News & Events
2021 Pierce County Livestock Tagging Information
Due to the current Covid 19 restrictions, there will be NO INITIAL WEIGH IN or IN-PERSON TAGGING this year for any of the species. Please see species specific information below.
Beef & Swine: We will be hosting a DRIVE THRU TAG PICK UP day on April 10, 2021 at the Pierce County Fairgrounds from 8am-noon. Everyone that is planning to exhibit Market beef or swine at the fair MUST come on that day to get their tags. Sorry, NO EXCEPTIONS will be made for tag pick up.
All exhibitors will tag their own animals & will need to send photos of your tagged animals & needed information back to us no later than May 1, 2021.
** Please watch your email for complete instructions about the tag pick up in a few weeks **
NOTE/CHANGE: To help alleviate the cost of the tags, each exhibitor will only be given the first two tag sets for each species (2 for beef &/or 2 for swine). You may still tag additional animals but additional tag sets will need to be purchased for $4 per set. So if you plan to tag 4 hogs, you will get 2 sets for free & then purchase two additional sets.
Sheep & Goats: There will not be a tag pick up day for sheep & goats. Instead, we will do the same as last year & use each animal’s scrapies tag for identification. You will also need to return photos of your tagged animals & needed information back to us no later than April 17, 2021.
** Please watch for an email with complete instructions in a few weeks **
IMPORTANT – MEAT ANIMAL EXHIBITORS that plan to tag more animals than you can bring to the fair be sure to contact the lockers now to reserve processing spots for your extra animals. The Livestock Committee only has spaces reserved for the number of animals that could potentially be at the fair.
New Rule for Swine Exhibitors:
Ractopamine Hydrochloride or Paylean, as it is more commonly known as, has been banned by all Commercial processors as it is illegal in any pork shipments made to China or the European Union. Therefore, we have banned the use of this product in any hogs that will be shown at the Pierce County Fair as well. The Pierce County Livestock Committee is currently working on testing procedures for enforcing these rules as well as penalties should this rule be violated. Complete information about this rule will be sent to all swine exhibitors very soon.
Rules Meetings:
All beef, goat, sheep & swine exhibitors are required to complete the annual Rules Meeting. Many, many of you have already completed this for the year. However, if you have not yet completed this you only have a couple more opportunities to do so. Failure to attend, will mean no animals at the fair! If possible, we ask that you please try to attend the January date. We will cancel the February date if everyone has completed it in January. Pre-registration is required & email links will be sent out via email very soon! Here are the newly scheduled dates:
- January 31, 2021 via Zoom @ 2pm
- February 28, 2021 via Zoom @ 2pm (If needed)
NOTE WORKSHOP SHEET CHANGE: In effort to simplify things a bit, the Pierce County Livestock Committee has decided that going forward all exhibitors will now need to fill out the Wisconsin Youth Livestock Educational Form regardless if they attend their workshop in person or online. This form will completely replace the traditional blue workshop sheet we have put out in the past. The WYL Education Form ALONG with each exhibitor’s YQCA certificate can be turned in via email to the livestock committee at any time but all workshop forms & YQCA Certificates are due NO LATER than JULY 21, 2021!
Two Important notes: BEEF exhibitors that attended Kids N Cows day in October or the Virtual Workshop on December 15th, we have a record of who attended & you will not need to fill a form out for either of those two events.
Rules Meetings:
All beef, goat, sheep & swine exhibitors are required to complete the annual Rules Meeting. Many, many of you have already completed this for the year. However, if you have not yet completed this you only have a couple more opportunities to do so. Failure to attend, will mean no animals at the fair! If possible, we ask that you please try to attend the January date. We will cancel the February date if everyone has completed it in January. Pre-registration is required & email links will be sent out via email very soon! Here are the newly scheduled dates:
- January 31, 2021 via Zoom @ 2pm
- February 28, 2021 via Zoom @ 2pm (If needed)
Online Fundraising Auction
Please check our Online Fundraising Auction starting January 25th! Due to scheduling changes, the auction will now run until February 10th. Pick up day for the auction is Thursday, February 11th in the Seyforth Building the Pierce County Fairgrounds. The auction can be found on hinesauctionservice.com once all of the auction item information is complete. Lots of great items to choose from such as a 5 day stay at the Christmas Mountain Resort in Wisconsin Dells, A skid loader bucket, Cornhole boards, straw bales & lots of really cool baskets & packages. Something for everyone! Please see the flyer for more details or if you have questions feel free to email us at: piercecountylivestockcommittee@gmail.com
2019-2020 Meat Animal Rules – 2020 Livestock rules-FINAL
2019-2020 – Rules CHART – Meat Animal Rules Chart 2019
DAIRY
WI State 4-H Project Information Website: https://fyi.extension.wisc.edu/wi4hprojects/animal-sciences/dairy/
SHEEP PROJECT
- UW-Madison Sheep and Goat Extension Web Site: https://fyi.extension.wisc.edu/wisheepandgoat/.
- Indianhead Sheep Breeders Association: https://indianheadsheep.wordpress.com/
MAQA INFORMATION
Information is mailed out in the spring of each year to youths that need to attend one MAQA workshop due to their certification being or soon to be expired:
REMEMBER: Take along your Livestock Workshop Training Card to these sessions and get it signed by the local MAQA coordinator to show proof of attendance.
NORTHERN WISCONSIN SHOW PIG CIRCUIT
- This is a newly chartered group, with the purpose to educate youth swine producers through showing and educational clinics.
- Check out their website: northwisc.com or find them on Facebook.
LIVESTOCK JUDGING
- Livestock Judging – Join the Pierce County Teams! Any youth who are in grades three through thirteen who have an interest in animal agriculture and its related industries are encouraged to participate in Livestock Judging. By participating in livestock judging youth will have the opportunity to travel and visit a diversity of beef, swine, lamb and goat farming operations within Pierce County and travel throughout the state to view and judge animals from top producing herds. Youth will meet and interact with the owners and managers of these successful operations, and these contacts can help youth better understand animal agriculture and develop stronger ties with its leaders. From establishing positive relationships with the community to creating lifelong friendships youth will not want to miss out on this fun and interactive judging year. Please check back for more information regarding practice times and schedules.
MEAT ANIMAL RULES
- 2019 Meat Animal Project Rules and Financial Form → 2020 Livestock rules-FINAL
- Meat Animal Chart 2019-20 – Meat Animal Rules Chart 2019
- 1. The 2019-2020 Livestock General Rules above.…Please note the changes on the first page……starting this year ALL participants in any beef, goat, sheep or swine projects will be required to attend a rules meeting, a workshop, the YQCA & turn in a workshop verification form. This includes exhibitors that only show breeding stock animals, not just meat animal exhibitors. Rules Meetings: At this time, we will be offering FOUR dates. You only need to attend ONE of the four dates….every rules meeting will be the same. This is a great opportunity to ask questions & learn about what kinds of things you can expect from now until the fair. Workshops: We will offer plenty of different workshops throughout the year for you come too. However, if you have the opportunity to attend a workshop outside of Pierce County that you would like to get ‘workshop credit’ for that may be ok too. We just ask that you let us know by email before you go. It may not be counted otherwise. YQCA (Youth for quality care of animals): As always, this can be completed in one of two ways. It can be either be taken in a classroom setting or done online. The first classroom training being offered will be following the first rules meeting on Nov 17th. Please go to yqca.org to get registered for the classroom training or take the training online at any time.
2. Important Dates coming up that we know so far….
November 17th: Rules Meeting starting at 3pm at the Seyforth Building
YQCA at 4:30pm at the Seyforth Building – register for this class prior to coming.
December 7th: Beef Weigh In 9-11am at the UWRF-Mann Valley Lab Farm
**** ALL market beef MUST be weigh in on this day to be shown at the fair! Please email us if you have any questions. ****
January 7th: Rules Meeting starting at 7pm at the Seyforth Building
January 29th: Rules Meeting starting at 7pm at the Seyforth Building
February 17th: Rules Meeting starting at 7pm at the Seyforth Building
3. Communications….
How do you find out about the workshops? We do our best to list them in the informant & email reminders but they will always be listed on our Facebook page as well. This year we have stepped up our game in hopes of being able to accommodate those that do not use Facebook as well!
Remind app: We are now set up on the Remind app so we can send blast announcements/reminders out to anyone that wishes to receive them on their phone (either by text or on the app) OR email. You do not need to have the app on your phone to receive the messages. If you are interested & would like to receive reminders this way please go to: http://rmd.me/b?rid=133058243 to sign up. Feel free to email us with any questions you may have.
Website: Soon we will be publishing a new Pierce County Livestock website! This will be a great resource as you will be able to find everything in one spot! All the forms, the rules, important links and more can be found on the site. The website will be ready to publish by Monday, November 11th. Our web address will be: piercecountylivestock.weebly.com
The main purpose of the Meat Animal project is EDUCATION. The main objective for each exhibitor is to learn about and experience the “real world” of raising and selling an animal.
To show at the Pierce County Fair, 4-H and FFA members must be enrolled in the beef, sheep, swine, or goat project by November 1 of the previous calendar year. They must have completed a record book for the previous year (except 1st year participants) with financial form for Auction animals.
Read the Rules above for very important information in this project.
PRE FAIR Meat Animal Project Letter will be available a month before fair-
BLUE WORKSHOP CARDS can be picked up at the UW Extension Office or at the workshops. One can be mailed to you later on if you are enrolled in the project by calling to request one. Otherwise most workshops in Pierce County will have them available.
SCHOLARSHIPS
Please see the “Scholarships/Awards” Page