Cornell Cooperative Extension of Chautauqua County’s 4-H Program is humbled by the results of the 59th annual Meat Animal Sale that took place on July 21 at the Chautauqua County Fair.
Local Businesses, 4-H supporters, and even 4-H alumni kept their hands flying the Friday of the County Fair. A total of 127 animals/biproducts were sold at the event with 10 beef steers, 37 pairs of chickens, 11 market goats, 39 hogs, 17 lambs and 13 dairy coolers. Totaling a gross sale of$220,659.10. Eight animals were resold, including 2 hogs, 2 lambs, 3 goats, and 1 pair of chickens.
The grand champion market hog shown by Olivia Kwilos sold for $8.00/lb purchased by James Staub. Some of the other youth also had some great bids on their pigs. Haven Karlson sold her hog for $13.50/lb to H. H. Rauh, and Garrett Lesch had the highest selling hog at a record breaking $25/lb.
The grand champion goat led in the ring by Greyson Kwilos was sold to Steven Brothers of Panama, NY. Mackenzy Graziano has the highest selling goat, for the second year in a row, at $1,050 and purchased by Randy and Jeanne Wasink who then donated the goat back for Ken Morris to be the final buyer. Kendall Eckman and Ayrienna Bunce had the other two goats that resold.
Abigail Carlberg sold the first set of chickens, while holding the grand champion title, to K.B Bio Energy. Aryienna Bunce has the highest selling pair of chickens to Richard Syper for $600. While Farm Credit East bought Kiley Jones’s pair of chickens and donated back to the program, leaving Shults Auto Group with the final bid.
This year was the first of hopefully many years that dairy products were also sold. The buyers received two coolers with the 4-H clover on them and they were filled to the brim of dairy items, and coupons. The fair coolers walked in the ring by Paige Winton sold to Country Ayre Farms, LLC and the highest selling lot was held by Tyler Crowell to Progressive Dairy Solutions.
Hannah Cross held the spot of grand champion with her lamb sold to her father’s business, 3 C’s Catering, at $15/lb. Kaitlyn Brown was able to sell her heavyweight, 160-pound lamb to Reed Farms. Tyler Pfleuger and Addison Damcott both had their animals resold thanks to Noco Energy Corp and Richard and Nancy Shaver respectively.
Lydia Covert’s grand champion steer was also the highest seller. Stuart Tool and Die bought the steer at $7.35/lb. Liam Griffith with the reserve champion market steer sold to JMI, was the second highest selling steer per pound.
This event would not have been made possible without the help of local auctioneers who donated their time and did a fantastic job of keeping those bidders going. This year Dakota Peterson, Lon Kent, and Andy Campbell were the talented men running the show. We had the pleasure of Mike Peterson and Dale Eckman stopping in and selling a few animals in their free time.
The 4-H Meat Animal Sale Committee and the 4-H Lead Educator would like to wholeheartedly thank the community for their support of 4-H. Raising market animals is much more than it sounds. It teaches youth responsibility, financial and time management skills, recordkeeping, and essential knowledge of the agricultural and food systems industry.
Article from The Post-Journal, September 23, 2023
