CARROLLTON, Ohio – An auction is part marketing, part showmanship and part timing. But it’s 100 percent entertainment, as the Carroll County Fair market livestock sale easily illustrated.
The large animal sale, held July 20, even started out with a little bit of an auctioneer’s wizardry, as auctioneer Bill Newell coaxed an unofficial new record price for the grand champion hog when it looked like the bidding would stall shortly after starting.
Ben Bryan was the first to enter the sale ring, showing his 272-pound grand champion market hog. Newell got the first bid at $2, but hit a cement wall at $3 a pound. Unfazed, Newell regrouped and rekindled buyers’ interest, spurring bids until they reached the final $6.10 a pound. Bob Cleeton of Direct Action Co., or dac livestock vitamins and minerals, was the final bidder.
Newell kept the momentum going with Jenna Chiavari’s 257-pound reserve champion hog, which sold for $6.10 a pound to a group of Carroll County Democrat office holders and candidates. The bid was well above last year’s $4.50 a pound.
Holly Meister’s grand champion carcass hog, with a hanging weight of 208 pounds from 265 pounds liveweight, brought a bid of $5 a pound from Trbovich Distributing and L&L Seed. Her carcass measured a 7.3-inch ribeye with 0.5 inch backfat.
Cheyanna Skinner’s reserve champion carcass hog sold for $6 a pound to Sean Speedy Drilling. Her 210-pound hog had a hanging weight of 169 pounds, with a 7.35-inch ribeye and 0.4 inch backfat.
Hog prices stayed high throughout the sale, as the 83 hogs averaged $2.74 a pound with the champions and $2.57 a pound, without.
Steer sale. The steers, which were the last to cross the auction block shortly before 11 p.m., also benefited from cagey marketing.
Auctioneer Geno Kiko worked hard to lift bids on Austin Trbovich’s grand champion steer, but it may have been the work of two other auctioneers that jump-started the bidding after it faltered at $3.50 a pound.
At $3, when it looked like bids were coming from only two contenders, Steve Birney left the ringside and leaned close to Kelly Palmer of Paris & Washington Twp. Home Insurance with a sales pitch. Getting Palmer’s nod, Birney ran through the aisles to the decision-makers with Rosebud Mining for the next bid.
With Birney running back and forth, the bids made it to $3.50, then stopped. So auctioneer Randall Kiko, also at ringside, stepped into the ring, took the halter from young Trbovich and nodded for him to add his pleas to Birney’s.
And the buyers couldn’t resist the tag-team, getting back into the bidding until Palmer placed the final bid at $5 for Trbovich’s 1,383-pound champion.
Rosebud Mining, also the contending bidder on many other animals throughout the sale, kept their bids going for the next steer through the ring, buying first-year 4-H’er Kady Davis’ 1,316-pound reserve champion for $2.50 a pound.
Garett Davis’ grand champion carcass steer sold for $3.35 a pound to B& B Tree Service. His 1,200-pound steer had a hanging weight of 806 pounds, with a 13.7-inch ribeye and 0.35 inch backfat.
Kurt Davis sold his reserve champion carcass steer to Dr. Mandal Haas for $3.75 a pound. His 1,185-pound entry had a hanging weight of 700 pounds, with 12.0-inch ribeye and 0.4 inch backfat.
The 29 live steers averaged $1.73 a pound, including champions; $1.43 a pound, without.
Lambs. Leann Johnson made it a three-peat, as she raised this year’s grand champion market lamb, matching her accomplishments in 2006 and 2005.
And this year’s final bid matched last year’s price, too, as Huebner Chevrolet, which has cornered the grand champion lamb market for many years, paid $10 a pound for Johnson’s 135-pound lamb.
Thorne’s IGA, another perennial strong supporter of the youth sale, paid $8 a pound for Logan Trbovich’s 126-pound reserve champion lamb.
Justin Moore, who showed last year’s reserve champion carcass lamb, climbed one notch this year, winning the grand champion banner with his carcass entry. Kiko Meats paid $7.25 a pound for the lamb, which had a live weight of 105 pounds, hanging weight of 65 pounds, 3.05-inch ribeye, with 0.12 inch backfat.
Travis Johnson’s reserve champion carcass lamb sold for $7.25 a pound to Don’s Custom Meats. The 120-pound lamb had a hanging weight of 67 pounds, with a 3.10-inch ribeye and 0.18 inch backfat.
The 14 live lambs averaged $4.18 a pound with champions; $2.60 a pound, without champions.
Dairy feeders. Logan Trbovich raised this year’s grand champion dairy beef feeder. Martin D. Yoder Livestock paid $3 a pound for the 683-pound calf.
Rosebud Mining paid $2.25 a pound for Chelsea McIntire’s 629-pound reserve champion dairy feeder.
The 31 calves averaged $1.13 a pound with champions; $1.03 a pound without.
Cheese sale. Dave Evans kept the bids going until he won granddaughter Holly Evans’ grand champion cheese yield basket with his final nod at $1,000. Holly’s cow took the honors with a single day’s yield of 10.68 pounds of cheese.
J.D. Little’s yield, 8.1 pounds, earned the reserve champion spot. His basket sold for $700 to Mike Keefer/Case Farms.
The 10 baskets averaged $560 with the champions; $487.50, without.
Small animal sale. Buyers came back to the fair on Saturday to continue support at the small animal sale.
In the market chicken sale, state Sen. John Boccieri paid $720 for Emily Cairns’ grand champion pen of three. John Walters DVM paid $450 for Austin Trbovich’s reserve champion pen.
The 32 pens averaged $262.50 including champions; $245, without champions.
Turkey exhibitor Amber Cairns repeated her grand champion performance from 2006 with another win this year. Mount Hope Elevator paid $700 for her champion.
Sheriff Dale Williams paid $450 for Jonathan Howard’s reserve champion turkey.
The 11 turkeys averaged $340.45 including champions; $288.33, without champions.
In the market goat sale, Jill Borland sold her 81-pound grand champion for $3.85 a pound to D&C Sales. Old Depot Ice Cream and Pizzeria paid $3 a pound for the reserve champion goat, raised by Floyd Craft III.
The 20 market goats averaged $2.77 a pound with the champions; $2.69 a pound, without.
Cody Boring’s pen of three meat rabbits earned the grand champion banner and a bid of $630 from Diamond T Fencing and Carrollton Livestock Auction. Amber Warner’s reserve champion pen sold for $1,275 to the Barnyard Buddies 4-H Club advisers.
The seven pens averaged $415.71/pen with the champions; $201 per pen, excluding champions.
During the sales, county Auditor Leroy VanHorn and state Rep. Mark Okey added money to the minimum bids for each species to ensure that each youth received a certain amount.
Overall, the large animal sale totaled $146,518.40 and the small animal sale totaled $19,140.45. The combined total of $165,658.85 is up substantially from last year’s sale total of $157,713.15.
Auctioneers donating their services to the sale included Bill Newell, Jayme Gandee, Wayne Falb, Darrell Gartrell, Randall Kiko, Steve Birney, and Geno Kiko.
(Farm and Dairy Editor Susan Crowell can be reached at 800-837-3419 or at editor@farmanddairy.com.)
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