Fairgoers hoping to catch a glimpse of the Iowa State Fair's inaugural class of Highland cattle on Friday, Aug. 15 were met with the sound of bagpipes as they filed into the Pioneer Livestock Pavillion.

Contestants paraded their cattle into the ring as eager fairgoers continued to file in, packing the stands. One belligerent calf playfully butted its owner in the backside before opting for a roll in the dirt, evoking gleeful laughter from the crowd. Chase Ratliff, the judge for the event, circled the livestock, inspecting them from head to toe.

Ratliff, who owns a cattle farm in Kansas, has been in the business since he was a kid. Needless to say, he knows a prize-winning cow when he sees one.

"(The way) I explain it to people that don't get cattle showing (is) it's kind of like a car s

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