Sale of Champions invests in tomorrow's agricultural leaders
First Lady outbids Governor to take home champion steer
Logan County's Ella Bobell sells Champion Barrow for $18K

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[August 23, 2022]    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.

For the third year, Governor JB Pritzker ended up in a bidding war for the Grand Champion Steer with none other than his wife, First Lady MK Pritzker. He drove up the price, but it was the First Lady who took home the Grand Champion Steer with a bid of $105,000, tying the record she set in 2021.

In addition to being spotlighted before the crowd 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 agriculture in our state and represent the best of the best,” said Jerry Costello II, Director, Illinois Department of Agriculture. “The Sale of Champions is the cherry on top of the Illinois State Fair. To see our youth in agriculture rewarded for the work that they put into these animals is my favorite aspect of the Illinois State Fair.”

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 and for last decade.

[Illinois Office of Communication and Information]

Below are the results of the 2022 Commodity Auction and the 2022 Sale of Champions.
It should be noted that the Grand Champion Steer will be donated to the Central Illinois Foodbank.
 

Commodity

Exhibitor

Location

Purchases

Price

Champion Chihuahua Cheese

V&V Supreme

Chicago, IL

Marty and Donna Davis- McDonalds

$700

Champion Medium White Cheddar Cheese

Foremost Farms Inc.

Marshfield, WI

IL State Auctioneer Past Champion and Friends

$500

Champion Cotija Cheese

Nuestro Queso, LLC

Chicago, IL

U of I College of Aces

$700

Champion Vanilla Yogurt

Deerland Dairy

Freeport, IL

Marty and Donna Davis- McDonalds

$350

Champion Banana-Licious Chocolate Ice Cream

Oberweis Dairy

North Aurora, IL

Marty and Donna Davis- McDonalds

$400

Champion Bacon

Leiding’s Meats & Catering

Danville, IL

Cindy Cagwin-Johnston

$800

Champion Bone-In Ham

Eickman’s Processing Co. Inc.

Seward, IL

Area Mechanical

$800

Champion Beef Jerky

Korte Meat Processing

Highland, IL

George Obernagel and Jo Hampton

$750

Champion Snack Sticks

Turasky Meats

Springfield, IL

U of I College of Aces

$850

Champion Cooked Bratwurst

Korte Meat Processing

Highland, IL

Illinois Association of Meat Processors

$700

Best of Show Wine

Blue Sky Vineyard

Makanda, IL

Rebecca Clark and Kristi Jones

$850

Grand Champion Honey

Joyce and Mike Dullenty

Springfield, IL

Wayne Rosenthal

$900

Best in Show Dairy Goat’s Milk

Lillian Lee

Glenarm, IL

Marty and Donna Davis- McDonalds

$825


 

Animal

Exhibitor

County

Purchasers

Price

Grand Champion Rabbit Market Pen

Chesney Thorton

Piatt

Robert Nelson/AgriVest Farm Management, George Obernagel and Darren Bailey for Governor

$7,600

New Record

 

Overall Breeding Poultry Champions

Natalie Palmquist,

Austin Ater

Luke & Jesgarz

 

Marty and Donna Davis- McDonalds

$5,000

Land of Lincoln Supreme Champion Dairy Cow Print

Kamber Kilgus

Livingston

Midwest Dairy, St. Louis Dairy Council & Friends of Kamber Kilgus

$5,500

New Record

Land of Lincoln Grand Champion Meat Goat

Maddox Horner

Jasper

Jeff Ellerbrock/AgriGold,

Hummel Family – Dale & Holly, Rich Kiefer/Kiefer Farms, Brian, Rinderer/AgriGold, Skyride

 

$5,500

Grand Champion Meat Goat

Nolan Hoge

McDonough

George Obernagel, Rich DeSchepper & Eric, Faugust/Syngenta , Ed Teefey/Farmer State Bank

$6,500

Land of Lincoln Grand Champion Market Lamb

Nalaney Guyer

Crawford

Pivot Bio and Springfield Plastics

$5,000

Grand Champion Market Lamb

Carter Hoge

McDonough

North American Midway Entertainment

$8,000

Land of Lincoln Grand Champion Barrow

Ella Bobell

Logan

Bayer Crop Science

$18,000

Grand Champion Barrow

Drake Fletcher

Menard

CME Group

$25,000

Land of Lincoln Grand Champion Steer

Cole Caldwell

Peoria

BRANDT

$30,000

Grand Champion Steer

Ashtin Guyer

Scott

MK Pritzker

$105,000

 

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