Grand champion lamb disqualified at State Fair of West Virginia

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 10:20 a.m. Sept. 9

LEWISBURG, W.Va. — A prizewinning lamb at the State Fair of West Virginia has been disqualified after reportedly testing positive for banned substances.

Fair officials confirmed that a routine drug test flagged one of the champion market lambs, triggering an investigation and the animal’s removal from competition.

“It’s standard that we’ve always drug tested our grand champion and reserve grand champion animals,” said Kelly Collins, CEO of the State Fair of West Virginia. “We did collect urine samples and after those samples were taken and sent to the lab, we did receive a positive confirmation on one of the market lambs.”

The market lamb show was Aug. 9. In past years, the fair collected blood samples from winning animals, but officials recently switched to urine testing to align with industry standards. Once the lamb’s lab results came back, Collins said, the fair notified the exhibitor, the processing facility and the buyer. Additional testing is underway from another lab at the request of the livestock breeder and exhibitor. They could not be reached for comment.

While Collins declined to identify the substance detected, she confirmed that all positive tests result in disqualification. That means the exhibitor forfeits any ribbons, trophies, premiums or sale prices connected to the animal. In some cases, families can also face temporary or permanent bans from showing.

“Any animal that is found with a positive test, they will not receive any of that,” she said.

The testing process is standard at the fair and well-known to exhibitors. Grand champion and reserve grand champion animals are immediately escorted to a holding pen or kept in the arena until samples can be collected. Those samples are sealed, stored securely and shipped overnight to a lab.

The fair’s mission, Collins said, is to promote agriculture and develop the next generation of food producers, so officials take special care to ensure market animals are safe for consumption.

“We don’t want to do anything which jeopardizes the food chain,” Collins said, “and so that’s really where the importance lies. At the same time, we’re taking the necessary steps.”

Cases like this are rare, she added. In more than a decade of managing the fair, Collins said she could not recall another positive test.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve had something come back like this,” she said.

The West Virginia Department of Agriculture, which checks animals as they arrive at the fairgrounds, said it had no involvement in the testing or disqualification. A department representative referred questions to the fair.

Collins said she understands the disappointment some in the community may feel but asked for patience as the investigation plays out.

“We are working through the process with all of the necessary parties and hopefully we have some more information to provide shortly,” she said. “We want to of course promote agriculture and safety in agriculture, but we also want to protect the individuals that are involved and be fair across the board.”