26th Annual Dakota Feeder Calf Show Feedout

The 26th Annual Dakota Feeder Calf Show is set for October 19 in Turtle Lake, North Dakota.

Livestock producers will deliver 500- to 700-pound steer calves to the Turtle Lake Weight Station on Saturday morning. Each producer consigns one or two pens of three or four calves. The calves are exhibited and evaluated that afternoon before being shipped to the Carrington REC feedlot to be fed to finished market weight over the winter. Producers retain ownership of calves through the feedout period.

Feedout project staff will gather data on the rate of gain, feeding costs, and other characteristics during the trial. After the calves are marketed, the staff will collect and provide information to the entrants on carcass weight, meat quality, feeding expenses, and value.

Dakota Feeder Calf Show chair Darwin Chesrown has been consigning calves since the feedout started, and he appreciates the opportunity to see differences in herd sires. The variation among cattle proves this project educational; during the 2023-24 feedout:

• Calves gained an average of 744 pounds in 222 days, with a total feeding cost (excluding interest) of $1.02 per pound of gain. 
• The average sale weight was 1,342 pounds. 
• The calves were fed with a market weight break-even point of $178.17 per hundredweight.
• The spread in net return per head between the average of the top and bottom five herds was $205.89.
• The spread between the top and bottom herd was more noticeable at $323.85 per head. 
• Average daily weight gain in the feedlot was 3.6 pounds for the top-profiting herd and 3.1 pounds for the bottom herd.

Along with the calf show, judging, and prizes, additional events that day in Turtle Lake include:

• A vendor show, craft show, health fair, and lunch concessions at the TL-M gym.
• Lenore’s Food Truck at the Turtle Lake Weigh Station
• A sale calf auction that lets local businesses and individuals participate in the feedout by purchasing a own calf.
• Jessie Veeder at the Turtle Lake Legion Hall.
• Hagen Blacksmithing.
• Byron Monson Custom Saw Mill.
• Brisket Battle Cook-Off Contest and Meal at the Legion Hall.

For more information or to preregister calves, or for a full set of rules, contact Karl Hoppe or Colin Tobin at 701-652-2951 or Darwin Chesrown at 701-448-9286.

Karl Hoppe, Ph. D.
Karl.Hoppe@ndsu.edu
Extension Livestock Systems Specialist