O’Brien County Beef Project Families:
As you have likely been made aware, the Fair Board has elected to move forward with a single day event this year per species. We are thankful to give our exhibitors this opportunity, as many other counties in the state have chosen to completely cancel their fairs.
The 2020 O’Brien County Fair Beef Show is scheduled for Tuesday, July 21st, 2020.
Please understand that due to the circumstances, no activity for beef projects will be allowed on the fairgrounds until Tuesday, July 21st at this time. There will be no night security, so any items brought in overnight will be at your own risk. Please be courteous of other species and their assigned days.
Communication will be more important this year than ever, so please be sure to let us know about any changes you have had with your cattle since the winter weigh-in.
Schedule is as follows:
- Cattle may arrive at the fairgrounds on Tuesday morning; trailers will follow instructions for unloading in an efficient manner.
- Market cattle will be weighed from 6AM – 9AM.
- The 2020 Beef Show will start at 10:00 AM with Pens of 3 in the open pens. The lead cattle portion of our show will plan to tentatively start at 11:00AM.
- Tentative Show Order:
- Pen of 3
- Breeding Heifers
- Cow/Calf Pairs
- Feeder Calves
- 30 Minute Break
- Market Heifers
- Market Steers
- Showmanship – Seniors first, then Intermediates, followed by Juniors.
Other important information to note:
- The wash rack will be open, but we are strongly encouraging you to wash at home before trailering to the fairgrounds.
- Market cattle will not be ultra-sounded due to time constraints.
- Stalls will not be assigned by the beef committee, but instead we will assign “club areas” per barn. Many will choose not to stall in the barns, but please be cognizant of younger 4-H’ers who might like to stall in the barns.
- If you choose not to stall in the barns, you MUST stay on the fairgrounds with your set-up.
- Due to the uniqueness of this years show, bedding will not be provided. Please make arrangements to bring your own bedding if necessary.
- After the show, please push your bedding to the center of the alleyway!
- The Fair Board voted to require health papers for all cattle exhibited at the fair this year, per the recommendation by the State Veterinarian’s office. These papers must be done within 21 days of the show.
- The structure of the 2020 beef show may look different than years past, as we are dealing with time-constraints of a same-day show. We will do our best to break down class with no less than three head per class; and we will not be choosing light-weight, middle-weight, and heavy-weight division winners this year.
- We will not be able to have a show program this year due to COVID-19. After the weigh-in concludes, we will post classes on the ends of the barns and will also email out a copy of the classes to the email addresses on file with the Extension Office.
- Committee members will be calling by Sunday, July 19th to confirm your entries, if we have not heard back from you before then.
- Please be prepared to decide if you are planning to sell your animals or take them home. We will be getting a packer bid; however, regulations do not allow us to have an auction, and we will not be able to pass along a premium due to this year’s circumstances. This goes for all pen cattle as well as lead cattle.
- The packer bud will be emailed out to you via the email address provided to the Extension Office as soon as we have it.
- The show will be live-streamed for those who do not attend the show at the fairgrounds.
We appreciate your patience and understanding as we try to do the best, we can to follow government regulations, while still providing a great beef show experience for our 4-H’ers!
Thank you,
The O’Brien County Fair Beef Committee