Scales and State Fair Premium Sale Season

The State Fair of Oklahoma runs mid-September, and for a lot of exhibitors, it is the biggest stage of the year. County fairs in August are the warm-up. This is where premium sales put real money on the line, tied straight to a number on a certified scale.

At a county fair, a scale reading decides a class placing. At a premium sale, it decides what a buyer pays. Those sales exist because a community, a business, or a family wants to support a kid and their project, and the final bid is built on the weight that crosses the scale that day. There is no room for a number that gets questioned after the gavel drops.

That is why sale committees and fair boards lean on certified equipment rather than whatever scale happens to be sitting around. A weight that everyone trusts is what keeps a sale moving and keeps the whole event feeling fair to everyone involved.

If you are hauling an animal to the State Fair this year, it is worth weighing on your own scale a few days before you load out, not the morning of. That gives you time to notice if something looks off compared to what you expected, rather than finding out for the first time at check-in with no time to sort it out.

A small difference between your scale and the fair’s certified scale is normal and expected. A large one is worth investigating before the trip, not after.

If you are helping run a premium sale, the scale used on sale day needs to be NTEP certified and calibrated ahead of the event, not assumed to be fine because it worked last year. We work with fair boards and sale committees across the state to check equipment before the gates open, so the number on the board is one nobody has to second-guess.

Premium sales work because buyers trust the weight, exhibitors trust the process, and everyone walks away believing the outcome was fair. That trust starts with equipment that has been checked and certified, not just equipment that has always been there.

Have questions? We’re here to help.

📞 (405) 236-3566