COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio Beef Expo will celebrate 20 years of beef-industry excellence March 16-18 at the Ohio Expo Center in Columbus, Ohio.

In addition to the traditional attractions of breed sales, shows, trade show, a competitive junior show, many new events have been added to this year’s program to celebrate the Expo’s 20th anniversary.

More than 1,300 head of cattle are expected to participate in breed shows and sales as well as the junior show. This year’s 20th anniversary theme is Celebrating 20 years of Beef Industry Excellence.

The Expo gets underway Friday morning with the trade show opening ceremony at 10 a.m. Many special guests have been invited to attend and assist the Expo in recognizing those individuals that have made significant contributions to its success.

Later that afternoon, the Ohio Cattlemen’s Assoc. (OCA) Corral will open. New this year, the OCA Corral will allow visitors an opportunity to watch March Madness basketball games or take a break from the action with friends while enjoying snacks and refreshments. Happy hour will begin at 6 p.m. with light appetizers and music.

This year’s Expo will also feature it’s largest ever three-day industry trade show, featuring over 100 exhibitors from 15 states. The Genetic Pathway will again be featured on the upper concourse of the Voinovich Livestock and Trade Center throughout the weekend, displaying around 20 of the country’s top live bulls and females from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. until 5 p.m. daily.

Breed shows, sales and displays will once feature some of the country’s top cattle. More than 500 head of cattle will be part of the breed displays, shows and sales featuring Angus, Charolais, Chianina, Gelbvieh, Hereford, Limousin, Maine-Anjou, Murray Grey, Piedmontese, Red Angus, Shorthorn and Simmental show heifers, bred heifers, cow-calf pairs, herd bulls and embryos.

The Expo will feature seven seedstock sales on Saturday, with the first sales getting underway at 10 a.m. Those unable to attend the Expo can visit www.liveauctions.tv and register to bid online for many of the sales. Sale catalogs are also available online at www.ohiobeefexpo.com through the sales link.

Another new attraction for the 2007 Expo is the junior show fitting demonstration, contest and junior social on Friday evening.

“The team fitting contest was created to further build and develop the teamwork skills of Ohio’s youth cattle exhibitors,” said Trent Fredenburg, director of promotions and programs at OCA. “This competition will help to build strong character and communication skills in these young leaders that they will use beyond the show ring.”

The fitting demonstration will begin at 5 p.m. followed by the fitting contest featuring 12 four-member youth teams. Each team will have 20 minutes to fully prepare a heifer or steer for exhibition to the panel of three judges. The night will be capped off with a junior social and pizza party.

The junior show will kick off Saturday afternoon with Showmanship and will start again early Sunday morning with the heifer and market animal shows. Complete rules for the show can be found on

www.ohiobeefexpo.com The final added attraction for the 2007 Ohio Beef Expo is an equipment consignment sale that will happen Sunday at noon in the trade show area. Current consignments include a variety of commercial cattle equipment and a complete list can be found on the website. To consign an item to the sale call Jason Dagger, OBE Vice-Chairman, at 937-604-8820.

More than 25,000 visitors from 20 states and Canada routinely attend the Ohio Beef Expo. It is ranked as the fifth-largest event hosted in central Ohio and is the premier location to meet Ohio’s cattle producers.

The Ohio Beef Expo is a function of OCA, an affiliate of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Assoc. OCA is the state’s spokesperson and issues manager for all segments of the beef cattle industry including cattle breeders, producers and feeders. It is the grassroots policy development organization for the beef business. Through OCA, cattle producers work to create a positive business environment, while providing consumers with a safe and wholesome product.