Mahoning 4-H’ers end projects with high bids

CANFIELD, Ohio – Great fair weather and plenty of attractions helped Mahoning County 4-H’ers see an unofficial record $272,972 raised during livestock sales Sept. 1 and 2 at the Canfield Fair.
If there were any lessons for the 4-H youth to learn this year, it was that showing the grand or reserve champion doesn’t always mean the highest bid, and that securing buyers before the fair brings bigger smiles on sale night.
Members who didn’t show the top projects took home higher bids than the champions in the market goat, fudge, steer, feeder calf and poultry and small animal auctions.
Steers. Amanda Smith of Salem showed this year’s champion steer.
Bids for her 1,245-pounder volleyed between grocers Frank Rulli and Henry Nemenz, but Nemenz came out on top when he agreed to pay $4.30 per pound for the girl’s project.
Nemenz also bought the reserve champion, a 1,270-pounder raised by Amanda Eddie, for $2.40 per pound.
The steer in the No. 8 spot, raised by senior skillathon winner Katie Houk, outpaced the reserve champion with a $2.60-per-pound bid from Dr. Craig Mangie. Mangie also purchased Houk’s steer last year.
Forty-seven steers sold for $100,145.25, averaging $1.79 per pound with champions and $1.72 per pound without. No steer sold for less than $1.40 per pound.
Skillathon winners were Houk, senior; Brittany Crowe, intermediate; and John Kulifay, junior.
Showmanship winners were Ben Detwiler, senior; Darby Elder, intermediate; and Hannah Mowery, junior.
Kayla Witmer took rate of gain honors for her 1,525-pound steer.
Hogs. Christina Shinn showed the 288-pound champion market hog.
Shinn hoped for a big win in her last year of eligibility after being in the top 20 in 2002, 2003, and 2004.
Grocers Frank Rulli and Henry Nemenz and the girl’s father started off the bidding, but it was Nemenz who eventually prevailed with a $7-per-pound bid.
That was the lowest bid for the champion hog since at least 1999. Last year’s champion brought $13 per pound.
Tyler Pidgeon moved up from his seventh-place finish last year to show the 2005 reserve champion market hog. His 264-pounder brought $4 per pound from Mike and Cheryl Railsback.
That bid was also lower than any other for the reserve champion since at least 1999, with last year’s bringing $8.75 per pound.
Pidgeon also won the junior showmanship contest. Other showmanship winners were Casey Skowron, senior; Amanda Smith, intermediate; and Drew Wilson, beginner.
Wilson topped the beginner skillathon contest as well. Other winners were Carol Ann Pitcairn, senior; David Moliterno, intermediate; and Danny Montgomery, junior.
The 153 markets hogs sold for $75,747, averaging $1.98 per pound with champions and $1.94 per pound without.
Lambs. Sara Cummings showed this year’s 118-pound champion lamb.
No stranger to winning ways, she showed the champion in 2002 and the reserve champions in 2003 and 2004.
Likewise, buyer Frank Rulli of Rulli Brothers Market West is no stranger to having the high bid for the top lamb, something he’s done every year since at least 1999.
H.P Nemenz Food Stores gave Rulli competition but eventually yielded the top bid of $9.50 per pound for Cummings’ lamb. The bid matched Rullis’ top price for last year’s champion.
The Rullis were also top bidders for Cummings’ 126-pound champion carcass lamb, paying $5.30 per pound.
Cummings was also winner of the intermediate skillathon and showmanship contests.
The grocers were back at it for Jessica Miletta’s 128-pound reserve champion market lamb, with Rullis also taking that animal home for $4.25 per pound, short of last year’s $7-per-pound bid.
Nemenz buyers stood strong for the 120-pound reserve champion carcass lamb raised by Logan Sharp. The bid was $2.50 per pound.
Thirty market lambs sold for $7,303, averaging $2.04 per pound with champions and $1.70 per pound without.
Eleven carcass lambs brought $2,910.80, averaging $2.25 per pound with champions and $1.88 per pound without.
Jacob Yeager won the senior division of both the showmanship and skillathon competitions. Other winners were Miletta, junior showmanship and Joshua Kramer, junior skillathon.
Feeder calves. Brian Spencer repeated his winning ways from last year, bringing the champion beef feeder project for the second straight year.
His 430-pound crossbred brought $2.55 per pound from H.P. Nemenz Food Stores, IGA and Sav-A-Lot.
Kayla Schindler’s 455-pound reserve champion brought $2 per pound from Dave Sutherly of Tipp City, Ohio.
Bradley Martig showed the champion dairy feeder, a 580-pound Holstein. His calf sold for $2.35 per pound to Cope Farm Equipment.
Taylor Witmer’s 515-pound reserve champion Brown Swiss brought $1.80 per pound from Laura Heater of Clarke Collision of Hudson, Ohio.
The 30 beef feeders sold for $23,975, averaging $1.70 per pound with champions and $1.65 per pound without.
The 56 dairy feeders sold for $38,443.25, averaging $1.35 per pound with champions and $1.33 per pound without.
Showmanship winners were Jodi Taylor, senior; Taylor Pidgeon, intermediate; and Tyler Pidgeon, junior.
Skillathon winners were Derek Elder, senior; Kathy Phillips, intermediate; and Martha Zimmerman, junior.
Tyler Pidgeon’s 11th-place beef feeder outsold the reserve champion, bringing $2.30 per pound. The calves raised by Eric Evans, Alisha Sanor and Taylor Pidgeon all got $2 bids to match the reserve champion.
Jacob Martig’s and Kristen Bricker’s dairy feeders each brought $2 per pound, and Alyssa Martig’s brought $1.90 per pound to outsell the reserve champion in that project, as well.
Poultry. Allie Walkama showed the champion pen of two broilers. Her lot sold for $200 to attorney Lynn Maro, a perennial supporter of the small animal auction. The champion bid was the lowest in the past seven years, down $125 from last year.
Next up was Kailyn Mowery’s reserve champion pen. Her older sister, McKenzie, showed last year’s reserve champion pen.
Dean’s Resident Care and Dean’s Funeral Home paid $170 for the reserve champions.
The reserve bid was up from last year’s $75 per bird, the lowest since at least 1999.
Prices spiked three times in the remainder of the broiler sale, with Eric Evans taking a bid of $250; Hannah Mowery, $240; and McKenzie Mowery, $210.
Thirty-six pens sold for $4,630, averaging $64.31 a head with champions and $62.65 without.
Kailyn Mowery was back to the champion’s sale with her first-place turkey. The 40-pounder, one of the largest in the show, brought $750 from longtime buyer Jeff Taylor.
Rebekah Coy sold her 40-pound reserve champion for $450. Winning bidder was Clark Excavating.
Twenty-nine turkeys sold, averaging $162.59 with champions and $130.19 without. Total turkey receipts were $4,715.
Goats. Perhaps the most surprising sale during the small animal auction was for the goat milk fudge.
Kick Farms at Loudonville, Ohio, paid $475 for Kathy Phillips’ grand champion basket. Attorney Lynn Maro paid $325 for reserve champion Katlyn Eastep’s basket.
But neither was the most impressive buy of the sale.
Melissa Riehl was the last to sell her project, and Mill Creek Geological Services and dentist Frank Petrokas battled it out. Riehl’s basket of fudge ended dramatically with Petrokas’ final bid of $1,025.
The eight fudge lots brought $3,165, averaging $395.63 with champions and $394.17 without.
Kristina Moff sold her champion market dairy goat for $3 per pound to Mill Creek Geological Services of Dawsonville, Ga. The goat weighed 52 pounds.
Katlyn Eastep sold her 60-pound reserve champion for $1.75 per pound to the Trojan Horse Restaurant in Sebring.
The two goats brought $261.
Six 4-H’ers competed with their Boer-type market goat, but it was Katie Houk who came out on top for the second year in a row.
Houk’s 78-pound champion brought $2.50 per pound from Fallfire Australian Shepherds of Beloit.
Katlyn Eastep also showed the reserve champion in this category, with her 74-pounder selling for $2.10 per pound to attorney Lynn Maro.
However, the fourth through sixth place market goats brought the highest bids.
Fourth-place Melissa Riehl got $9.25 per pound for her goat; fifth-place Jarryd Lunger got $5 per pound, and sixth-place Kristen Osiniak got $4.75 per pound.
The six meat-type goats brought $1,394, averaging $4.18 with champions and $5.13 without.
Rabbits. Rebekah Coy sold her champion fryer rabbit for $325 to perennial supporter Jeff Taylor. Taylor also bought Irene Coy’s reserve champion for $175.
Jake Davis sold his champion meat pen of three rabbits for $600 to Malcomson Logging. Irene Coy’s reserve champion pen sold for $285 to Terno and Associates.
Six fryer rabbits totaled $685, averaging $114.17 with champions and $46.25 without.
Nine meat pens brought $5,085, averaging $123.89 per head with champions and $57.50 without.
Scholarships. Animals bought and resold throughout the two-day sale contributed $730 to the Darrel Bacon scholarship fund and $2,445.70 to the Jim Baer scholarship fund.
Auctioneers and ringmen who volunteered for the event were Bill Baer, Ken Baer, Don Braham and Barry Pidgeon.
Cheese. The 24 baskets of cheese sold Sept. 4 raked in $18,625, averaging $776 per basket, with champions, and $693.75, without.
Jonathan Dye’s 11.51-pound grand champion cheese sold for $1,025. It was bought by his grandparents Marvin and Mary Jo Dye for $25 more than last year’s bid.
Carl Rufener of Rufener Trucking bought Genna Ruthrauff’s 10.87-pound reserve champion cheese for $950.
Brian Moff was recognized with the dairy achievement award.
Auctioneers Randall Kiko and Darryl McGuire donated their services for the cheese sale.
Adding the cheese sale total to the market livestock auctions pushes the junior fair sale total to $291,597.
(Reporter Andrea Myers welcomes reader feedback by phone at 1-800-837-3419, ext. 22, or by e-mail at amyers@farmanddairy.com. Katy Wuthrick contributed to this article.)