Polk County Junior Livestock Show and Youth Fair

The Polk County Junior Livestock Show and Youth Fair has been bringing people from all around the surrounding area to enjoy a weekend of livestock shows, tractor pulls, auctions, contests and so much more for 79-years. 

The event for 2026 will kick off on Thursday, June 18 with the goat show beginning at 6:30 p.m, and the dairy show starting at 7 p.m.

Friday, June 19, after the Pledge of Allegiance at 5 p.m. the rooster crowing contest will start the fun for the evening. At 6 p.m. the poultry show, rabbit show and sheep show will begin. Also, at 6 p.m. the 4H/FFA Youth Super Farmer contest begins.

Saturday, June 20, the day starts off with the beef, horse, and swine shows all starting at 9 a.m. The dog and pet show will begin at 10:30 a.m. A favorite youth pig scramble will begin at 12:30 p.m. The Junior Livestock Auction begins at 5 p.m.

The Fair Board Community dinner will be from 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Anyone interested in attending the dinner is welcome to purchase a ticket for $16. The dinner is prepared by Curly Que Bar-B-Que.

A SWMATPA Tractor pull will begin at 6 p.m. Admission for the pull is free.

PIE TIME

Bakers will be baking and getting the perfect pies ready for the annual Polk County Fair’s pie contest. The contest is Saturday, June 20, and entries will be accepted from 9:30 a.m. until noon. Judging will take place at 1 p.m.

Categories for the contest are: youth and open (youth are those 17 and under; open exhibitors must be 18 and older); custard/pudding/cream pie; fruit/nut pie; cobbler.

Contest rules:

• One entry per category per exhibitor.
• Names are not to be displayed anywhere on the entries. Entries will be assigned a number at registration.
• Pie crust and filling must be made from scratch and the recipe must be entered with the pie or cobbler. The name must not be on the recipe card or pie/cobbler.
• All pies and cobblers must be baked in an 8 or 9 inch disposable pan. Winning pies will be auctioned and you will not receive your pan back.

Judging will consist of:

• Appearance (evenly cooked, edges uniformly done, and additional effort lattice).
• Crust appears flaky, uniformly cooked, not doughy, etc.
• Filling removes from the pie plate easily, and is evenly cooked.
• Overall taste 0h-so-good you would eat the whole thing.
• Judging begins at 1 p.m. and is not open to the public.
• The judge's decision will be final.
• Cash prizes will be awarded for the top three pies in each category.
• There will be one overall grand prize award for the overall highest scoring pie.

The top three placing youth and top three open pies will be auctioned at the Appreciation Dinner around 6 p.m. All proceeds go to the Polk County Fair Association. The remaining pies and cobblers will be sold by the slice at the dinner with the proceeds going to the Polk County Fair Association.

For questions or to preregister, contact Amanda Jones at 417-298-0937, or the Polk County Extension Center at 417-326-4916.