Sioux Falls S.D. (KELO AM) - The 61st Annual Sioux Empire Farm Show will be held Jan. Jan. 21-25 at the W.H. Lyon Fairgrounds in Sioux Falls. Livestock shows and sales as well as commercial exhibits will be held in the Expo Building.
The Agri-Business Division of the Sioux Falls Area Chamber of Commerce sponsors the event. Gina Beers, First PREMIER Bank, is the 2014 Sioux Empire Farm Show Chair. With the exception of the Mayor’s Round-Up & Sale of Champions (Friday, Jan. 24) and the Pony Pull and Draft Horse Pull (Saturday, Jan. 25), all events, shows and sales at the Sioux Empire Farm Show are free and open to the public.
Tuesday, Jan. 21 is devoted to the 4H/FFA Youth Invitational Calf Show, which begins at 5 p.m. A ribbon cutting celebrating the Sioux Empire Farm Show will be held prior to the youth activities at 4:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Jan. 22, begins with the Market Barrow and Gilt Show at 8 a.m.; new this year is a purebred Market Barrow and Gilt division. At 8:30 a.m., a full day of purebred shows and sales starts. The Simmental show begins at 8:30 a.m. and sale begins at 11:30 a.m.; the Angus show also begins at 8:30 a.m. and the sale will begin at 1 p.m.
Thursday, Jan. 23, is another busy day of purebred shows and sales beginning with the Hereford show at 8 a.m. and sale at 11:30 a.m. The Charolais will also show at 8 a.m. and sell at 12:30 p.m. The Red Angus will show at 9:30 a.m. and sell at 2 p.m. The Limousin will show at 9:30 a.m. with their sale at 2:45 p.m. The Market Lamb show begins at 6 p.m. The Feeder Heifer show also begins at 6 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 24 features the culmination of the purebred show with Supreme Row judging at 9 a.m. Each of the six breeds that showed during the Sioux Empire Farm Show will vie to be named the Supreme Champion bull and heifer with a $12,000 purse at stake. The market beef show begins at 10:30 a.m. The feeder steer show begins at 11:30 a.m. Feeder steers can show in breed or crossbred divisions. The market goat show will be held at noon.
The Mayor’s Round-Up & Sale of Champions begins at 6:30 p.m. on Friday at the Best Western PLUS Ramkota Hotel Exhibit Hall. In addition to recognizing the Chamber’s Agri-Business Citizen of the Year and Farm Family of the Year, the $12,000 Supreme Row purse will be awarded prior to the sale. One of the Supreme Row consignors will also win a one-year lease to a Featherlite Trailer courtesy of Iverson Max of Mitchell, S.D. The $12,000 Supreme Row Cash Awards will be split between the consignors of the Grand Champion Bull and Female over all breeds along with the buyers of the animals. The $12,000 purse is provided by Gold Sponsor the Tri-State Neighbor, Silver Sponsor Wells Fargo Bank South Dakota, N.A., and Bronze Sponsor Campbell Supply Co.
The Chamber will also recognize the Farm Family of the Year: the Charles and Brenda Stahl Family of Bridgewater and the Agri-Business Citizen of the Year: Mike Miller, First Dakota National Bank. Information about both can be found here: www.chambernews.com.
This year, a special live and silent auction will take place prior to the Sale of Champions to raise funds for the Rancher Relief Fund. The proceeds from donated packages will be given to the RRF, which was established after the October 2013 blizzard that had a devastating effect on western South Dakota livestock producers.
The Sale of Champions concludes the evening, allowing buyers and sellers to see the “best of the best” market livestock at an exciting auction. Area businesses and individuals will pay premiums to producers by bidding on the top five market steers, top 10 market swine, top five market lambs and the top five market goats. Sioux Falls Mayor Mike Huether will welcome attendees before the auction starts. Sale of Champions Auctioneers and emcees Jim Woster, Joel Westra and Pete Atkins will take the reins for the sale. Tickets are $42 per person and can be purchased at the Sioux Empire Farm Show office or at the Sioux Falls Area Chamber of Commerce. Call (605) 373-2015 for ticket information.
Saturday, Jan. 25, the final day of the Sioux Empire Farm Show, begins at 6:30 a.m. with registration for the Senior and Junior Collegiate Judging Contest. Four-year and two-year colleges are invited to participate. Registration for the Youth and Open Rabbit Show begins at 8:30 a.m. The Junior Judging Contest begins at 10 a.m. The Breeding Heifer Show begins at 12:30 p.m. Heifers will be measured and tagged that morning. Heifers can show in the purebred or crossbred divisions.
The final event for the 2014 Sioux Empire Farm show is the Pony Pull and the Draft Horse Pull beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the Expo Building. The admission charge for this event is $7 for adults and $3 for children.
Commercial exhibits will be on display in the north end of the Expo Building and the Sioux Falls Convention Center and the Sioux Falls Arena. Commercial exhibits are open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Jan. 22-23 and 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Jan. 24. Midwest Shows, Inc. based out of Austin, Minn., has been selling commercial exhibit spaces for the shows. The commercial exhibit portion of the two shows is called the “Sioux Falls Farm Show” with both shows being featured as the “Sioux Falls Salute to Agriculture.” Visitors will have the opportunity to walk through commercial exhibit areas at both locations to see the latest in agricultural production. Booth space is sold out at both locations
The South Dakota Extension Field Education Unit serving Minnehaha, Lincoln and Turner counties from the South Dakota State University Cooperative Extension Service will be offering a series of educational programs as part of the Sioux Falls Farm Show at the Sioux Falls Arena and Sioux Falls Convention Center on Jan. 22-24. These sessions are open to the public and are offered free of charge. All sessions will be held in Conference Rooms 9 and 10 from 1:30- 2:30 p.m. Topics will be announced prior to the show.
For more information on the livestock shows, contact Cindy Christensen at the Sioux Falls Area Chamber of Commerce at (605) 373-2016 or go to www.siouxempirefarmshow.org.
For more information regarding the commercial exhibits, contact Ron Bormaster at Midwest Shows, Inc., (800)873-1411 or go to www.farmshowsusa.com.