What started as an effort to recognize young livestock exhibitors during a canceled Iowa State Fair has grown into an organization that has raised $1.3 million in just a few years.
The Iowa State Fair Beef Champions Supporters formed in 2020 after the COVID pandemic forced the cancellation of the Iowa State Fair. An alternative event was held for exhibitors, but Kevin Brooks with the organization says a group of supporters wanted to make sure young people who had already invested months of work into their beef projects still received meaningful recognition.
Brooks says seven people came together to form the original group. They raised about $90,000 that first year and distributed more than $80,000 in premium awards.
What began as a response to an unusual year did not disappear when the Iowa State Fair returned. Instead, support continued to grow from people involved in the show cattle industry, cow-calf producers, vendors, and others who wanted to invest in young exhibitors.
Brooks says the numbers since 2020 show just how quickly that support has grown.
Including this year’s fundraiser, the Iowa State Fair Beef Champions Supporters have raised $1.3 million. Brooks says the organization operates with expenses of less than one and a half percent and will have awarded more than $1.23 million by the conclusion of the 2026 Iowa State Fair.
As fundraising has increased, the organization has also expanded the number of exhibitors receiving support. Brooks says the effort originally focused primarily on champions and division champions. Today, premiums reach exhibitors throughout approximately 120 breeding heifer and market animal classes.
First place exhibitors in those classes receive $100, while second place receives $50. Breed champions receive $2,000, and reserve champions receive $1,000. Brooks says the top five placings are also rewarded.
In all, the organization expects to award $283,500 to exhibitors during this year’s Iowa State Fair. Brooks says that is possible because of 315 supporters who helped generate more than $290,000 in cash and in-kind contributions this year.
The organization also works with the Iowa Foundation for Agricultural Advancement through a matching challenge for the four beef animals that go through the Sale of Champions. Brooks says the group’s maximum contribution to IFAA this year is $85,000, making it the foundation’s largest single contributor.
Beyond the growing dollar amounts, Brooks says one of the biggest changes since 2020 has been what that support means to the exhibitors themselves. The premiums provide additional recognition for the months of work that go into preparing an animal for the Iowa State Fair.
Brooks says the support can also help create a more consistent reward for exhibitors who may not have the same connections or fundraising opportunities as others. That includes younger exhibitors and families who may not have an extensive network within the livestock industry.
The Iowa State Fair Beef Champions Supporters now has 13 board members. Its annual online fundraiser is held on the first Sunday in February through The Show Circuit platform, and information on contributing or becoming involved with the organization is also available through its Facebook page.
What began with seven people trying to make sure exhibitors were not forgotten during a canceled fair has continued long after the circumstances that created it, with more than $1.2 million going back to young people involved in Iowa’s beef industry.
