or showing a 1,400-pound steer in competition, 4-H is teaching life skills,” Fahrmeier said. “Members learn to work together, and hopefully, as they grow up and gain those leadership qualities, they’re becoming connected to their home communities.”
She was a member in her youth, and Fahrmeier watches with pride as her own children carry on the 4-H and State Fair traditions.
“My kids will be third-generation fair exhibitors on one side of the family and fourth-generation on the other,” Fahrmeier said of her children as they prepare to show purebred shorthorn cattle at this year’s fair.
The Fahrmeiers live on a farm in Lexington, Missouri, in Lafayette County. It produces specialty crops, row crops and cattle. From there, Fahrmeier represents MU Extension’s mission to strengthen Missouri communities. Through her work, Fahrmeier helps translate the resources and knowledge of the university into real, local impact.
She believes the true power of a Mizzou education lies in how it equips people to serve and succeed in their own communities.
“The University of Missouri is actually the university for Missouri,” Fahrmeier said. “We’re here to serve the people of Missouri in the best capacity we can, and we do that through MU Extension.”
At the Missouri State Fair, that land-grant mission comes to life — whether it’s through a 4-H’er showing a project, a prospective student learning about new opportunities or a family reconnecting with their Mizzou roots. It’s more than just a presence; it’s a reflection of how Mizzou continues to serve, support and grow with Missouri.
