Carroll County Fair

CARROLLTON, Ohio – Leann Johnson has raised champion lambs before, but this year’s 126-pound champion just might be her favorite. That’s because it earned her the highest bid of all her recent winners: $10 a pound.
Johnson won the market lamb show at the 2006 Carroll County Fair and sold her top lamb during the annual large animal market livestock sale July 21.
This was a back-to-back win for Johnson, who took home the grand champion banner last year, too. She also won showman of showmen honors in the lamb show and was the senior outstanding market exhibitor.
Huebner Chevrolet continued its tradition and bought this year’s grand champion lamb. The $10 bid was a nice jump from last year’s $6.75 final bid, and was the highest since 2001.
Tina Cundiff, senior showmanship winner, raised the reserve champion market lamb, which sold for $6.10 a pound to Doyle Hawk, Brant Luther and Gary Willen.
Moser Crop Insurance paid $8 a pound, doubling 2005’s final bid, for Amber Warner’s grand champion carcass lamb. Her 115-pound lamb had a hanging weight of 70 pounds, with a 3.10-inch ribeye and 0.10 back fat.
Justin Moore, the intermediate division showmanship winner, raised the reserve champion carcass lamb, which had a live weight of 130 pounds and hanging weight of 76 pounds. Kiko Meats paid $5.50 a pound for his lamb.
Sheep honors also went to Michael Moore, junior outstanding market exhibitor; Lauren Keefer, junior showmanship; and Travis Johnson, novice showmanship.
Twelve lots went through the lamb sale, averaging $4.03 a pound with champions and $2.34 a pound, without.
Market steers. There was a little sibling rivalry when the brother-sister team of Austin and Alivia Trbovich went under the show judge’s eye as class winners.
It was Austin’s 1,228-pound Shorthorn that earned the final nod, winning the grand champion banner. Alivia, also the senior steer showmanship winner, earned reserve champion honors with her 1,307-pound entry.
Kelly Palmer of Paris and Washington Twp. Home Insurance Company bought them both, bidding the grand champion to $3 a pound and the reserve to $1.85 a pound.
Kyle Foltz raised the grand champion carcass steer, which had a live weight of 1,235 pounds, a hanging weight of 774 pounds, and dressed out with a 13.3-inch ribeye and 0.30-inch backfat.
Dr. Mandal Haas and his wife, Sue, paid $2.50 a pound for the steer.
The reserve champion carcass steer, raised by Kyle Davis, sold for $2.65 a pound to the dental group of Drs. Berg, Birong, Birong and Chamblee of Carrollton.
In addition to Alivia Trbovich, steer showmanship winners included Garett Davis, junior showman and junior outstanding market exhibitor; Victoria Trbovich, showman of showmen and intermediate winner; and Tyler Trbovich, novice showman.
The 29 steers averaged $1.48 a pound including champions; $1.31, without.
Cheese sale. Kara Johnson’s project cow earned the grand champion cheese yield banner, producing the equivalent of 9.11 pounds of cheese and 1.17 pounds of butter. Carroll Electric Co-op paid $800 for the champion cheese basket.
Joshua Jordan’s reserve champion cheese yield of 8.61 pounds of cheese and 1.16 pounds of butter sold for $500 to Larry Bock, Renaissance Nutrition, and Joe Ramsey of Ramsey Hoof Trimming.
The Dairy Herd Improvement Association raised the final sale bid for the eight exhibitors’ baskets by an additional $20.
The baskets averaged $543.75 with champions.
Dairy beef feeders. Brittany Rohr raised this year’s grand champion dairy beef feeder calf, which sold for $1.50 a pound to the Carrollton Livestock Auction.
Bob Cleeton of Direct Action Co., or DAC livestock vitamins and minerals, paid $1.45 a pound for Chelsea McIntire’s reserve champion dairy beef feeder.
Showmanship winners were: Kali Weals, novice; Oksana Tinney, junior; Andrew Weals, intermediate; and Ben Palmer, senior and showman of showmen.
The 26 feeder calves averaged 99 cents a pound with champions; 95 cents, without.
Hogs. The 94 market hogs wrapped up this year’s large animal sale.
Alivia Trbovich returned to the champions’ circle with her 280-pound grand champion hog to start the sale. Martin D. Yoder Livestock of Kidron paid $5.25 a pound for the pig, up slightly from last year’s bid of $4.80.
And Leann Johnson added another win to cap her fair experience, showing the reserve champion hog and winning senior outstanding market exhibitor honors. Thorne’s IGA and Pharmacy paid $4.50 a pound for her 278-pound winner.
Only one carcass animal sold this year, Katie Foltz’s grand champion carcass hog. Her 215-pound hog had a hanging weight of 175 pounds, with a 8.2-inch ribeye and 0.40-inch backfat. Untch Farms paid $3.50 a pound for the champion.
Leann Johnson raised the reserve champion carcass hog.
The hogs averaged $2.56 a pound including champions; $2.49 a pound, without champions.
Showmanship honors went to Steven Jordan, senior showman and showman of showmen; Ben Bryan, intermediate; Liza Kirk, junior; and Travis Johnson, novice. Garett Davis was the junior outstanding market exhibitor.
Small animal sale. Leann Johnson wasn’t done selling her champions, however. She returned for the small animal sale July 22 and sold her champion chicken pen for $585 to Crow’s Seed Corn, the same buyer of her champion pen last year.
Her brother, Travis, took home reserve champion honors and sold the chickens to Trbovich Distributing, also for $585.
Twenty-five pens of three chickens averaged $318.60 with champions and $295.43, without. Both averages are more than $100 higher than last year.
Amber Cairns sold her champion turkey for $570 to Mount Hope Elevator, up $170 from last year’s champion price. Stauffer Great Trails Insurance purchased Liza Kirk’s reserve champion bird for $575.
Averages hit $316.92 with champions and $265.50 without champions for the 12 turkeys. Again, those averages were up drastically, compared to last year’s $199 and $167, respectively.
Goats, rabbits. A Moore grabbed champion goat honors again this year. This time, Michael Moore sold his champion for $4 a pound to Farmer’s Exchange of Carrollton and Waynesburg.
Olde Depot Pizzeria bought the reserve champ, exhibited by Brittany Wood, for $3.25 a pound.
Twenty-five goats sold for $5,746, averaging $3.09 with champions and $3.04, without.
Michael Moore continued his domination of the rabbit show. His champion pen of three sold for $465 to LeBeau Geothermal Company. Brother Randal Moore’s reserve pen picked up $435 from Thorne’s IGA and Pharmacy.
Nine pens of three were sold, adding $2,430 to the sale total. Averages were $270 with champions and $218.57, without.
Still sale. A sale earlier in the week, the “still” auction, tacked another $10,420 onto overall receipts.
This sale is reserved for youth who don’t participate in the livestock sale. Instead, they sell other projects, which range from refinished furniture to baked goods.
Entries were down from 70 last year to 66 this year, and proceeds dropped $6,000 from 2005.
Overall. Market livestock sales totaled $157,713.15, up from last year’s sale total of $144,183.
Auctioneers and ringmen donating their services to the sale included: Bill Newell, Randall Kiko, Wayne Falb, Jayme Gandee, Darrell Gartrell, Geno Kiko, Mike Schmuck, Gary Piatt and Don Williams.
(Farm and Dairy Editor Susan Crowell can be reached at 800-837-3419 or at editor@farmanddairy.com.)