The 44th Annual Governor’s Charity Steer Show will be held in just 25 days, during the 2026 Iowa State Fair.
The proceeds will again benefit the three Ronald McDonald Houses in Iowa that give families a place to stay that’s close to their hospitalized child. “It has been record breaking every year,” said Christy Batien Clark, executive director of the Ronald McDonald House in Sioux City. “Last year, $569,000 raised. That gets divided up between the three Ronald McDonald Houses in the state of Iowa, so that is a huge fundraiser for us and our mission efforts here.”
Jase Plendl of Kingsley is one of the 4-Hers prepping a steer for the show, which is held in the historic Livestock Pavilion on the state fairgrounds. “Each and every day we get up almost before the sun. We do a little showmanship to make sure he’s ready,” Plendl said. “When we’re done with that we go and rinse him down, make his hair grow nice and long, then we let him eat for a little bit. He waits in the cooler for the rest of the day and then when it’s cooled off a little bit more, around 7 or 8, we’ll go out and we’ll rinse him one more time.”
The steer’s name is Rocco and he’ll be led into the show ring by a celebrity participating in the event — with Plendl right there beside the steer he’s raised since January. Rocco and all the other steers in the charity show will be auctioned off afterwards. Batien Clark calls it an amazing event. “The lineup of kids who want to be a part of this, a line up families who want to be a part of this not just to grow awareness for the beef industry and what it does for the state of Iowa, but also to support the Ronald McDonald Houses,” Batien Clark said, “and how we support the families.”
The Iowa Cattlemen’s Association, the Iowa Beef Industry Council and the governor’s office co-host the Charity Steer Show, which in the past 43 years has raised over $6 million for the Ronald McDonald Houses in Sioux City, Des Moines and Iowa City.
(Reporting and photography by Woody Gottburg, KSCJ, Sioux City)
