This year’s Iowa Simmental Association Field Day was held at the Union County Fairgrounds in Afton June 6-7.
2020 has been an interesting year to say the least!  There were many discussions between the ISA & IJSA Boards and IJSA Advisors as the best course of action to take with this year’s Field Day and show.  We all wanted the youth to be able to show but also knew we needed to provide a safe atmosphere so once capacity restrictions were lifted, we were glad to be able to hold the event on the originally scheduled date with a few modifications.

Saturday, June 6th was the first day, and although it was a hot and humid day we could tell people were ready to do something “normal”.  Junior members and their families “stalled” from their trailers, check-in was held, both the ISA & IJSA Board of Directors met along with a regular Junior meeting. Following the IJSA meeting we held a couple junior activities.

Tyler Loudon presented a Sales Talk contest demonstration.
Youth also had fun participating in a scavenger hunt and games of kickball.

Showmanship was held that evening with the Craig Mittag as the judge.
There were 28 Seniors, 29 Juniors, and 12 First-timers (first time showing at Field Day) who competed in Showmanship.
We held multiple classes in each division, with a lot of tough competition, and those selected came back for “finals”.

After Junior Showmanship IJSA Board members Colin DeCap and Tyler Loudon had a surprise for everyone!
They presented the First Annual “Sammi Long Memorial Showmanship Award” to Grace Greiman.
They were accompanied in the ring by Sammi’s family.

Sunday brought us show day!
We started the day with the Awards Presentation:

First up were the Iowa Simmental Memorial Scholarship Recipients.  Each year the IJSA presents three junior members who have been active in our association and in their school and/or community with a $1000 scholarship.  They are recognized at Field Day and will receive their scholarship at next year’s ISA Banquet in February during the Iowa Beef Expo.  The 2020 recipients are: (left to right) Grace Greiman of Goodell, Carli Henderson of Wiota, and Landon Siek of Bairstown.  Thank you to all who applied, please apply in the future if you weren’t selected this year.

County Awards:
87 Juniors from 56 counties showed 88 Champion Simmental Animals at their 2019 County Fairs!
Individual photos were taken to help promote social distancing (photos of the youth who picked up their award are in the “Results” PDF).

The ISA Futurity Show was the start of the cattle show.
The cattle show judge was Brady Jansen of South Dakota.
There were 15 youth who showed 17 heifers nominated from six of the eight sanctioned sales.  They included six Foundation Heifers and 11 High Percent Heifers.  There were only 26 total animals nominated from those sales and No Market Animals came to the Futurity Show.

*Check out the Futurity tab on our website for more information*
The Iowa Simmental Association’s Futurity Program is a great way to promote Iowa Simmental breeders and their cattle!  Open heifers or steers purchased at any of the sanctioned sales will be eligible to show at the Iowa Junior Simmental Field Day that is held each year in June. There is a separate division for these animals during the show and prize money is divided among this division. The entry fee is just $10 per animal!  Contact Sherrie Moore- ISA Secretary/Treasurer to get involved and the ISA Website iasimmental.org.

Junior Show:
65 youth showed 93 total entries including 10 market animals, 37 foundation heifers, 38 high percent heifers, three cow-calf pairs, three prospect calves and two junior bulls.

This was the first year to award prizes for Bred and Owned Heifers in memory of Sammi Long that were sponsored and presented by the Long Family.

Winding out the day was pee-wee showmanship.  Five youth “borrowed” an animal from a friend who showed in the junior show and got a chance to have fun and gain some experience in the show ring.  Congratulations to all our exhibitors and families on a great show!

See full results of the Futurity and Junior Show here:
2020 ISA Field Day Results w- Photos
2020 IJSA Field Day Results
2020 ISA Field Day Results Summary

Thank you’s!

Thank you to the Long family for sponsoring the awards for the Junior show!  They were given in memory of Sammi and we know she was with us during the weekend smiling down! “Be the reason someone smiles today!”

Thank you to the Long and Williams family for sponsoring the ice cream during showmanship, and breakfast and lunch on show day.

Thank you to the Bailey Family for donating the show box stickers (Keegan designed) and the welcome treats at check-in.

Thank you to the ISA & IJSA Boards, Advisors and everyone who helped throughout the weekend!

Backdrop and candid ring photos were taken by Mallory Espenscheid and are be available on the IJSA Facebook page www.facebook.com/IowaJuniorSimmental/ (click on photos, then albums).  Feel free to tag and share!

More photos are available on our Shutterfly Share site iowasimmental.shutterfly.com, please feel free to add your photos to the 2020 Field Day album https://iowasimmental.shutterfly.com/25065.

We hope everyone had a good time at the 2020 Field Day!
We look forward to seeing you at other Iowa Simmental shows and events in the future!