CANFIELD, Ohio – Canfield Fair junior fair visitors came to see the llamas in the wood box stalls in Barn 11 where they’ve been housed for the past few years.
This year, they found something different instead: dairy feeder calves.
A surge in dairy feeder projects – 62 compared to last year’s 44 – forced the livestock committee to relocate the llamas to a tent a few steps away. Other feeder calves were also housed with the market steers in the coliseum.
The project’s popularity has nearly doubled since 1999.
Dairy feeders. Despite growing competition, Kayla Witmer topped all classes with her 520-pound Brown Swiss feeder. The calf brought $1.75 a pound from Stephanie Woloschak, down from last year’s high bid of $2.55.
Jacob Martig, who showed the grand champion last year, sold his reserve champion dairy feeder for $2.50 a pound to Witmers, Inc. The feeder weighed in at 545 pounds.
Sixty-two dairy feeders sold for $25,052.38, averaging 80 cents a pound with champions and 76 cents without.
Beef feeders. Ken Leonard of Kenwood Construction bought Wayne Greier’s 485-pound grand champion beef feeder for $3 a pound, matching the high bid last year.
Christina Shinn sold her reserve champion beef feeder to her father, William Shinn of Beloit. The calf weighed in at 495 pounds and brought $2 a pound.
Thirty beef feeders sold for $17,341.50, averaging $1.31 a pound with champions and $1.22 without.
Skillathon winners for all feeder calves were Rachel Zimmerman, senior; Nicole Glista, intermediate; and Kathryn Phillips, junior.
Showmanship winners were Lindsay Yosay, senior; Lauren George, intermediate; and Taylor Pidgeon, junior.
Growing fair. No new price records were recorded, but a heap of 4-H members had an enjoyable fair as several projects noticed increased exhibition numbers.
In addition to the dairy beef feeders, steers were up 18 head from last year and beef feeders and lambs up eight each.
Twenty-eight turkeys were also exhibited, including overflow in pens previously used to show dog obedience projects in Barn 11. In 2000, 18 turkey projects were displayed.
Poultry. Tom Koch of Tyson Foods bought Hannah Dunn’s pen of grand champion market chickens for $550.
Koch and Tyson also bought Santino Pizzuto’s reserve champion pen for $220.
Both top pens were donated back for resale to benefit the county scholarship fund.
Thirty-six pens of chickens sold for $4,720, averaging $131.11 a pen with champions and $116.18 without.
Josh Koon, who had exhibited the champion broilers for the past three years, turned his attention to another poultry project.
His 38-pound grand champion market turkey sold to Jeff and Joe Taylor for $700.
Reserve champion turkey exhibitor Kayla Schindler sold her 36-pound project for $175 to James and Cheyenne Hefner of New Middletown.
Twenty-eight turkeys sold for $2,525, averaging $90.18 a pen with champions and $63.46 without.
Steers. In the steer competition, Lou Infante grabbed grand champion honors. His 1,280-pound champion sold for $8.25 a pound to H.P. Nemenz Food Stores.
First-year steer exhibitor Chad Raber sold his reserve champion market steer for $4 a pound to Village Sparkle Markets. The steer weighed 1,265 pounds.
After the show, and with such little room for improvement, 13-year-old Raber declared he’d shown his first and last steer ever and would continue to focus on his dairy cattle.
Seventy-one steers sold for $102,844, averaging $1.16 a pound with champions and $1.02 without.
Annie and Katie Houk tied for the top spot in the senior steer skillathon. Other winners were Brian Spencer, intermediate; and Laura Krcelic, junior. Krcelic also won junior showmanship.
Intermediate showman was Derek Elder and senior showman was Wayne Greier.
Rate of gain winner was Brittany Crowe.
Above-market prices for the steers helped boost overall sale totals to $238,085.18, exceeding last year’s total by more than $15,000.
Hogs. Senior showman Lindsay Yosay sold her 254-pound grand champion market hog for $8.50 a pound to H.P. Nemenz Food Stores.
The bid was off from last year’s $13 bid and significantly lower than the record $15 set in 2000.
Caitlyn King sold her 250-pound reserve champion market hog for $7.50 a pound to Village Sparkle Markets. The price was down from last year’s $11 reserve bid.
One hundred sixty hogs – many doubled up in pens and continuing to push the barn’s capacity limits – sold for $72,511.30, averaging $1.84 a pound with champions and $1.76 without.
Skillathon winners were Katie Houk, senior; Olivia Myers, intermediate; Amanda Smith, junior; and Kylie King, beginners.
Showmanship honors went to Yosay, senior; Corey King, intermediate; Smith, junior; and Kylie King, beginners.
Lambs. Nine-year-old Sara Cummings made a clean sweep at this year’s fair, winning grand champion, junior showmanship and junior skillathon honors in the lamb contest.
Rulli Bros. Markets West, which has purchased each champion lamb since 1998, was again the high bidder at $7 a pound for Cummings’ 132-pound grand champion market lamb.
Rulli Bros. also bought Jeana Davis’ 132-pound grand champion carcass lamb for $5.25 a pound. The bid was up from last year’s $2.55 for the winner.
Ethan Parks sold his 126-pound reserve champion carcass lamb to Village Sparkle Markets for $4.50 a pound.
H.P. Nemenz Food Stores paid $5.75 a pound for Lindsay Yosay’s 120-pound reserve champion market lamb. Yosay was senior showman and won the senior skillathon.
Thirty-five lambs sold for $8,956, averaging $2.17 a pound with champions and $1.92 without. The top two carcass lambs sold for $1,260.
Lauren Parks won the intermediate showmanship ribbon and Jacob Yeager won the intermediate skillathon.
Rabbits. Annual 4-H supporter Jeff Taylor bought Kyle Davis’ grand champion rabbit fryer. The rabbit, weighing in at just over 3 pounds, brought $170.
Taylor also bought Kyle Davis’ grand champion rabbit meat pen for $285.
Jamie Malcomson represented his father, James, when he purchased Ashley Davis’ reserve champion rabbit meat pen for $180.
Brenda and Mike Pidgeon purchased Taylor Pidgeon’s reserve champion rabbit fryer for $170.
Seven rabbit meat pens sold for $1,230, averaging $175.71 with champions and $153 without. Seven fryers sold for $780, averaging $111.43 with champions and $88 without.
Fudge sale. Gilbert Becks of Gil-Britt Farm, Newton Falls, bought Brittany Becks’ reserve champion goat milk fudge for $130.
Katie Barrett sold her grand champion goat milk fudge for $170 to Patty Moliterno of Terno and Associates.
Six baskets of fudge sold for $865.
Scholarships. Resales and animals raised specifically to benefit the county’s Darrel Bacon and Jim Baer memorial scholarships added almost $4,300 to the till.
Auctioneers who donated their services include Bill Baer, Ken Baer, Mark Harding and Don Braham.
(You can contact Andrea Myers at 1-800-837-3419, ext. 22, or by e-mail at amyers@farmanddairy.com.)
