The Ohio Beef Expo, the premier event of Ohio’s beef industry, will take place March 15-17 at the Ohio Expo Center in Columbus, Ohio. This annual event, coordinated by the Ohio Cattlemen’s Association (OCA), includes a kickoff social; breed sales, shows and displays; beef quality assurance sessions; a multi-day trade show and a highly competitive junior show.
OCA members and Expo exhibitors are invited to attend The Social, on Thursday evening, March 14, at the Expo headquarters hotel, the Hilton Columbus/Polaris. The kickoff event will auction items for OCA’s PAC fund such as two VIP parking spaces at the 2019 Ohio Beef Expo, an Ohio State fire ring and other great items.
For the first time in Expo history, the trade show will open on Thursday, March 14 from 3:00 – 6:00 p.m. This allows more time for attendees, especially those that exhibit cattle at the Expo, to visit with vendors and check out the booths that line the Voinovich building. Another change for 2019 is the elimination of the junior show check-in on Saturday. This year, all junior show exhibitors must check-in on Friday, March 15 between 11:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. This check-in time has been expanded from previous years to make up for the lack of Saturday check-in. Also a change for this year, the Miniature Hereford show has been moved to Saturday, March 16 beginning at 8:00 a.m. This show was previously held on Friday alongside other breed shows.
Friday, March 15 will mark the official start of the Expo with registration for the judging contest taking place in the Voinovich building’s upper mezzanine. Contest participants will meet at 8:00 a.m. for registration. The breed shows and parades will begin at 10:00 a.m. in the Cooper Arena and O’Neill buildings. From 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m a Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) Adult Certification Program session will be offered in the Voinovich building. The session will be instructed by Dr. Steve Boyles and John Grimes, Ohio State University Extension. At noon, youth are invited to attend a Stock Show University fitting demonstration in the Voinovich building. The online feeder cattle sale will be held on Friday at 1:30 p.m. As the sale takes place, judging contest awards will be presented at 2:30 p.m.in Cooper Arena and then youth can attend a BQA session at 3:30 p.m. before heading to the junior show welcome party at 5:30 p.m. for a Weaver Leather Livestock fitting demonstration. Expo attendees can also visit the trade show throughout the day, with over 140 vendors from 25 states that offer products and services beneficial to all cattlemen.
Saturday, March 16 will host the breed cattle sales in the Voinovich building, starting at 10:00 a.m. with Angus, Hereford, Maine-Anjou, Red Angus, Shorthorn and Simmental cattle selling. Breed sale catalogs are posted online at www.ohiobeefexpo.com. The junior showmanship competition will begin at noon on Saturday with over 400 participants competing for top honors in their respective divisions. On Sunday, March 17 junior exhibitors will begin showing at 8:00 a.m. in the Cooper Arena.
More than 30,000 visitors from 25 states and Canada routinely attend the Ohio Beef Expo. It is ranked as one of the top five largest events in central Ohio and is the premier location to meet Ohio’s cattle producers. Don’t miss it! Visit www.ohiobeefexpo.com for more information.