Bobell girls earn 40+K at Governors Sale of Champions

[August 16, 2019]    Being in the Governor’s Sale of Champions is something all livestock exhibitors dream about, but few are able to accomplish. Each year, this marquee event of the Illinois State Fair Ag Day festivities showcases the hard work and dedication of the youth in the agriculture industry.

In addition to being spotlighted before the crowd at the newly refurbished Coliseum on Tuesday night, these Grand Champion exhibitors, along with the Reserve Grand Champion exhibitors, will receive a portion of the proceeds from the sale of their animal. The exhibitors use the funds towards their college education or invest it back into projects for next year.

“These exhibitors are the future of agricultural in our state and the represent the best of the best,” said John Sullivan, Director, Illinois Department of Agriculture. “The Sale of Champions is the highlight of the Illinois State Fair and to be able to bring it back inside of the Coliseum is phenomenal.”

CME Group also realizes the importance of education, which is why they have donated $50,000 in scholarships to this year’s Sale of Champions. Each of the ten Grand Champion exhibitors will receive a $5,000 scholarship from CME Group. In addition to the $50,000 the CME Group will give $1,000 scholarships to the Reserve Grand Champions as well.

Governor JB Pritzker ended up in a bidding war for the Grand Champion Steer with none other than his wife MK. She drove up the price as the MK took home the Grand Champion Steer with a bid of $75,000.

Below are the results of the 2019 Commodity Auction and the 2019 Sale of Champions. It should be noted that the goats, sheep, barrows, and steers are being donated to the University of Illinois College of ACES.

[Illinois Office of Communication and Information]

Commodity	Exhibitor	Location	Purchases	Price
Champion Feta in Brine	Nasonville Dairy	Mashfield, WI	Davis Family (McDonalds) Marty Davis	$225
Grand Champion Medium Cheddar Cheese	Foremost Farms	Mashfield, WI	CTC Food Sanitation Company-Rod Buffington	$600
Grand Champion Colby Jack Cheese	Shullsburg Creamery	Shullsburg, WI	University of Illinois College of ACES-Dean Kidwell	$600
Grand Champion Swiss Cheese	Prairie Farms Dairy Cheese	Monona, IA	Farm Credit of Illinois, Illinois State Auctioneers Association President: Kara Miller	$325
Grand Champion Smoked Cheddar Cheese	Shullsburg Cheese	Shullsburg, WI	Cory Craig & William Beck	$350
Grand Champion Beef Jerkey	Turasky Meats	Springfield, IL	Joe Hampton & George Obernagel	$475
Grand Champion Cooked Bratwurst	Thrushwood Farms Quality Meats	Galesburg, IL	Ed McMillan	$475
Grand Champion Snack Sticks	Ream’s Meat Market	Elburn, IL	Illinois Association of Meat Processors	$450
Grand Champion Bacon	Leiding’s Meats	Danville, IL	McGraw Family (McDonalds) Mike McGraw	$525
Grand Champion Bone in Ham	Eikman’s Processing	Seward, IL	Joe Hampton & George Obernagel	$500
Best of Show Wine	Galena Cellar	Jo Daviess County	Canton Inn Steakhouse & McDowell Auctioneer	$325
Grand Champion Honey	Jim & Karen Belli	Wadsworth, IL	Illinois State Bee Keepers Association	$600
Best in Show Dairy Goat’s Milk	Lillian Lee	Chatham, IL	Laura Chenels Chevve	$1,500

Animal	Exhibitor	County	Purchasers	Price
Grand Champion Rabbit Meat Pen	Owen Pree	Iroquois	AgriVest Farm Management & George Obernagel	$4,000
Grand Champion Poultry Market Pen	Faith Foster	Ford County	McDonald’s Owners Embry, Breznay, McGraw & Davis	$5,000
Land of Lincoln Supreme Champion Dairy Cow Print	Carla Kilgus	Livingston County	Midwest Dairy, Brandt, Prairie Farms & Friends of Kilgus	$2,500
Reserve Grand Champion Meat Goat & Lincoln Land Grand Champion Meat Goat	Chase Tomhave	Morgan County	Sygenta, Prairie Land FS, Springfield Plastics, Edward Teefey, Sky Ride, Beard Implement	$5,500
Grand Champion Meat Goat	Tara Hummel	Kankakee County	RD Lawrence, Selvaggio Steel, Felmley Dickerson Co. & AgriGold	$5,500
Land of Lincoln Grand Champion Market Lamb	Macy DeBlock	Mercer County	Becks, AgriGold & High Noon	$3,500
Grand Champion Market Lamb	Carter Hoge	McDonough County	North American Midway	$8,000
Land of Lincoln Grand Champion Barrow	Ella Bobell	Logan County	DeKalb, Bayer Crop Science & Asgrow	$18,000
Grand Champion Barrow	Claire Bobell	Logan County	CME Group	$25,000
Land of Lincoln Grand Champion Steer	Tara Hummel	Kankakee County	Brandt	$30,500
Grand Champion Steer	Cole Caldwell	Peoria County	MK Pritzker	$75,000