Speed & Skill at the Iowa State Fair Best Bagger Contest

[Hayley Schaefer] Today we are at the Best Bagger Contest, which is one of the fiercest competitions at the Iowa State Fair. And this year, we decided to make it a little more fun by adding a little contest on the side of our own.

What we are going to be doing today is our own little Best Bagger competition.

You will be competing. You will be judging as he goes. How are you feeling about attempting to bag some groceries?

[Child 1] Attempting. Kind of nervous.

[Hayley] Three, two, one, go.

[Kayley Zanker, Jewell] Okay, he's starting off good.

[Hayley] Is that what you would start with? Is the boxes first?

[Kayley] Yeah. You want to have the boxes in the sides so it helps stabilize the bag.

[Hayley] Go.

[Joel Segura, Iowa City] All right. Slowly putting the eggs in there. We got some taco shells. Keeping the dry foods together. Okay. Got tomatoes in there. That's good. Keeping the food groups together.

[Kayley] He has to figure out the eggs.

[Hayley] Where would you put the eggs?

[Kayley] You want to have the eggs at the top so then they don't get squished.

[Joel] There you go. Perfect. Smart move. Smart. Alrighty.

[Hayley] How did he do?

[Kayley] I think he did pretty good. This one's a little more heavier, so you'd kind of have to hold it at the bottom. But I think overall, he did pretty good.

[Hayley] Take a look in the bags. How did she do?

[Joel] All righty. She got all the boxes organized in one bag. They're all dry foods, no cold. And then you got the eggs there separate. Perfect.

[Hayley] Good job.

Welcome to the 38th annual Iowa Best Bagger Competition. Baggars on the marks. Get set.

(Whistle blowing)

[Michelle Hurd, Iowa Grocery Industry Association] They are judged on speed, weight distribution, proper bag technique, so making sure that their bread isn't on bottom, and then, of course, style, attitude. It's a really competitive competition, so all categories really matter.

[Hayley] What's your strategy?

[Tanner Eisentrager, Ankeny] Go fast.

[Hayley] Go fast.

[Tanner] Yep. The top point time is 53 seconds. So going for that.

[Hayley] And how did you get here today?

[Kendra Schuette, Arcadia] We had a day in Johnston where we competed with, like, 20 to 27. Top 7 got to come to the state fair.

[Hayley] What is one item that you think might give you difficulty?

[Jacob Gibson, Charles City] Good question. Trying to get things evenly weighted is tough. So if you got, like, several heavy things, you're like, okay, do I buy them evenly? Do I put them in one bag with the lighter things?

[Hayley] And have you been practicing?

[Joel] I had last practice on Tuesday. I did really good, and I had two of my bags weigh even. I think I got it.

[Hayley] You think you got it?

[Hayley] So you think you can win today?

[Joel]  Hopefully, yes.

[Michelle] So the first place winner wins $500 and a trip for two to Las Vegas to represent our state at the national competition in January. So we have had seven national champions here from the state of Iowa. We have a really proud, great tradition here of Great Baggers.

Our first place winner in the 2025 Iowa Best Bagger is Brady Dierks.

Congratulations, Brady.