INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — The Indiana State Fairgrounds once again will play host to the Indiana Beef Cattle Assoc.’s three-day cattle show - Hoosier Beef Congress - Dec. 2-4.

The event, in its 19th year, includes heifer and steer shows, a trade show, showmanship contest, cattle sales and a junior show.

While the Hoosier Beef Congress officially begins with the steer and heifer show at 10 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 2, activities begin earlier in the week with cattle move-in starting at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 30 and the team fitting contest at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 1. Preliminaries for the showmanship contest start at 6 p.m. on Friday, with the semi-finals and finals starting at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday. Wess Hudson of Harrison, Ark. is the judge for this year’s heifer show, and Steve Patton of Freeman, S.D. is scheduled to judge the steer show.

The Hoosier Beef Congress also hosts a trade show, which features more than 50 exhibitors.

The trade show is open Friday and Saturday from 8 a.m.-6 p.m. and Sunday from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Admission to the show is free.

Junior show
The junior show portion of the event begins on Saturday, Dec. 3 with the junior judging contest at 8 a.m.

The junior cattle show begins at 2 p.m. Saturday and continues at 8 a.m. Sunday, following a 7 a.m. church service in the cattle barn.

The Indiana Junior Beef Cattle Association (IJBCA) is hosting a silent auction during Hoosier Beef Congress.

Viewing of the items up for bid is on Friday with bidding open Saturday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sunday, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Funds raised from the silent auction go towards IJBCA scholarships and trips.

Some of those items, all of which were donated, include handmade quilt, cowboy boot floral decoration, Feed Me Beef baby bib, calf embroidered towel set, John Deere toys, Farmall milk can stool, Mary Kay goodie basket, western bar-b-que basket, sterling silver cow necklace, family four-pack of tickets to the bull riding event at the 2006 Indiana State Fair, embryo transplant and flush service, and turquoise steer pendant.

Hoosier Beef Congress uses the West Pavilion, South Pavilion and Champions’ Pavilion of the Indiana State Fairgrounds, which is located at 1202 E. 38th St., Indianapolis, Ind.

For details on the Hoosier Beef Congress, visit www.hoosierbeefcongress.com or call 317-872-2333.

This Indiana farm news was published in the November 30, 2005 issue of Farm World.