28th Annual Dakota Feeder Calf Show and Feedout
The 28th Annual Dakota Feeder Calf Show and Feedout is set for October 17, 2026 in Turtle Lake, North Dakota.
Interested consignors will deliver 500- to 700-pound steer calves to the Turtle Lake Weigh Station before 10 a.m. CST on October 17. Each producer can consign one or two pens containing three or four calves. The calves are exhibited and evaluated that afternoon and then shipped to the NDSU Carrington Research Extension Center feedlot to be fed to finished market weight.
The Turtle Lake community has a full day of events planned, including a free community lunch, sale calf auction and raffle to expand the experience beyond the original rancher/producers, a Brisket Battle, and a headliner show with the Strasburg Superstar, Mylo Hatzenbuhler. For details and updates follow their Facebook event.
NDSU Extension and Carrington Research Extension Center partner with the Dakota Feeder Calf Show to provide producers an opportunity to experience retained ownership of calves beyond the cow-calf segment of cattle production.
During the 2025-26 Feedout, the calves gained an average of 826 pounds in 263 days, with a total feeding cost (excluding interest) of $1.08 per pound of gain. The average sale weight was 1,450 pounds. The calves were fed with a market weight break-even point of $261.77 per hundredweight.
"It's the variation among cattle that makes this project educational and a real eye-opener," Hoppe says.
In the 2025-26 Feedout, the spread in net return per head between the average of the top and bottom five herds was $338.81. The spread between the top and bottom herd is more noticeable ($617.27 per head). Average daily weight gain in the feedlot was 3.24 pounds for the top-profiting herd and 2.96 pounds for the bottom herd.
"Small differences in production have a huge impact on profit," Hoppe says.
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. Calves should be pre-vaccinated for BVD, PI3, IBR and BRSV, Mannheimia, Clostridials and histophilus somni. Booster vaccinations will be administered upon delivery to the show.
Producers will be assessed an entry fee of $20 per calf. Dakota Feeder Calf Show officials will present awards to producers at the end of the trial.
Karl Hoppe, Ph. D.
Karl.Hoppe@ndsu.edu
Extension Livestock Systems Specialist
