National Country Ham Association

25/08/2026

🥓 **COUNTRY HAM IS BACK AT THE N.C. STATE FAIR!** 🏆

We’re excited to see the **Country Ham Competition return to the N.C. State Fair in 2026** — and this is about much more than winning a ribbon!

For **commercial country ham producers**, this is a tremendous opportunity to put your product and your brand in front of thousands of fairgoers and help shine a spotlight on one of our industry’s great traditions.

The timing couldn’t be better. **Chefs will be featuring country ham in restaurants, food writers are already reaching out, and interest in authentic country ham continues to grow.** This is our opportunity to build on that momentum and show people what makes country ham so special.

Commercial producers can compete in:
🥓 Unsmoked Whole Ham
🥓 Smoked Whole Ham
🥓 Cut Ham

And the top commercial entry can earn the title of **National Grand Champion!**

📅 **Entry Deadline: September 15, 2026**
💲 **Entry Fee: $10 per entry**

We encourage our commercial producers to participate. The more representation we have at the State Fair, the more opportunities we create to promote **country ham, our producers, and our industry.**

👉 Competition details and entry information:
https://www.ncagr.gov/divisions/nc-state-fair/country-ham-premium-book/open

**Let’s make sure COUNTRY HAM has a big presence at the 2026 N.C. State Fair!**

25/08/2026

21/08/2026

Kentucky State Fair this week!

Taylor County 4-H will enter their country hams to be judged on Thursday! Goodluck! You guys have worked hard.

Penn Country Hams will be providing the country ham for the Commodity Breakfast Thursday morning. Country ham producers will cook the ham for the breakfast. The Commodity Breakfast is free, if you have never been, you are missing out!

Commercial Ham Producers will have their hams judged after lunch!

Fingers Crossed!

Our hams look like winners to us!

We can’t wait!

21/08/2026

Congratulations!

Wish I could’ve won the grand champion. Can’t wait to do it again next year! Big shout out to Tim Berry,at Clifty Farms, for bringing it home!!!He’s an amazing guy!! We were able to pull in a winner for class two and class five! I’m very proud of Class 5, it’s the best taste award!! We were able to get Class 6 also which is overall highest average for all classes! Also, a big shout out to Josh at Broadbent Country Hams, another amazing fellow, who did another amazing job! Working with these guys is always fun! It’s always fun to show up and compete with them and help cook country ham for the Commodity Breakfast! It is a blessed experience.🫶

01/07/2026

The National Country Ham Competition is back at the NC State Fair for 2026!

29/06/2026

22/04/2026

09/03/2026

https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/ncha-34th-annual-meeting

🎉 Excitement is in the air! Get ready to be part of something extraordinary at National Country Ham Association Inc's 34th Annual Meeting.Thank you for supporting our the country ham industry, your support is invaluable.