Buyers turn out to support Jefferson County Fair

SMITHFIELD, Ohio – The 2007 Jefferson County Fair marked the fourth year in a row Kyleigh DeFrank has stood in the winner’s circle with her grand champion lamb. This time, she walked away with her best bid ever.
DeFrank’s champion entry, which weighed in at 132 pounds, brought $8 per pound from AEP Cardinal Operation Co. The price bested last year’s bid by $1 per pound.
Keirsten Harris’ 137-pound reserve champion lamb went to the Miller Farm/Franckhauser Family for $4.50 per pound.
Thirty-four lambs brought $12,379.85, averaging $3.04 per pound with champions and $2.84 without.
At the top. The DeFrank family also took top honors at the steer sale. Kyleigh DeFrank’s 1,338-pound grand champion steer sold to the Albert Automotive Group for $6.50 per pound.
Brandon DeFrank’s 1,272-pound reserve champion steer brought $2.50 per pound from Jefferson Landmark and Allen Oil.
The 35 steers at the fair brought $72,332.90, averaging $1.66 per pound with champions and $1.48 without.
Riesbeck’s Food Market bought the grand champion hog for the second year in a row. This year, the company paid $6 per pound for Cody Gavorcik’s 277-pound grand champion. Gavorcik also earned the Outstanding Livestock Exhibitor award for hogs, which is based on knowledge of the animal and results from fair shows.
Graceon Ehrman’s 274-pound reserve champion hog brought $3 per pound from M&M Hardware.
The 117 hogs brought $57,091.55, averaging $2.02 per pound with champions and $1.98 per pound without.
Two is better than one. Car Medic went home with the top two pens of market chickens this year, paying $350 for each pen. The grand champion pen was raised by Katie Hartzell, while reserve champion honors went to Erin Hartzell.
Seven pens of chickens brought $1,675, averaging $239.29 per pen with champions and $195 without.
Ronni Barcus’ grand champion pen of meat ducks went to Wal-Mart Supercenter 2193 in Steubenville for $150. Esther and Lamont McCoy bought Katie Moore’s reserve champion ducks for $350.
Three pens of ducks brought $625, averaging $208.33 per pen with champions and $125 per pen without.
Walt and Cheryl Sutton’s bid for the grand champion market turkey edged out last year’s price by $10. The pair paid $350 for Hunter Brown’s champion bird.
Teddi Banal raised the reserve champion market turkey for the second year in a row. This time, her entry brought $225 from American National Insurance Co.
Four market turkeys brought $925. The birds averaged $231.25 per animal with champions and $175 without.
Blue-ribbon rabbits. The McConnell family stole the show during the rabbit sale, with Madison McConnell selling the grand champion pen and Collin McConnell selling the reserve champion pen.
Animal Acres purchased the champion pen for $375. The reserve champion rabbits brought $275 from Huntington Sky Bank.
Five pens of rabbits earned $1,250 from buyers. The sale averaged $250 per pen with champions and $200 per pen without.
Tyler Ruckman remained at the top of the market goat sale. He showed the grand champion entry this year after coming in with reserve champion last year and grand champion in 2005. Ruckman’s 2007 champion sold to Wal-Mart Supercenter 2193 in Steubenville for $300.
After buying Ruckman’s goat, Wal-Mart also put in the winning bid for Kailee Kale’s reserve champion market goat. The store paid $325 for her entry.
Twelve goats brought $2,660, averaging $221.67 per animal with champions and $203.50 without.
About the same. Dairy beef feeder prices held steady this year, with Aaron Hyde’s 650-pound grand champion calf bringing $1.75 per pound from Carrollton Farmers Exchange.
Tyler Bly’s 501-pound reserve champion calf garnered a bid of $2 per pound from Jefferson Landmark.
Eighteen dairy beef feeders brought $13,231.90, averaging $1.41 per pound with champions and $1.38 without.
Four beef feeders were also sold, bringing $4,448.80. The average price was $2.11 per pound. No champions were sold.
The sale totaled $166,620 this year, down nearly $14,000 from 2006.
Volunteers for years. Auctioneer Gary Cain was honored during the sale for his 51 years of volunteer service to the Jefferson County Fair livestock sale. Weighmaster Tom Straus was also recognized for many years of volunteer work at the fair.
Auctioneers who donated their time at the sale include Harry Grafton, Brad Cain, Rick Sponholtz, Gary Cain, Steve Birney, Billy Birney, Jayme Gandee and Wayne Falb.
(Reporter Janelle Skrinjar welcomes feedback by phone at 800-837-3419, ext. 22, or by e-mail at jskrinjar@farmanddairy.com.)