28th annual Dakota Feeder Calf Show and Feedout set for Oct. 17

The 28th annual Dakota Feeder Calf Show and Feedout is set for Oct. 17 in Turtle Lake, North Dakota.

Interested consignors will deliver 500- to 700-pound steer calves before 10 a.m. CST on the day of the show. 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 North Dakota State University's Carrington Research Extension Center feedlot to be fed to finished market weight.

“After 27 years of comparing calf performance, North Dakota cattle ranchers are finding superior growth and carcass characteristics,” says Karl Hoppe, NDSU Extension livestock specialist at NDSU’s Carrington Research Extension Center. “Since cow herd genetics can change over time via bull and heifer selection, sending cattle to the Dakota Feeder Calf Show and Feedout gives the rancher information on how their selections are advancing their herd.”

NDSU Extension and the 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.

“There are several ways to collect growth performance carcass data from your calves,” says Lucas Mota, animal scientist at NDSU’s Carrington Research Extension Center. “The best is to feed out your entire calf crop, but that takes considerable time, effort and funds.

“An alternative,” continues Mota, “is to consign a group of calves to a feedout project. Your risk is less, and a feedout project provides a substantial amount of information about the calves.”

Ron and Sue Wardner, Dakota Feeder Calf Show leaders, have been consigning calves since the feedout began. They still enjoy comparing their weaned calves in October to the finished calves in May.

“The calves really grow, and we do see differences in herd sires,” say the Wardners.

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 at 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," says Hoppe.

In the 2025-26 feedout, the spread in net return per head between the average of the top and bottom five herds was $338.84. The spread between the top and bottom herd was 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," says Hoppe.

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 prevaccinated 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.

NDSU Agriculture Communication – Sept. 28, 2026

Source: Karl Hoppe, 701-652-2951, karl.hoppe@ndsu.edu

Editor: Dominic Erickson, 701-231-5546, dominic.erickson@ndsu.edu