Abby Willson of Shell Rock Iowa and her 7-year old Columbia ram “Judah” are the winners of the 2025 Iowa State Fair Big Ram Competition. Judah weighed in at 505 ½ pounds to win a close contest inside the sheep barn on the first day of the 2025 fair.
Abby Willson is a 2025 graduate of Waverly-Shell Rock high school and says that Judah is known for his calm demeanor.
At the start of the Big Ram Competition the emcee mentioned that the goal of the competition was a ram that weighed 500 pounds. Judah hit that mark and surpassed it to win.
Willson says that there weren’t any special diet tricks that helped Judah take home the crown.
She says that Judah has always had the frame to put on size and that his stature allows him to carry the weight well.
Second place in the Big Ram Competition went to “Big Bad Joe,” a 3-year-old Suffolk of Fisher Farms in Mercer, Missouri.
