2020 Weigh-In Dates
Beef
February 22, 2020
9:00 AM – 11:00 AM
NFO Livestock Market Center in Independence, WI
Sheep & Goats Weigh-in – CANCELLED
The CDC and WI Dept of Health guidelines strongly discourage any kind of gathering of people, not located in the same household, regardless of number. With this is mind, we are going to cancel the Sheep and Goat weigh-in scheduled for April 25th and not require the attachment of Fair electronic identification tags on hogs, sheep or goats until the final weigh-in at the 2020 Buffalo County Fair. (Note this is different than the guidelines that you received in the email from 4HOnline). This will most likely slow down the weigh-in process at the Fair, but we have time to evaluate the process to minimize delays.
April 25, 2020
9:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Countryside Co-op, Waumandee, WI
Swine
The Buffalo County Fair Association has limited swine exhibitors to one hog for the 2020 Buffalo County Fair. All market swine will be weighed and RFID tagged on entry day of the Fair. All market swine will be tagged using the RFID tags provided by the Buffalo County Fair Association.
Market Swine ID Tagging and Registration Information
4-H Online Animal Identification must be complete by May 1st. 4-H exhibitors must identify and activate all animals in 4-H Online. This must be complete prior to FairEntry registration.
4HOnline Animal ID Instructions
Animal ID Video Tutorial (Less than 3 minutes showing you how to add an animal for 2020) You will be directed to a Google Folder where you will click on the .mp4 file titled 2020 Animal ID Tutorial to watch.
Ractopamine Information for Buffalo County Fair Swine Exhibitors
At the April 8, 2020 Buffalo County Fair Association meeting a motion to make the Buffalo County Fair a Ractopamine Free Fair was passed. This means, effective immediately, that no swine at the Buffalo County Fair can be fed or exposed to ractopamine from birth to harvest. No Paylean, Engrain or ractopamine products sold under other names may be fed or exposed to swine shown or planned to be shown at the Buffalo County Fair. Buffalo County Fair Livestock Rules allow for testing of animals, including testing for ractopamine in swine. Buffalo County Fair reserves the right to secure a signed affidavit from exhibitors and their family members stating that swine are ractopamine free. Violation of these rules will result in the loss of Buffalo County Fair premiums, awards and sales for current and subsequent years. More information about ractopamine free efforts and compliance for Wisconsin Swine Exhibitors is found here.
Wisconsin Show Pig Sale Site
Wisconsin Pork Producers have posted a site with show pigs for sale. Includes precautions that you should take if purchasing a show pig. For more information go to: Show pig Directory available
Animal Identification on 4-HOnline
- All 4-H Exhibitors must identify all animals on 4-HOnline by May 1. 4-H Swine Exhibitors will upload their photos on 4-HOnline along with their animal identification.
- Animal Identification Directions
Market Animal Educational Requirements
2020 YQCA Dates for Instructor-led training – POSTPONED
Monday, March 23, 2020 – POSTPONED
Cochrane-Fountain City School
Tuesday, March 24, 2020 – POSTPONED
Mondovi High School
Monday, March 30, 2020 – POSTPONED
Gilmanton Elementary School
All classes are 6:30 – 8:00pm
- All animal exhibitors, with the exception of Equine, Cats & Dogs, must complete the Youth for the Quality Care of Animals (YQCA) each year. Exhibitors will have the option to complete the training in person or online. Registration for instructor-led trainings must be done prior to the training on the YQCA website. Exhibitors will pay $3 for instructor-led in person training, and $12 for the online training. Wisconsin State Fair and other national exhibitions will require certification in YQCA for participation in events. The training must be completed by July 1.
- Directions for YQCA: Please go to https://yqca.learngrow.io/Account/Login in order to register for either online or instructor led courses. If you are a 4-H member, please log in through the 4-H Online system on the left. If you are an FFA member or other organization affiliate, please sign in through the independent system on the right. You will create an account followed by either completing a sign up for an instructor led meeting or online/web based modules. Upon signing up for a course, you will then pay for that course with a credit card. Please email help@yqca.org for any assistance you need in creating or signing up in the YQCA system.
Expense Report
All exhibitors planning to show meat animals at the Buffalo County Fair, must complete a Meat Animal Project Expense Report form. This form is designed to help the exhibitor track not only the weight gained by the animal during the project, but also the cost associated with raising that animal. This form is due after the final weigh-in at the County Fair and must be turned in at the Fair Office.
Meat Animal project expense form
Misc. Information
Many of our 4-H youth enroll in meat animal (beef, sheep & swine) projects with the intent of showing their animals at the County Fair. Please be aware that the Buffalo County Meat Animal Committee has determined that all Market Animals (those that will be sold at the Fair Auction) must be owned by the exhibitor prior to the initial weigh-in date.
Non-market animals, such as breeding classes or steer calves may be ownership or managerial. In some instances, the 4-H member may not have the resources or facilities needed to own their own animal. In these cases, the 4-H member can still participate in the project by entering into an “Managerial Agreement” with someone who owns an animal and is willing to allow the 4-H member to feed, care for and train the animal. A signed copy of the “Managerial Agreement” must be submitted to Extension Office by April 1st of the exhibit year. Managerial Agreements only apply to non-market animals.
Livestock Managerial Project Agreement
Best practices when going to farms that house managerial animals for youth/students. Managerial project guidelines
Scrapie General Brochure from Wisconsin Department of Agriculture Trade and Consumer Protection
Additional Educational Experience:
All meat animal exhibitors must attend one education session in addition to the Youth for the Quality Care of Animals (YQCA) training every year in order to be eligible to sell their animal(s) at the Buffalo County Fair. For more details, please review items 2 and 3 in the Buffalo County Junior Livestock Committee Sale Rules located on the Fair webpage
- After completing the Meat Animal Second Educational experience, click on the following link to access the Google Form to complete your additional educational requirement form: https://goo.gl/forms/HwJDXZNBd4BesxjB2
Online Opportunities for Additional Educational Requirement for Meat Animal Project Members
- Northern Wisconsin State Fair or Trempealeau County Fair are both held before Buffalo County and have good livestock shows (there may be other Fairs in Wisconsin and Minnesota). Observe the shows, talk to the producers and/or judges about the show and complete the form.
- Visit one of the following sites that relate to your project area and submit a report via the google link listed above.
- 4-H/FFA Market Lamb Sheep Project Selection and Management Checklist from Idaho 4-H.
- Parasite Concerns in Sheep Publication on parasite control in sheep.
- Showing Swine and Biosecurity
- Small Ruminant Video Series (sheep and goats)
- Sheep Field Day Videos Presentations Titled “How to make your make lambs better” by Travis Hoffman, and “Working smarter, not harder with building designs and set-up” by Dan Morrical are recommend for sheep exhibitors.
- UW Virtual Farm Tours
- Animal Disease Good security and biosecurity practices are critical for protecting farms from foreign animal disease.
- Needle Know-How Educational Videos by Pork Checkoff.
- Pork Cuts Get to know all of the pork cuts using our pork cuts chart.
- Iowa State University Iowa Pork Industry Center Pork production and health videos available.
- Show Animals – Challenges at the Packer Recording of an animal care webinar
- Direct Market Spreadsheet – Title Freezer Beef
- Some Excellent Decision Aids for Beef Producers
- Beef Handling Video
- Cattle Dehorning Video
- Low stress livestock handling Part 1
- Low stress livestock handling Part 2
- Feedlot Facilities and cold stress – Iowa Beef Center
For additional information about meat animal projects please call the Division of Extension Office at 608-685-6256 or email Carl Duley at carl.duley@wisc.edu.
