By Vanessa Lenz
SLN Staff
Months of hard work paid off Aug. 31 for local 4-H and FFA exhibitors at the Walworth County Fair Meat Animal Sale.
The young people who spent countless hours raising and grooming their prized animals for show raked in a total of $423,333.99.
“The meat animal sale is very important to the kids. They put their heart and soul into the project,” said Susan Pruessing, public relations coordinator for the fair.
The 2012 total was down from last year’s $457,382, but it doesn’t necessarily mean support is waning considering there were 38 fewer animals in this year’s sale. The 2010 sale grossed $404,099 with 490 animals sold.
Amid the booming voices of auctioneers, applause from the big crowd and good-natured rivalry between bidders inside the Wiswell Center, community businesses, organizations and individuals bought 440 animals this year, including 56 steers, 121 lambs and 263 hogs.
Average hog sales came in at $3.14 per pound, a 20-cent increase from last year and average steer prices registered at $2.24 per pound, up 57 cents from last year.
Sheep averaged $2.88 per pound, a drop from last year’s average by 76 cents.
Exhibitors earned well over market price (91 cents per pound for sheep, 74 cents per pound for hogs and $1.88 per pound for steer).
The Sale of Champions, held later in the afternoon, grossed $32,257.75.
The average price for champion sheep was $1,080.38. Champion steer brought an average seller price of $4,248.44 and champion hogs sold on average for $1,906.50.
The top selling animal this year was Walworth 4-Her Emma Brost’s Grand Champion Steer, which was purchased by Twin Garden Farms and Zenda Industrial Park for $6,425.
Pruessing said for many of the exhibitors, selling their animal off to the highest bidder is a strategic move toward their futures.
After taking away costs to purchase the animal, feed and medication, the hope is usually to go home with a little money to put to good use.
“A lot of them put the sales in a college fund. They look at it as a job – an investment in the animals,” Pruessing said.
Others roll their profits into buying another animal for next year’s fair.
Through the years, the tradition of community support for the sale continues to grow.
Pruessing said the sale couldn’t survive without its generous bidders.
“New bidders are added every year and we honor those who come back and bid constantly,” she said. “It’s a great community.”
2012 Sale of Champions results
Grand Champion Steer
Exhibitor: Emma Brost, Walworth 4-H
Weight: 1,285 pounds, Crossbred
Buyer: Twin Garden Farms and Zenda Industrial Park, $5 per pound, $6,425 total
Reserve Champion Steer
Exhibitor: Clayton Odling, Elkhorn FFA
Weight: 1,340 pounds, Crossbred
Buyer: Odling Construction, $3.25 per pound, $4,355 total
Grand Champion Carcass Steer
Exhibitor: Austin Duhigg, Walworth 4-H
Weight: 1,235 pounds, Crossbred
Buyer: Gonzales Family, $2.25 per pound, $2,778.75 total
Reserve Champion Carcass Steer
Exhibitor: Kristy Mckinney, Delavan-Darien FFA
Weight: 1,145 pounds, Crossbred
Buyer: Sorg Farm Packing and W.W. Trucking, Inc., $3 per pound, $3,435 total
Grand Champion Wether
Exhibitor: Brady Meudt, Whitewater 4-H
Weight: 131 pounds, Crossbred
Buyer: Pioneer Hi-Bred/Jim Cowan, $12.50 per pound, $1,637.50 total
Reserve Champion Wether
Exhibitor: Sara Johnson, Richmond 4-H
Weight: 148 pounds, Suffolk
Buyer: Badger State Auction and Real Estate, $8 per pound, $1,184 total
Grand Champion Carcass Wether
Exhibitor: Allison Hammerstad, Harvesters 4-H
Weight: 121 pounds, Dorset
Buyer: Pinn-Oak Ridge Farm, $6 per pound, $726 total
Reserve Champion Carcass Wether
Exhibitor: Andy Sorg, Harvesters 4-H
Weight: 129 pounds, Crossbred
Buyer: Delavan-Darien FFA Alumni, $6 per pound, $774 total
Grand Champion Barrow
Exhibitor: Jaida Speth, Harvesters 4-H
Weight: 261 pounds, Crossbred
Buyer: Stinebrink’s Piggly Wiggly Lake Geneva and Delavan, $18.50 per pound, $4,828.50 total
Reserve Champion Barrow
Exhibitor: Lofton Rehberg, Springfield 4-H
Weight: 260 pounds, Crossbred
Buyer: Pioneer Hi-Bred/Jim Cowan, $9 per pound, $2,340 total
Grand Champion Carcass Barrow
Exhibitor: Hollyann Schultz, East Troy FFA
Weight: 291 pounds, Crossbred
Buyer: Pioneer Hi-Bred/Jim Cowan, $5.50 per pound, $1,600.50 total
Reserve Champion Carcass Barrow
Exhibitor: Sarah Mather, Harvesters 4-H
Weight: 322 pounds, Crossbred
Buyer: Sam Brummel Farm, $6.75 per pound, $2,173.50 total
