Iowa Ag All-Stars Celebrated at 2026 Iowa State Fair

September 14, 2026

By Lydia Zerby

The Iowa State Fair has now come and gone, and the Iowa Food & Family Project wants to report an extremely successful exhibit presence. The “Iowa Ag All-Stars” theme was very popular and received many positive comments from fairgoers and Iowa FFP partners. 

In honor of America250, we celebrated the people, products and innovations that have shaped Iowa agriculture over the years. We honored people like George Washington Carver and Norman Borlaug, as well as value-added ag products such as the Maid Rite sandwich and Unleaded 88. 

The star of the exhibit was mystery Iowa Ag All-Star trading card packs distributed at trivia spin wheels. Fairgoers went wild for a chance to win these exclusive trading cards. Thousands of visitors also picked up a popular Iowa FFP exclusive tote bag and took a photo of themselves as an Ag All-Star in the photo booth. 

Here is a quick recap by the numbers – 

    •  More than 3,100 photos were taken at the “Create Your Ag All-Star Card” photo booth.
    •  Volunteers handed out 16,500 tote bags.
    •  More than 12,000 promotional items were given out at the trivia Spin Wheel game.
    •  Fairgoers picked up 10,500 packs of Ag All-Star trading cards.
    •  More than 3,402 fairgoers signed up for the free eNewsletter (new subscribers).
    •  In looking at the overall number of visitors to the Iowa FFP exhibit, it’s estimated that
          2 in 3 were new to the Iowa FFP network.
    •  Iowa FFP’s Facebook page gained over 2,470 new followers, now topping out at over 57,000
          food-minded consumers who are engaged with the Project.

For those who picked up a pack of trading cards — or wish they had — here’s a look at all the Iowa Ag All-Star trading cards featured at the Fair and the stories behind these Iowa agriculture icons.

The Iowa FFP exhibit also won an award from the Iowa State Fair and its board. We are extremely proud and honored!