Senior Fair

Last Call for Fair Bench Sponsors

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Purchase a 175th Anniversary Fairfield County Fair Bench

We are down to our Final 2 Benches that need a sponsor!

Join the Fairfield County 4-H Junior Leaders & the Fairfield County Senior Fair Board as they celebrate the 175th Fairfield County Fair by purchasing an anniversary bench! Community members can purchase an 8-foot bench with custom plaque for $580 to be displayed on the Fairfield County Fairgrounds. Benches are made from recycled plastic bottle caps that 4-H clubs and community members collected. The cost of the bench includes the bench, shipping, assembly and a custom plaque. All benches purchased through this partnership would become the property of the Fairfield County Ag Society unless prior arrangements are made.

Orders can be placed online at: go.osu.edu/175bench! Hurry and order yours today as there are a limited number available! Questions? Contact OSU Extension at 740-653-5419.

 

Club Contest – Stock the Trailer during the Fairfield County Fair!

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The Fairfield County Junior Leaders are asking for your help with a Fairfield County Fair canned food drive!! Farm Credit Mid-America is challenging County Fairs all across the State to help fill local food pantries with their STOCK THE TRAILER, FILL THE PANTRY food drive.  By participating in this event you will allow youth to compete for monetary prizes awarded by Farm Credit for those fairs bringing in the most pounds of canned food donated.  Our goal is to collect 10,000 pounds of canned goods during the Fairfield County Fair. Clubs can drop off their items in the 4-H Display Barn and label with their club name. Junior Leaders will weigh food throughout the week to see which clubs, chapters or scout troops have the most. The top 5 groups by weight will receive a cash prize.

Items of Most Need Right Now: Canned Meat, Pasta Dishes, Fruit, Vegetables, and Soups. All food collected will be donated to Food Pantries across Fairfield County via the Fairfield County Hunger Collation. The collation includes 30-50 pantries from Pickerington to Sugar Grove and Lithopolis to Bremen.

 

Community Members can donate too: The Junior Leaders will be collecting your donations every day during the fair, there will be containers by the General Parking Area, Ed Sands Building, and the 4-H Display Barn. The contest ends on the last day of the Fairfield County Fair, October 11! Don’t want to shop?… send a monetary donation to the attention of the Fairfield County Junior Leaders 4-H Club c/o OSU Extension 831 College Avenue, Suite D, Lancaster, OH 43130.  We will send our Junior Leaders out to shop for you.   Your support helps our YOUTH  give back!!

Drug Use Notification Forms – due at NOON, Friday, October 3rd for Market Beef/BEEF FEEDERS/DAIRY MARKET STEERS/Dairy Beef Feeders/Lactating Dairy Cows & Dairy Goats/Market Hogs/Market Goats/Market Lambs

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Animals must be drug free by weigh-in day of fair. Each member must complete a Drug Use Notification Form (DUNF) (http://go.osu.edu/fairfielddunf) form online for each animal they plan to exhibit prior to weigh-in at the fair. If the forms are not correctly completed, exhibitors will not be permitted to show. The link to the form will open on Monday, September 29th (as forms should be completed more than 5 days before fair weigh-in).

  • Animals requiring a DUNF indicating the animal is free from any/all drugs in its system on fair weigh-in/move-in day are:
    • Market Beef
    • Beef Feeder
    • Dairy Market Steer
    • Dairy Beef Feeder
    • Dairy Cow (lactating)
    • MQP Hog
    • Market Barrow
    • Market Gilt
    • Market Goat
    • MQP Goat
    • Dairy Goat (lactating)
    • Market Chickens (1 form per pen of 3 chickens)
    • Market Turkey
    • Market Duck
    • MQP Lamb
    • Market Lamb
    • Market Rabbit (1 form per pen of 2 rabbits)
  • Forms should be completed no sooner than 5 days prior to animal weigh-in to be sure that their animal is drug free during fair.
  • Forms submitted prior to that timeframe will be deleted and exhibitors will be asked to resubmit the DUNF form closer to their animal’s weigh-in. All animals being brought to the fair requiring DUNF forms will need to submit their forms by 12:00 p.m., Friday, October 3rd, 2025.
  • The only EXCEPTION to the Friday deadline will be Market Poultry and Market Rabbits who will complete DUNF Forms AFTER they receive tags/leg bands so they have identification information to enter into the DUNF Form. One form per pen of animals should be completed for Poultry and Rabbits. Deadline for poultry and rabbit exhibitors is MIDNIGHT on Saturday, October 4th.
  • Animals tagged with an EID 840 (15 digit tag) should include the last 6 digits in the identification field of the form.
  • Scrapie Tag numbers DO NOT need to be entered for market goats and market sheep – please use the last 6 digits of your EID 840 tag.
  • There should be ONE form submitted for each animal. Exception: Each pen of rabbits and each pen of market chickens will need a form per pen.
  • Turkeys exhibitors will put N/A in the identification field.
  • Market Chicken exhibitors will put all 3 leg band numbers in the same identification field for their pen of chickens.
  • Market Rabbit exhibitors will put both tag numbers for their pair of rabbits in the identification field for their pen of rabbits.

Drug Use Notification Forms – Market Poultry and Market Rabbit Exhibitors (due at midnight on weigh-in day)

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Animals must be drug free by weigh-in day of fair. Each member must complete a Drug Use Notification Form (DUNF) (http://go.osu.edu/fairfielddunf) form online for each animal they plan to exhibit prior to weigh-in at the fair. If the forms are not correctly completed, exhibitors will not be permitted to show.

Market Turkeys/Ducks/Chickens and Market Rabbits must complete a Drug Use Notification Form. One form per pen of chickens and one form for each pen of rabbits. 

Due to market poultry and market rabbits not having identification until weigh-in day, you will be able to submit your DUNF form AFTER weigh-in. It must be completed by MIDNIGHT on Saturday, October 4th.

Purchase a 175th Anniversary Fairfield County Fair Bench

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Purchase a 175th Anniversary Fairfield County Fair Bench

Join the Fairfield County 4-H Junior Leaders & the Fairfield County Senior Fair Board as they celebrate the 175th Fairfield County Fair by purchasing an anniversary bench! Community members can purchase an 8-foot bench with custom plaque for $580 to be displayed on the Fairfield County Fairgrounds. Benches are made from recycled plastic bottle caps that 4-H clubs and community members collected. The cost of the bench includes the bench, shipping, assembly and a custom plaque. All benches purchased through this partnership would become the property of the Fairfield County Ag Society unless prior arrangements are made.

Orders can be placed online at: go.osu.edu/175bench! Hurry and order yours today as there are a limited number available! Questions? Contact OSU Extension at 740-653-5419.

Youth Beekeepers – enter your honey into OPEN CLASS at the Fairfield County Fair!

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SENT ON BEHALF OF MARK SHARP, SENIOR FAIR BOARD MEMBER AND DIRECTOR OF OPEN CLASS FARM PRODUCTS ENTRIES.

Bee Project Members (and even those youth who explore bees/honey production outside of 4-H project work): – Do you want more opportunities to enter at the fair this year?  Why not enter the OPEN CLASS youth display for ages 18 and under.  Your display needs to contain at least 2 pounds of honey from the exhibitor or from a local beekeeper. Posters & signage for educational information to be judged on educational value and presentation. Display to fit in an area 14” deep x 40” long. See Book 38 Class 17 for complete details.

Check out these and other entries for youth and adults in the open class farm products department. Go to the fair website or stop by the Senior Fair Office to make your OPEN CLASS entries by September 25.

For more information, contact Mark Sharp, Director in Charge of the Farm Products 740-503-5918.

Open Class Book: https://fairfieldcountyfair.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/2025-Open-Class-Book-Final.pdf

Open Class Entries: https://fairfieldcountyfair.org/senior-fair/

Attention youth gardeners – enter your produce in the Open Class Division of the Fairfield County Fair!

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SENT ON BEHALF OF MARK SHARP, SENIOR FAIR BOARD MEMBER AND DIRECTOR OF OPEN CLASS FARM PRODUCTS ENTRIES.

Gardening Project Members (and even those who garden outside of 4-H project work!) – Would you like to exhibit your vegetables at the fair this year.  Why not enter them in the Open Class!  Youth can enter a display of 3 different vegetables, see Book 36, Class 115.  This class is only for youth 18 and under.

Another opportunity for youth in the Horticultural Department is the best decorated apple. (Decorate any apple of your desire, to be judged on appearance.) See Book 39, Class 30.

Check out these and other entries for youth and adults in the open class farm products department. Go to the fair website or stop by the Senior Fair Office to make your OPEN CLASS entries by September 25.

For more information contact Mark Sharp, Director in charge of the Farm Products 740-503-5918.

Open Class Book: https://fairfieldcountyfair.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/2025-Open-Class-Book-Final.pdf

Submit your Open Class Entries online: https://fairfieldcountyfair.org/senior-fair/

Livestock Exhibitors: Quality Assurance MUST be completed by June 30th to show at fair, no exceptions!

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Quality Assurance is an annual requirement of the Ohio Department of Agriculture for youth taking livestock projects to county and state fair. In Fairfield County, Quality Assurance Training is required for all members who will be exhibiting a livestock project at the Fairfield County Fair or Junior Exhibitor at the Ohio State Fair. Beef (Breeding & Market); Dairy Breeding, Dairy Steers, & Dairy Feeders; Goats (Dairy, Meat, Market & Pygmy); Poultry (Breeding & Market); Sheep (Breeding & Market); Swine; Rabbits (Breeding & Market), and Alpacas/Llamas.

Deadlines for 2025:

  • Youth planning to exhibit at the Ohio State Fair must have their Quality Assurance completed by June 1st, 2025 (or 45 days prior to exhibition).
  • Youth planning to exhibit at the Fairfield County Fair must have their Quality Assurance completed by June 30, 2025.

Email reminders will be sent to advisors this last month for those who have yet to complete this requirement.

All Quality Assurance information has been shared with club/chapter advisors and has been posted on the blog since April 24th. Read all Quality Assurance options for 2025 here.

Protocol for tagging Market Lambs, Market Hogs, Market Goats and Dairy Beef Feeders

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Order your tags from the Extension office today!

It’s once again the time to prepare for tagging and weigh-in of market and MQP lambs, market and MQP hogs, market and MQP goats and dairy beef feeders. Again this year exhibitors will be required to tag their own market animals with an 840 EID tag (unless the animal already has an EID tag).

Specifically, the check list of step-by-step process and requirements include . . Continue reading Protocol for tagging Market Lambs, Market Hogs, Market Goats and Dairy Beef Feeders →

Livestock Exhibition and Fair Rules – Reminder from Ohio Dept. of Ag

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ODA is tasked with determining the regulatory framework for exhibitions of livestock to ensure the food safety of market livestock, health and welfare of the livestock, and provide consistent regulations for the competition. ODA distributes testing supplies and performs urine sample testing for select market livestock exhibited at county, independent, and state fairs. The testing is critical to ensuring the market livestock tested are safe for consumption.

Updates to Chapters 901:1-18 and 901-19 became effective on May 23, 2024. Specifically, chapter 901:1-18 pertains to the importation requirements for exhibition livestock and chapter 901-19 pertains to the practices in preparation to and at the exhibition. To read the regulations in their entirety, please click the links below. There are multiple resources on ODA’s website to provide additional information on these including:

ODA Resources:
FAQ Document
Fairs and Exhibitions Newsletter
Fairs and Exhibitions Newsletter- Second Edition

Chapter 901:1-18
Chapter 901-19

If you are an educator, parent, exhibitor, or fair veterinarian and have additional questions, our Fairs/Exhibitions Administrative team is always available to answer questions. If you wish to speak to the team, please email animal@agri.ohio.gov.