DES MOINES, Iowa — Several owners of cattle preparing for shows at the 2021 Iowa State Fair were welcomed this week by stalls riddled with nails, causing frustration and a headache for producers even before the first fairgoers arrived.
Some posted on social media, showing scenes of dozens of nails in the bedding for their animals at the Cattle Barn.
Mindy Williamson with the Iowa State Fair said it was a problem with the people who bought the livestock's bedding.
"They used pallets, and then the nails went through, and so it's unfortunate that that happened," Williamson told Local 5. "We apologize to anybody who's been impacted...we never would have purchased livestock bedding with nails in it."
One woman planning to show her cattle said fellow producers came together to help clean up stalls, along with fair organizers.
"The general feeling in the barns is that we understand that this was not intentional or malicious," she said. "It's scary, an obstacle, and time-consuming."
Williamson added the fair is working through the cost analysis of the cleanup, with the main issue being making sure cattle arriving at the fair this week are safe.
"We've gone through with magnets," Williamson said. "I know individual exhibitors have also gone through with magnets to pick up that and then put additional clean bedding on top of it. Once we switch over, we'll completely clean the barns out and get rid of that."
Williamson did not provide the number of exhibitors impacted by the nails, but said it did not happen in each stall.
The Iowa State Fair runs Thursday, Aug. 12. through Sunday, Aug. 22.
WATCH: How hot is it really during the Iowa State Fair?