4-H & FFA Market Beef Weigh-In Dec. 13 at Kalona

The 4-H & FFA Market Beef Weigh-In will be held Saturday, Dec. 13, 8 - 10 a.m. at the Kalona Sale Barn. Listen to KCII (106.1 FM) for any changes if the weather is bad. Any potential market beef projects for the 2025-2026 year must attend a county-led weigh-in site to collect start weights and tag numbers.

To prepare ahead of time, 4-H families should look over the December Beef 4-H Newsletter. Families bring the pre-scale form completed to weigh-in. Costs: $5 per ear tag. Retinal scanning will be done for those nominating calves to show at the Iowa State Fair with an $10 per head fee. Bring money to pay all fees on December 13. Families should also reference the county fair rules be reviewing last year’s fair book online at https://www.extension.iastate.edu/washington/county-fair. Updated rules will be sent when finalized for the 2026 county fair.

Ten calves may be weighed in for the county fair or state fair exhibition. A maximum of three market beef can be exhibited at the Washington County Fair and a maximum of two market beef can be exhibited at the Iowa State Fair.

Washington County Fair Market Beef classes include purebred steers, crossbred steers, produce steers (produce of heifer or cow project in a previous year project), returning bucket bottle market heifer or steer, market heifer, dairy steer, small breeds steer, and single source steer (hosted by Washington County Cattlemen and down payment required by deadline). The county fair breed classes offered will be those recognized by the Iowa Junior Beef Breeds Association.

Breeding Heifers do not need to be weighed at the December weigh-in. If families haven’t decided between market heifer or breeding heifer, the calves should attend the market beef weigh-in but make sure they include a secondary ID in 4-HOnline which is a requirement for breeding heifers (tattoo, registration #, or calfhood vaccination #).

Purebred market steers showing at the County Fair ONLY are not required to register steers with a breed association to show in a purebred class. If not registered with the association, the county breed affidavit form should be obtained from the Extension Office and signed by the producer verifying that animal could be registered. Any breed recognized by the Iowa Junior Beef Breeds Association will be recognized.

After market beef weigh-in, families are required to enter weigh-in data into 4hOnline by January 31. All bovine animals must have an official USDA 840 tag. State Fair market beef must have approved Iowa 4-H or Official USDA 840 tag, weight collected at county weigh-ins, and have retinal images collected before January 31.

Contact the Washington County Extension Office as soon as possible if families must attend another weigh-in location due to scheduling conflicts. Pre-approval is necessary as not all counties will serve out of county members at their weigh-in. There may be special times or additional fees.

For more information about 4-H, the Market Beef project area or weigh-in, contact the Washington County Extension Office, 319-653-4811 or washington4h@iastate.edu