BURTON, Ohio – Bidders maintained their level of support and prices stayed steady this year at the Geauga County junior livestock sale Aug. 31.
The total fell within a couple of hundred dollars of last year’s sale, after jumping approximately $47,000 last year.
The 310 4-H projects netted $200,815.93.
More champions. Yet again, beef farmer Don Smith of Randolph, Ohio, sold another champion. This time it was at Geauga County and this time the prime animal was Amy Turos’ reserve champion market steer.
Smith sold many steers to area 4-H’ers, who went on to raise several champions at this year’s county fairs.
Buyers recognized the quality of Turos’ 1,300-pound reserve champ and Mark and Bonnie Clemson’s businesses bought the steer for $9.50 a pound, up $4.50 a pound from last year’s reserve champ.
The Clemson businesses include Universal Disposal, Clemson Excavating, Thompson Drag Raceway, Thompson Trucking, Clemson Towing and Clemson Sand and Gravel.
This reserve champion didn’t overshadow the hot bidding for the grand champion market steer. John Ferguson, who donated $100 of this winnings to the scholarship fund, took $9 a pound from Middlefield Banking for his 1,340-pound grand champion.
Last year’s grand champion steer sold for $8.50 a pound.
Forty-four steers sold for $102,127, averaging $1.54 a pound without champions.
Taking it all. Bradley Calkins again stole the lamb show. Winning grand champion last year wasn’t enough, so this year he took grand and reserve. He sold his 145-pound grand champion market lamb for $9 a pound to Preston Ford Chevrolet Cadillac, $3.50 a pound less than his grand champion received last year.
Pat and Linton Sharpnack bought Calkins’ 145-pound reserve champion for $3 a pound, compared to last year’s $5-a-pound winning bid.
Kim Taylor’s 241-pound grand champion pen of two lambs sold for $1.70 a pound to Century 21 Paramount. John and Marie Stehli had the winning bid of $1.35 a pound for Joan Sladek’s 211-pound reserve champion pen of two lambs.
Forty-five lamb entries sold for $12,091, averaging $1.81 a pound without champions.
Goat classes. The goat grand champion sale had a repeat performance from last year. Jessica Klingemier again had the grand champion and again Kinetico Inc. purchased the 90-pound animal – this year for $6 a pound, $1 a pound less than last year.
Louis Sharpnack sold his 93-pound reserve champion goat for $3 a pound to Geauga County Farm Bureau, which donated it back for resale.
Seven goats sold for $1,620.50, averaging $1.36 a pound without champions.
Sharpnack came back to the ring with another champion – this time with a 111-pound grand champion Boer meat goat, which sold for $2 a pound to Chow Down Restaurant. This is a new class at the county’s sale. The Boer breed is bred strictly for meat.
Hannah Barber had the 91-pound reserve champion of this new class and sold it for $2 a pound to Mike Davis.
Six Boer goats sold for $1,017, averaging $1.81 a pound without champions.
Hogs. The overall hog sale total fell from last year, as well as the grand and reserve prices.
Sarah Waldman’s 258-pound grand champion hog sold to Etna Products Inc. for $12 a pound, down $2 from last year’s high.
Structural Concepts Inc. offered the winning bid of $6.50 a pound for Lindsay Ferguson’s 253-pound reserve champion hog. Structural Concepts also bought last year’s reserve champion, but for $11 a pound.
The hog sale brought in $62,956.15 from 91 market hogs, averaging $2.59 a pound without champions.
Repeat performances. A successful market duck sale cheered up 4-H’ers – especially the grand and reserve duck showmen.
Katy LaFavre’s 6-pound grand champion duck sold for $115 a pound, more than doubling last year’s high bid of $50 a pound. U.S. Rep. Steve LaTourette paid the champion bid.
After the high grand champion price, bidders still had money for a high reserve champion price as well.
Stone Creek Labradors bought Amanda Roach’s 5.8-pound reserve champion duck for $70 a pound, again more than doubling last year’s high bid of $30 a pound.
But that wasn’t the last the buyers saw of either of these ducks.
The grand champion duck resold twice and the reserve champion resold once.
Twenty-three ducks sold for $2,936.30, averaging $9.77 a pound without champions.
Teaming up. The Sharpnack brother-sister duo made out at the chicken sale.
Louis Sharpnack sold his 23.66-pound grand champion chicken pen to State Rep. Tim Grendell and Appellate Judge Diane Grendell for $52.50 a pound – a big jump from last year’s $30-a-pound bid the Grendells paid for the grand champ last year.
The reserve champion chicken pen went to Rachel Sharpnack again this year. She received $12.50 a pound more than last year. Structural Concepts Inc. bought her pen for $37.50 a pound.
Eighteen chicken pens sold for $3,787.73, averaging $4.55 a pound without champions.
Rabbits, turkeys. Pritt Food Concession continued its support of the livestock sale. They paid $45 a pound bid for Laura Kronk’s 13.75-pound grand champion rabbit pen.
Mario Ottaviano’s 14.5-pound reserve champion rabbit pen sold for $25 a pound, up $5 a pound from last year, to Kronk’s Garage.
Seven rabbit pens sold for $1,902.75, averaging $6.80 a pound without champions.
Grand and reserve turkey bids were down this year. Geauga County Farm Bureau offered the only bid for Mark Dvorak’s 46-pound grand champion turkey. That bid was $20 a pound, down $10 a pound from last year.
Brian Sladek got $11 a pound for his 45-pound reserve champion turkey from Phillip Miller Construction. This is down $9 from last year’s winning bid.
The 40 turkeys contributed $8,527.50 toward the overall sale, averaging $4.51 a pound.
For the first year, three dairy 4-H clubs put cheese baskets together, which were sold at the livestock auction. The three baskets brought in $3,850. Ten percent of all three baskets went to the scholarship fund.
Auctioneers were Dave Rennolds, Pete Howes, Scott Mihalic and Mike Davis.
(You can contact Kristy Alger at 1-800-837-3419, ext. 23, or by e-mail at kalger@farmanddairy.com.)
