Jefferson County Cattlemen have busy year full of grilling, beef shows and scholarship awards

The Jefferson County Cattlemen have had a busy and productive year dating back to last summer.

The cattlemen co-hosted a beef fitting clinic in Louisa County, where 35 kids, including four from Jefferson County, learned how to prepare for a show, fit their calf, show the calf and learn about good showmanship techniques.

The group helped with Maasdam Barns' annual event 'Babies at the Barns,” where families get to experience rural agricultural through its baby farm animals and other animals. Another event along these lines was the Barnyard Bash held at Maasdam Barns, a great opportunity for the cattlemen to showcase their product through grilling. Grilling allows the cattlemen to promote what they raise and connect with business partners and the broader community.

The cattlemen play an integral role at the Greater Jefferson County Fair, where they promote good sportsmanship and teach youngsters the best way to present their project.

The Iowa Beef Bonanza was a thrill last year, with three senior teams and nine junior teams participating, about 24 kids in all. Iowa Secretary of State Mike Naig even made a special appearance, which impressed all involved from kids to adults. The event features scholarships and prizes for the teams with the most points. It included learning stations dedicated to beef issues, seed stock, reproduction and credit and finance.

The Jefferson County JackPot Show, the first time Jefferson County Cattlemen have hosted such a thing, gave youths another opportunity to show and present their livestock projects. Watering buckets were given to all participants and money was given to the class winners.

Steve Smith and Dee Sandquist judged the cattlemen's cook-off contest, which they billed as another opportunity to promote 'Beef: It's What's for Dinner … Lunch and Breakfast!!”

When RAGBRAI came through Fairfield in 2019, the cattlemen served beef kebabs over noodles plus a variety of homemade pies. They shared a booth with the 4-H Teen Council, which served ice cream and toppings. The group said it was a way for the cattlemen to show their support for community activities and reach people from both rural and urban walks of life.

The cattlemen helped the youth in the community at the Southeast Iowa Showdown, where all youth with county fair champion honors have the chance to show their projects one more time.

The Jefferson County Cattlemen had the responsibility to represent District 20 (including six surrounding southeast Iowa organizations) at the Governor's Charity Steer Show in 2019. Hannah Peck was selected to raise and show the steer, and Jeff Shipley was the group's selected celebrity to accompany it. The event supports the Ronald McDonald Houses in Iowa, which have raised more than $3.5 million and served more than 56,000 families from all over the world.

The group sponsored Hunter Lock with her Grand Champion Market Steer at the Iowa State Fair, too.

Annual banquet

The big event every cattleman circles on their calendar is the annual banquet. This past year, the banquet was held at the Elks Lodge in Fairfield, where the Elks served attendees a prime rib meal. A cooking contest was held during Social Hour where all in attendance voted on their choice of the best Beef Recipe sample. Contestants were: Heather Coffman, Kaden Polluck, and Chris Delaney. Heather Coffman with her Philly Cheese Steak Sloppy Joes recipe was voted the best tasting and she received $200 and owns the bragging rights for the JCC Best Beef Recipe for 2020.

Hannah Peck showed her presentation from the Governor's Charity Steer Show. Ruth Elmore was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award.

'Ruth is a very caring individual whose nursing career lasted over 10 years and then she returned home to care for her cattle,” stated a news release from the cattlemen. 'Ruth is very involved in helping the younger family generation raise cattle in the same caring manner.”

Items raffled off at the event were a farm quilt created and donated by Sandy Nelson, and firearms donated by 3L Outdoors and purchased from Dahl's Shooting Supply. The evening concluded with the group's auction hosted by Bill Geohring. All monies raised are used to educate and encourage youth throughout Iowa to enter the cattle industry.