Wisconsin International

Special awards available. See the flyer here.

The 2016 Wisconsin International will be held September 24th & 25th at the Columbia County Fairgrounds in Portage, Wisconsin (also known as Veterans Memorial Field).

Click to go directly to PDFs of the Show Catalog, Entry Form, or Daily Schedule

Known as the premier poultry show in the Midwest, over 2,500 entries from around the country are expected this year. And here’s why:

• Five acclaimed judges that evaluate your birds quickly and fairly
• Spacious, well-lit single deck showrooms
• Numerous breeder, association, breed and club meets and supplemental awards
• Outstanding Open Show competitors, with over 1,200 birds
• An equally impressive Junior Show of nearly 1,000 birds, a rigorous showmanship competition, Wisconsin Junior Poultry Association youth meeting and other activities
• A lively benefit auction, with great deals and hard-to-find merchandise
• A large, indoor sale/swap area, with a steady stream of eager buyers
• Economical lodging with family entertainment in nearby Wisconsin Dells!

The postmarked entry deadline is September 13th, 2016. Sorry, but no email, fax, phone, proxy, or late entries will be accepted. Details can be found in the show catalog.

The Wisconsin International Poultry Club is busy putting the final touches on the show information. It will be published as soon as it is available. Thank you for your patience.

What I can tell you is that the entry deadline will be Tuesday, September 13, 2016. All entries must be postmarked on or before that date to be accepted. No online, email or telephone entries will be accepted.

Announcment by Dr. Lou Arrington, Secretary of the WIPC, Inc.

The Wisconsin International Poultry Club’s Winter Meeting will be held on Saturday, January 9th, 2016, at Pizza Hut, 401 East Wisconsin Street, Portage, WI at 10:00 am.

The Pizza Hut has a meeting room we will use. It is located near the fairgrounds — site of our annual show; about 6 blocks west of the turnoff to the fairgrounds. As usual, we encourage you to have lunch at the Pizza Hut; they provide our meeting room without charge.

An Alternate Snow Date is January 16th, same time and location. If you are not sure whether any snow we might have will cause the meeting to be moved to the snow date, call President Butch Gunderson at (608) 429-9960 for an executive decision.

You will recall the invasion of the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in the Midwest states caused the cancellation of all live bird shows and swaps (except our state and county fairs (and with a couple of exceptions granted)). The ban has been lifted in view of the apparent control of this disease threat. Obviously, it could be reinstated if HPAI returns. However, we are planning on having our annual show in September, so we need to get back to our planning. I believe that the judges are set, but we need to revisit plans for the various activities and committees to conduct another successful show. Please join us as we move forward for 2016.

The winter meeting is our annual meeting and includes the election of officers. Some of the current officers would like to see some younger members take over the club’s leadership. For example, my body is fast approaching the 80 year mark, and while the mind is still “Tarp as a Shack,” it is really time to move toward real retirement. Oh, I’ll still be in the kitchen for another show, but the Secretary’s job is not too demanding. Give it some thought. If you would like to be an officer, let Dave Laatsch (Nominating Committee Chair) know; or make your interest known at the meeting.

DUES ARE DUE. Many members pay their annual dues for the upcoming year when registering for the annual show, or at the show. Since we had no 2015 show, some have failed to renew their dues for 2016. The target date for paying dues is January 1 of the year. I would encourage you to send your dues renewal to Treasurer, Bill Krueger, or pay at the meeting.

The annual WIPC dues are:

Youth Memberships = $5.00 per year
Single Memberships = $10.00 per year
Family Memberships = $15.00 per year

That’s pretty reasonable and well worth it to be an active member of the group. Along with your check or cash payment, give Bill you mailing address, phone number and e- mail address to help keep my records straight.

WI DATCP will be presenting 4 workshops at various locations in Wisconsin titled “Avian Influenza – Lessons Learned and How to Prepare for the Future.”

RSVP to margaret.proost@wisconsin.gov, (608) 224-4877.

All workshops are scheduled to run from 6pm to 8pm.

• Sep 10 at DATCP, 2811 Agriculture Drive, Madison, WI
• Sep 22 at America’s Best Value Inn, 809 Clairemont Ave, Eau Claire, WI
• Sep 24 at Howard Johnson Inn, 2101 North Mountain Rd, Wausau, WI
• Sep 29 at Fox Valley Tech, 1825 N. Bluemound Rd, Appleton, WI

I’ve been getting a lot of inquiries today regarding the status of the Wisconsin International. While it is true that all remaining quarantines were lifted, to the best of my knowledge that does not mean that the order restricting poultry shows in Wisconsin has been rescinded.

If it’s not part of a County, District or State Fair, poultry shows are still prohibited.

Wisconsin International Poultry Club, Inc. will hold its fall meeting on Saturday, September 26th, 2015, at Veterans Memorial Field, Portage, WI (the usual location and date of the Wisconsin International).

The meeting will be held in conjunction with a meeting and a full slate of youth activities hosted by the Wisconsin Junior Poultry Association. More details to come.

Should the latest orders from the DATCP stand, the 2015 Wisconsin International will be cancelled.

In a June 10, 2015 order, the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection shutdown all poultry shows and swaps that are not a part of a county, district or state fair. The Summary Letter states:

1. Banning the movement of poultry to, or participation in, any swap meets or open shows in Wisconsin that are not held as part of a county, district, or state fair.

2. Prohibiting the movement of poultry to, or participation in, any county, district, or state fair, or open show or youth show held as part of a county, district, or state fair in Wisconsin, unless the exhibitor provides and the organizer obtains, reviews and maintains for one year, and makes available to the department all of the following information:

a. The exhibitor’s name, address, and phone number.

b. If the poultry were kept in Wisconsin, or a state utilizing the federal premises identification system, address and premises code number of the location at which the poultry were kept by the exhibitor. If the poultry were kept outside of Wisconsin in a state that does not use the federal premises identification system, the state-issued location identification number of the location at which the poultry were kept by the exhibitor.

c. Certification from the exhibitor that within 10 calendar days immediately prior to moving the poultry to the event there have been no poultry mortalities on the premises where the poultry were kept. Poultry mortalities caused by intentional slaughter, predator or accident do not apply.

More information can be found here.

You are all invited to the Annual WIPC/WJPA Picnic and Membership meeting on June 27. During the meeting portion of the day we will be discussing and voting (members only) on whether to hold the Wisconsin International this year.

During the WIPC membership meeting, we will be discussing whether to go forward with the 2015 Wisconsin International Poultry Show, in light of the Avian Influenza outbreak. All WIPC members, including juniors, are invited to join in the discussion and to vote.

Schedule

10:00am-10:30am: Arrival
10:30am-11:10am: Junior Showmanship Secrets for Success seminar by Sydney and Shelby Tone as part of their Poultry Master project work.
11:10am-12:00pm: Do It Yourself First Aid for Poultry presentation by Poultry Consultant Twain Lockhart.
12:00pm-1:00pm: Potluck lunch.
12:30pm-2:00pm: Wisconsin International Poultry Club summer meeting.

Please RSVP by clicking here (takes you to an event registration site). There is no charge for this event, but bring lawn chairs and a dish to pass if you’re staying for lunch 🙂