Photo by Dawn Hauge
The Fillmore County Fairgrounds was a bustling place October 16-19 as the MN Fall Beef Classic was held in Preston. Usually, this show is held at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds; this year, due to construction, a new site needed to be found.
Enter a committee that decided to take on the event and hold it at the Fillmore County Fairgrounds. Amanda Bedtke, Autumn Feine, Colby Lind, Doug Lind, Fair Board President Mike Fenske, Lakyn Lind and Paul Bartsh were the hard-working committee members.
Paul Bartsh and Lakyn Lind, founders of MN North Star Point Series which is separate from the expo, wanted to ensure the show continued since it has been traditionally both the ending point for the series in 2025 and the beginning point of the 2026 series. In the MN North Star Point Series, kids go to several cattle shows throughout Minnesota. Later, at a banquet, they are recognized and rewarded for their efforts.
The successful show brought 368 head of cattle to the fairgrounds along with their young handlers, parents, grandparents, judges, staff and the general public. Cattle came from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, South and North Dakota.
While the competitors were mostly FFA and 4H members, this show was not connected to either of the groups. Families entered the expo independently.
The show kicked off on Thursday as campers began arriving and setting up. Cattle could be checked in from 4-6 p.m.; vendor booths were opened beginning at noon. Vendors sold items aimed at the interests of the participants; this included food, show supplies, and assorted clothing, jewelry, and home decor.
On Friday the show circuit sale opened online in the morning; between noon and 1:30 p.m. there was a live preview of the show cattle on site. The online cattle sale consisted of mostly 2025 calves ready to used to begin a show career. The online sale began closing online at 2 p.m.
Friday night a total of 595 exhibitors and their families were treated to a free meal of ribeye steak sandwiches and hamburgers grilled by the Fillmore County Cattlemen’s Association.
Saturday the breeding heifer show kicked off at 9 a.m. and on Sunday the market and prospect show was held. Check-ins were held each morning before the competitions began. Exhibitors were allowed to just attend the day of their competition and could leave when they were done.
The day of the show, the exhibitors busied themselves with washing, “fitting” and getting their cattle “all dealed in.” This included a thorough shower followed by a blow dry and styling. One of the vendors had a trailer set up just outside the show ring building and offered items such as mousse, volumizer and hair paint in assorted colors just like a hair salon.
The competitors led their cattle into the ring and posed them using their show stick and halter to show their best qualities. While some shows only have one ring, this expo had two rings. Called a two for one show, in this show, the cattle were judged twice, often with different results.
Friday at 3 p.m. the top five winners were picked in showmanship in each of the three divisions. Divisions ranged from juniors (elementary age exhibitors), intermediate (middle school aged) and seniors (high school to age 21). In an additional Peewee division which included kids six and under, all participants were winners.
On Saturday, the top five breeding cattle in each ring were chosen as winners. On Sunday, the top five prospect calves and the top five market animals in both ring A & B were declared the winners.
A lot of the judges are involved as judges for FFA; they came well-experienced in judging. As he examined the breeding heifers, Judge Jeff Jackson commented things such as “full rib cage, neat feminine look up from up front, beautiful shoulder, sets her neck up on the apex of her shoulder, absolute stallion of a female, etc.”
After all the classes (which went by birth months of the cattle) had been judged, each champ from the class returned to the ring to be reevaluated and a champion and reserve champion for that breed were chosen. Jackson explained his judging to all participants so they could learn from the experience.
The young exhibitors were expected to act professionally as they showed their animals. The winners were required to write a thank you note to the sponsors before leaving the show or their premiums would not be sent.
The MN Fall Beef Classic gave the youth participants a great place to learn more about showing cattle as well as to compete against others to show what they and their animals already knew. Preston was lucky to be able to host the show this year!
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