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On Sunday, August 3rd, the last day
of the Logan County Fair, 4-H held their final event. This event was
a project auction where all of their kids could sell any of the
projects they worked on over the last year. The auction took place
in the Livestock Showbarn and lasted about two hours.
There were many people, both
parents and buyers, packed into the barn. Some were in the stands,
while others were standing around the area that had been fenced off.
This fenced off area was where the kids would bring their projects
to show off.
4-H members could auction projects from several categories, most of
them livestock. The categories were visual arts, rabbits, goats,
pigs, sheep, and steers. This year, however, there were no visual
arts or rabbits for auction. It was also shared that the bidding was
going to work a little differently this year from previous years.
Instead of bidding on an animal by the pound, this year people would
be bidding by the head. This means that whatever price someone bids
for an animal, if that is the winning bid, that is the price they
pay for said animal.
There were four auctioneers this
year. They were Ty Tucker, Dan Laughton, Reed Naughton, and Mike
Maske. They took turns announcing bids and identifying and calling
out when bids were made. They worked together as a well-oiled
machine to make sure that all bids were identified and accounted
for. They also announced the amount of the winning bid as well as
who made it.
The first category that was shown
were the goats, or in this case goat, as there was only a single
goat being auctioned. Mason Short was auctioning off his Grand
Champion wether. It was a boer breed and weighed 68 pounds. After
some time of bidding, Jim Xamis Ford in Lincoln won the bid at $450.
After Short’s goat was sold, the
next category were the barrows, or the pigs. This category was by
far the largest, as there were more pigs than every other type of
animal being auctioned combined. This category took some time, and
many pigs were bought at varying prices. The second to last pig
shown sold for the most, however. This pig was driven by Braden
Olson and was a crossbreed. The pig was 263 pounds and was bought by
Heartland Bank and Trust for $2,900.
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The next category was the sheep
wethers. As the kids got their animals ready, awards were given out
for the carcass show. The two winners of this were Porter Schwantz
and Grant Hayes.
Then the sheep auction began. While
there were only seven sheep to buy, the auctioning started off
competitive. The first sheep ended up going for the most, and this
was Rohan Allspach’s Grand Champion cross breed sheep. The animal
weighed 157 pounds and was purchased for $3,100. The buyers were
Herrin Fertilizer, Frontline Ag., Morgan District, 75 Fuel (Jerry
Benniger), 75 Seed (Noa Green), and Matt Wrage Pioneer.
The final auction was for the
steers, but there was one more award to give out before this part
started. This award was the Miller Award, and this went to Callie
Carlton.
Then came the steers. While there
were many great animals on display, one went for the highest price
of the day. Beau Tschantz displayed his Grand Champion cross breed
steer, and the bids started pouring in. They went past $3,000, then
past $4,000, and even past $5,000. It was only once the bidding
reached $7,500 did the bids finally stop coming in. In addition to
selling for the most, Tschantz’s steer was also the largest one in
the group, at 1,460 pounds. Cory Holmes of Holmes Farms had the
honor of taking this steer home.
Overall, it was a very successful 4-H auction. With all of the 4-H
projects combined, the kids raised a total of $80,250. Some of that
money is returned to the 4-H students to either see them off, as
some of the 4Hers presenting projects were in their last year of
4-H, or to help them raise another project for next year.
[Matt Boutcher] |
