Iowa State Fair Surplus Auction Offers 700+ Lots of Machinery, Memorabilia, and More

The Iowa State Fair is liquidating surplus inventory in an online auction. Daugherty Auction and Real Estate Services, LLC of De Soto, Iowa is handling the sale. Bidding is open now and lots will begin to close at 7pm CST on Nov. 6, 2025.

Sale Details

A preview of auction items was held Oct. 31 by appointment. Any outstanding questions should be directed to the Iowa State Fair (515) 262-3111 ext. 0.

Sold items will be available for pick up at the Cattle Barn (3000 E Grand Ave., Des Moines, IA) on Nov. 7 and 8 between 9 am and 5 pm only. A skid loader will be available to assist with load out.

All purchases are subject to a 15% buyers premium. Payment can be made at pick up by cash, check, or credit card. A 4% fee will be added to credit card transactions.

Diverse Catalog

The sale catalog includes more than 700 lots ranging from memorabilia to machinery, livestock pens and office furniture.

Items are being sold in “as is” condition.

Category Breakdown

Memorabilia

A wide variety of fair memorabilia is up for sale including banners, photo ops, and vintage turnstiles. 

Three sky glider gondolas are in the auction catalog, too.

A lot of metal signs including “Reserved for Dairy Cattle Judges” and “RESERVED Beef Superintendent Parking Only” had attracted nearly 50 bids at press time, pushing the sale price well over the $100 estimated value.

Several lots of 2025 Iowa State Fair banners of various sizes are available.

Machinery

A handful of vehicles and farm equipment will be sold in the Iowa State Fair auction.

A Massey Ferguson 360 diesel tractor will be sold as is. A transmission seal issue is noted in the listing. This tractor is equipped with turf tires, a PTO, and three-point hitch system.

A Ford 5600 tractor that needs power steering repair is also in the catalog.

The auction listing also includes a couple of blue 1980s pickup trucks. It’s unclear if either is in working condition.

Livestock Equipment

Many lots of livestock equipment will be sold this week.

Nine Farrowing crates, each with a stainless steel feeder, are available.

The sale catalog includes a scale shute

Pens small and large are also in the auction catalog. Pens with interlocking panels out of the sheep barn are available in a number of pen quantities. The panels are made of 1 ¼  inch square metal tubing.

Wood and metal stall panels that are more than 11 feet tall will also be sold in various lot sizes.

Several lots of five horse barn gates on sliding tracks will be sold.

Office

A wide variety of office furniture will be sold, as well. Standard office furnishings such as chairs, desks, and filing cabinets are open for bids now.

Several vintage pieces of furniture on the sale are ideal for restoration. The catalog includes an antique wash stand with towel bar, an antique parlor table with turned legs and glass ball feet, and a lot of more than 20 wooden chairs.

A number of lots of metal folding chairs are up for sale.

A couple of cash registers are due to be sold, too.

Misc.

An array of miscellaneous items can be found in the auction catalog.

A couple of pallets of fire hoses will be sold.

Various sound equipment and speakers are part of the listing.

Christmas decor of all shapes and sizes is available.

Pages of construction supplies from boards to pavers and windows and fence panels fill the auction catalog.

Iowa State Fair Auction History

This is the second liquidation auction the Iowa State Fair has hosted in recent years. Jeremy Parsons, Iowa State Fair CEO, told WHO13 the 2024 sale was very successful.

“When you live someplace for 139 years on 400 acres like the Iowa State Fair is, you accumulate a lot of stuff,” Parsons said. “So for the second year in a row, we’re just kind of liquidating some surplus inventory, whether it’s old banners, old signs, perhaps it’s some items out of our renovation projects… so again, just a chance for us to kind of liquidate some extra things that we don’t need.”

According to WHO13, all items that could have historic value to the fair are reviewed by the fair museum before being sent to auction.

“We work really closely with our fair museum and other interested parties to make sure really nothing here would be historic, you know, needing to be preserved,” Parsons said. “But again, this is surplus. Again, I say it all the time, just like your own house. You know, you’ve lived someplace for a long time. Every once in a while you’ve got to clean out the farm, shed, clean up the storage shed. Just what we’ve been doing here at the Iowa State Fair.”