The Big Ram winner on the opening day of the Iowa State Fair not only broke the state record with ease, but he’s also being evaluated to see if he broke the Guinness World Record.
The 3-year-old ram, Big Bad Joe, cleared the 500-pound mark with room to spare, coming in at 568 pounds.
His owner, Jim Fisher of Mercer, Missouri, previously brought Big Fat Jake in 2025, who weighed 501.5 pounds — although Jake was outmatched by Judah, the eventual first-place winner, who weighed just 4 pounds more for a total of 505.5 pounds.
The previous Iowa State Fair record for Biggest Ram was set in 2014 by Zeus, a 2-year-old Hampshire ram from Perry. He weighed 507.5 pounds.
The largest domestic ram on record in the world, according to Guinness, was Stratford, a Suffolk ram from Oregon who officially weighed 545 pounds, although the Whispering Hills Farm website says he eventually reached a weight of 628 pounds.
Will Iowa State Fair ram set a world record?
Big Bad Joe weighs 23 more pounds than the last official Guinness weigh-in, and he’s 2 inches taller.
Fisher said three witnesses, including a veterinarian, saw the weight on the scale that busted the record. But he doesn’t know if and when he will officially be recognized.
“He’s a good ram. His legs are very strong, very straight. He’s got good genetics, and he was one that was able to do this,” Fisher said. “Some of them will do it. Some of them can’t handle it. … That’s a rarity.”
Fisher is showing more of Joe’s sheep family at the Iowa State Fair throughout the first week. When they get back home, Fisher will figure out how he can get more sons out of Joe.
“He’ll go home and we’ll put him on a diet, let him run on the grass,” Fisher said. “I’ll get a few girlfriends for him because that’s the best thing you can do.”
Lucia Cheng is a service and trending reporter at the Des Moines Register. Contact her at lcheng@gannett.com or 515-284-8132.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Big Ram breaks Iowa State Fair record, may break Guinness World Record
Reporting by Lucia Cheng, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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By Lucia Cheng, Des Moines Register | USA TODAY Network
