The 38th Ohio Beef Expo was held March 19-22 at the Ohio Expo Center in Columbus, Ohio. The Expo, hosted by the Ohio Cattlemen’s Association (OCA), is the premier event for Ohio’s beef industry covering many facets of the beef world with seedstock shows and sales, a trade show, a competitive junior show and much more all in one place.
“There aren’t many states with a Beef Expo quite like ours here in Ohio,” said Shane Riley, Expo chairman. “We have a junior show program that is envied across the country and our breed sales and trade show are something we are proud of. Once someone attends the Ohio Beef Expo, they make plans to come back each year after and we just keep growing.”
The Expo kicked off Thursday with the Judging contest. It was co-hosted with the Ohio State University’s (OSU) collegiate and ATI junior collegiate Livestock Judging Teams and included over 550 youth participants from Ohio and surrounding states judging six classes of cattle, answering questions and evaluating breed data sheets.
The full trade show opened at 12 noon on Thursday featuring many exhibitors selling everything from cattle chutes to farm insurance. Following the opening of the trade show was The Social event where producers and industry affiliates gathered to network and participate in OCA’s Political Action Committee (PAC) auction where over $10,000 was raised. Music was provided by acoustic duo Dalton and Delaney.
Most of the breeds hosted shows or parades on Friday to display cattle being sold in the sales. The Genetic Pathway, located in the Hubbard Feeds Breeds Barn, showcased the industry’s most popular sires and donor prospects on display throughout the weekend.
Friday was also host to the annual online Feeder Cattle Sale hosted by LiveAg and sponsored by United Producers, Inc. that offered consignments of uniform packages of feeder cattle sold off the farm. This year’s sale included 23,000 head of steers, heifers and beef on dairy cattle.
The seven breed sales flourished this year with a combined total of 284 live lots sold at an average of $6,121 and a total gross sales of $1,738,250.
The Junior Show included over 860 entries. Showmanship was held Friday, followed by the Market Animal show on Saturday and the Heifer show on Sunday. Junior Showmanship was judged by Carly Wesner-Riley, IL and Mari Crandell, IL. Market Animals were evaluated by Brent Cromwell, TX and the Heifer show judge was Brady Jensen, KS. Additionally, Jensen judged the Buckeye Breeders Series (BBS) market animal ring and Cromwell judged the BBS heifer ring.
Three recipients were honored with the Friend of the Expo Award for their dedication and contributions to the Expo’s success over the years. John Ferguson, Ferguson Cattle Company, Jefferson, Ohio; Sullivan Supply and Weaver Livestock received the 2026 honors for serving the Ohio Beef Expo for over a decade.
Sale and show results are now available soon at www.ohiobeefexpo.com along with a complete list of the event’s sponsors. The dates for the 2027 Ohio Beef Expo are March 18-21.
Posted: March 26, 2026