A Delicious Tradition: Humboldt County Fair Beef and Pork

There are many traditions that Hy-Capacity holds dear. One of the dearest traditions, perhaps, is that of purchasing cows and pigs at the Humboldt County Fair Livestock Auction and processing the meat to be given out to employees. The tradition was started by one of Hy-Capacity’s founders, James “Scratch” Olson back in the 80’s. Scratch created it as a way to give back to the employees that have made Hy-Capacity the successful company that it is.

When Scratch’s son, Steve Olson, took over as Hy-Capacity President in the 90’s, he continued the tradition. Hy-Capacity has always enjoyed the opportunity to do this for their employees and is happy that the practice also impacts the local 4-H and FFA programs.

Current Hy-Capacity President, Molly Varangkounh (Steve’s daughter and Scratch’s granddaughter) began attending the Humboldt County Fair Livestock Auction for the company in 2007 when she was Vice-President. The tradition has always been a family affair.

Since the 80’s, Hy-Capacity’s staff has grown from 10-15 employees to around 110 employees. And this delicious tradition is still alive and well today!

As an agricultural company, Hy-Capacity has made sure to invest in the youth that will one day become our farmers and leaders in the agriculture industry. At this year's Humboldt County Fair Livestock Auction, the exhibitors showed their animals off to buyers while donning grey shirts donated by Hy-Capacity, especially for the fair.

“Our community is so lucky to have the 4-H and FFA programs to help teach such valuable life skills and responsibility in addition to learning best practices for how to produce good food for our tables,” said Molly Varangkounh, Hy-Capacity President.

This year Hy-Capacity purchased 24 pigs and eight cows. That’s a total of 17,475 pounds of meat (which is more than 150 pounds of meat per person)! After a day of working at the plant, employees collected their boxes filled with bacon, pork chops, burgers, and steaks with grins on the faces and joy in their eyes.

If you live in Humboldt, Iowa, pick up a copy of the October Humboldt NOW to read more about this delicious tradition! (Availble 9/26) http://humboldtnews.com/

Thanks for reading!