Author: Smith

Beef Performance and Carcass Quality Contest Rules Released, Application Portal for 2025 is Open

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Apply to participate by January 9.

Again in 2025, the entries in this contest will be harvested prior to the Fair.

This contest is open to any 4-H or FFA members who will enroll in a market beef animal project in 2025. Participation in the BPCQ contest does not affect eligibility for participation in the “live” market beef show.

New for 2025, a third, optional, early harvest date for participants in the BPCQ is being added for those youth with early born calves who would like to conclude their carcass-based project on August 19. The youth participating in the August harvest will weigh/tag their BPCQ calves on February 1. The two later September beef harvest dates will also be maintained and calves being harvested then will be weighed/tagged along with the ‘live’ beef cattle on March 8. The application process and rules for the 2025 BPCQ contest include Continue reading Beef Performance and Carcass Quality Contest Rules Released, Application Portal for 2025 is Open →

Join us November 20 to discuss the Fairfield County Jr. Beef Show and Beef Carcass Evaluation

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Join us November 20.

If you’re a Fairfield County’s Junior Fair Beef exhibitor, beef exhibitor family member, or simply interested in the completion of local beef cattle projects, your Jr. Show Superintendents are inviting you to come to the Fairfield County Ag Center on Wednesday, November 20 to talk about the 2024 beef show and beyond.

Beginning at 6 p.m. those interested in beef carcass evaluation are invited to join in as OSU Extension Beef Field Specialist Garth Ruff discusses grading and scoring of the Beef Performance and Carcass Quality contest. You need not be a Junior beef exhibitor to attend. If you want to learn more about beef carcass quality and yield evaluation you are welcome.

Following at 7:30, the Jr. Show Superintendents will lead discussion reviewing the 2024 fair, and possible improvements for 2025 and beyond. This is intended to be an opportunity to share your thoughts on how best to host the 2025 Jr. beef show and the learning experiences that can accompany it.

If you are a junior beef exhibitor, the parent of a junior beef exhibitor, interested in becoming a Fairfield County junior beef exhibitor, or simply wanting to learn more about youth beef projects and how they might relate to real world beef production, make plans to attend this open meeting in the Fairfield County Ag Center beginning at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, November 20.

Tie-outs and Chute Spots available on Saturday, September 28

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Tie-outs may be marked on the 28th beginning at 8 a.m.

With the fair quickly approaching, beef exhibitors may begin to mark spots for tie-outs and chutes beginning at 8 a.m. this Saturday, September 28th. Also on Saturday morning, the Jr. Beef Superintendents – Desirae Logsdon and Matt Henwood – will open the brick “L” barn, which will now house Jr beef cattle, and answer questions regarding stalling, positioning of tack and fan cages, and movement of the cattle before and during the 2024 Fairfield County Fair.

A few more notes of interest as you prepare for the 2024 fair:
  • With barn stalling location having moved this year for several species, cattle will no longer be able to locate around what was the beef barn in the recent past and which is now the sheep and goat barn.
  • New this year cattle exhibitors will also have the space behind (north of) the brick “L” barn where the campers used to be for grooming spots.
  • If marking spots along the Swine Barn on Saturday, visit with the Jr Beef Superintendents regarding any restrictions that might be in place in that area prior to and during the fair.
  • As in the past, DO NOT use duck tape on the barns to mark spots.
  • New this year, NO trailers will be permitted to stay on the grounds during the fair.
Notes for cattle move-in day, Saturday, October 5:

Continue reading Tie-outs and Chute Spots available on Saturday, September 28 →

Open Show Arena for Beef Cattle Exhibitors, September 8

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Here’s an opportunity to acclimate your beef cattle project to the Fair environment before the Fair.

For many Junior Fair beef exhibitors, the week of the Fair is the only time a project animal has been away from home since it was tagged or weighed-in at the beginning of the project. The opportunity for project animals, especially large animals like beef cattle, to get away from home at least once or twice before the Fair goes a long way in allowing both the animal and the exhibitor to more easily acclimate to the Fair environment when the time comes.

With that in mind and knowing there’s precious little time to acclimate beef cattle to the Show Arena after arrival at the Fair, beef cattle exhibitors have the opportunity on September 8 to bring their project beef animals to the Fairground for “Open Show Arena.”

The Feeder Creek Show Arena will be open from noon until approximately 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, September 8 for any local beef cattle exhibitors who wish to bring their animals and work them out in the arena. After the conclusion of Swine MQP weigh-in at approximately 2:30 p.m. on the 8th, the scales in the Swine Barn will also be available for those wishing to capture a weight on their animal.

No reservation is necessary.

Don’t Let a Lapse in Biosecurity Ruin Your Fair

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Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza has been detected in dairy cattle, a goat and humans!

It’s become apparent that most any mammal can become infected with Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza

Frequently over recent months you may have heard of the current outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in domestic poultry, H5N1. This disease has been occurring since 2022 and has been reported in 48 states, affecting nearly 100 million domestic birds.

On March 20, 2024 the Minnesota Board of Animal Health reported that a juvenile goat on a Minnesota farm tested positive for HPAI. This marked the first U.S. case of the virus in a domestic ruminant.

The following week on Monday, March 25, 2024 the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Center for Disease Control (CDC) issued a statement confirming the identification of HPAI (now called Bovine Influenza A Virus) in dairy cattle located in Texas and Kansas. Shortly after, the USDA confirmed the detection of HPAI in a total of seven dairy herds in Texas, two in Kansas, one in Michigan, one in New Mexico, one in Idaho, and one in Northern Ohio. On April 1, the CDC reported one person in Texas who had been in contact with affected cattle tested positive for HPAI. The next week North Carolina became the seventh state to officially confirm the presence of HPAI in a dairy herd.

These findings are significant because Continue reading Don’t Let a Lapse in Biosecurity Ruin Your Fair →

Plans for tagging Market Lambs, Goats, Hogs and Dairy Beef Feeders in 2024 Announced

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Youth must tag their animals before arrival on June 29.

The time for tagging and weigh-in of Fairfield County’s dairy beef feeders, market lambs, market goats and market hogs is upon us. Based on the success of the tagging and weigh-in process that has been utilized in recent years, this year will be conducted in a similar fashion at the fairgrounds with only a few modifications.

This year’s check-in/weigh-in for dairy beef feeders, market lambs, market goats and market hogs will happen at the Fairgrounds on Saturday, June 29. The exception is that MQP goats will be weighed-in on May 18.

New this year, in advance of the check-in/weighing process youth will be required to tag their own market animals with an EID 840 tag (unless the animal already has an 840 EID tag). Visual numbered tags will not be provided or required this year but are optional and encouraged for all species.

EID tags and taggers for any market animals that do not already have an EID tag may be secured from the OSU Extension office during the normal office hours of 7:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Friday. In order that the proper tags and taggers are ready for pick-up when requested, exhibitors are asked to log-in to https://go.osu.edu/fcmarkettags and make tag requests beginning now through June 24, 2024. Youth participating in Goat MQP should request their tags by May 15.

For more details regarding the tagging process, see this check list for tagging.

Details regarding check-in and weighing on June 29 will be announced soon.

MQP Applications for Goats, Swine and Lambs are Due by April 15

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Note, some MQP dates have changed!

Entries for the 2024 Fairfield County Jr. Fair Goat, Swine, and Lamb MQP programs are now being accepted. All MQP entries will be accepted on-line and are due on or before April 15.

Please note that some of the important MQP dates have changed as follows:

  • Goats for the MQP contest must be owned by May 18, 2024 and will be weighed-in on that date at the Fairgrounds. After 99 days on feed the Goat MQP contest will conclude at the Fairgrounds on Sunday, August 25, 2024.
  • Lambs for the MQP contest must be owned by June 29, 2024 and will be weighed at the Fairgrounds on that date. After 64 days on feed the MQP lambs will be brought back to the Fairgrounds for the conclusion of the contest on September 1, 2024.
  • Barrows or – new for this year – gilts for MQP must be owned by June 29, 2024 and will be weighed this year at the Fairgrounds on that date. After 71 days on feed the barrows will return to the Fairgrounds for the contest conclusion on September 8, 2024.

Applications for any of these contests must be received on-line by April 15, 2024. Find more details about MQP and links to each of the application portals here: https://go.osu.edu/mqp

‘Finished’ Dairy Beef Steer project is approved for 2024

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‘Finished’ Dairy Beef Steer project, new for 2024!

Fairfield County 4-H and FFA youth now have an additional opportunity to raise and market a meat animal project for the 2024 Fair in the form of the ‘finished’ Dairy Beef Steer project. Dairy Beef Steers must be owned and in the possession of the youth by weigh-in on March 9, 2024, and weigh a minimum of 1100 pounds at weigh-in at the Fair on Saturday, October 5. Each youth entering and showing an eligible finished Dairy Beef Steer will earn one sale slot in the 2024 Junior Fair Livestock Sale. Details for this project include Continue reading ‘Finished’ Dairy Beef Steer project is approved for 2024 →

Market Beef and Dairy Beef Steer Tagging, Weighing, and DNA Sample Collection Procedure for 2024

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Weigh-in for all calves intended for the market beef show in 2024 is March 9th, by appointment!

It’s time once again to prepare for Jr. Market Beef tagging and weigh-in. This year it is being conducted in a fashion like recent years but in addition will include exhibitors planning to participate in the recently created ‘finished’ Dairy Beef Steer project in Fairfield County.

Market beef weigh-in for traditional beef animals as well as dairy beef steers is set for Saturday, March 9, 2024, at Fairfield Cattle Company located at 3443 Cincinnati-Zanesville Road (S.R. 22), Lancaster, from 8:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. In advance of March 9th exhibitors will be required to tag their own market beef animals with an 840 EID tag (unless the calf already has an EID tag). Visual numbered tags are encouraged but will not be provided or required this year. As in the recent past, participants will submit a hair follicle DNA sample at the weigh-in for each calf.

Again this year families with market beef and dairy beef steer projects are also required to reserve a weigh-in time for the 9th, and only those directly involved in transporting and weighing-in calves should plan to attend . . . please, no spectators! The goal remains to Continue reading Market Beef and Dairy Beef Steer Tagging, Weighing, and DNA Sample Collection Procedure for 2024 →

Beef Performance and Carcass Quality Contest Rules Released, Application Portal Open

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Apply to participate by January 12th

As it was announced in early November, in 2024 the Junior Fair Beef Performance and Carcass Quality contest entries – also known as BPCQ or the ‘carcass contest’ – will be harvested and evaluated hanging on the rail. Much like the other local county carcass-based program participants, youth in the BPCQ contest will now have the opportunity go into the meat cooler prior to Fair and see first hand the quality grade of their animal and learn how yield grade was evaluated.

In an effort to update the contest and base it on current day profitability factors, the details for scoring will also change in 2024. While still evaluating a combination of growth, performance and carcass characteristics, the final BPCQ contest rankings will be based on Continue reading Beef Performance and Carcass Quality Contest Rules Released, Application Portal Open →