CORTLAND, Ohio – An afternoon sale that featured all champion and reserve champion livestock projects back to back – combined with temperatures in the 70s, blue skies and no signs of thunderstorms whose rains flooded the fair earlier in the week – brought buyers out to the Trumbull County Fair July 12.
Most fairgoers chose to park at other locations and take a shuttle to the fairgrounds, and others took the risk of entering sparsely filled muddy lots, but no one let the mud keep them away from the fair’s first nice day.
The sale of champions format and complimentary refreshments for buyers kept chairs full for nearly all of the two-hour champions sale.
Chickens and rabbits. The sale barn was abuzz and no chairs were unfilled when repeat winner Jonathan Brzyscz of North Bloomfield brought his pen of three grand champion market rabbits to the sale ring.
When the gavel fell, Brzyscz’s 13.26-pound project brought $20 a pound from Mildred Peterson, up $6 a pound from Peterson’s bid last year.
Brzyscz also took the champion banner in 2001 and 2002.
Sean Offerdahl of Hubbard fell $3 short of last year’s bid when he sold his 16.34-pound reserve champion pen of rabbits for $2.50 a pound to Crowder Klingensmith Feed of Leavittsburg. Offerdahl exhibited the reserve champion pen in 2002.
Three pens of rabbits averaged $3.25 per pound without champions.
Michael Marshall of Fowler added another grand champion trophy to his collection in the market chicken category.
Marshall sold his 24.75-pound pen of champions for $14.50 a pound to Richard Houk’s Green & Golden Farm in Newton Falls. The bid was $1.50 short of what Houk paid for Marshall’s champion pen last year.
The 23-pound reserve champion pen, exhibited by Craig Clemson of Johnston, brought $9.50 a pound from Green & Golden Farm.
Nine pens of chickens averaged $3.75 a pound without champions.
Turkeys. Twelve-year-old Aaron Pospisil of Vernon again dominated the grand champion turkey competition, a spot he’s held for the past four years.
This year’s 40-pound turkey brought $10 a pound, down from last year’s $17 bid.
Lordstown resident Brian Casper sold his 35-pound reserve champion turkey for $4 a pound.
Ramy Swine Farm, represented by Charles and Tate Smith, Moorman Feeds and Garst Seed bought both turkeys.
Thirteen turkeys averaged $5.23 a pound without champions.
Lambs. Both buyer and seller repeated last year’s ways in the grand champion lamb sale.
Drew Turner of Fowler sold his 120-pounder to Williams IGA for $7 a pound, a dime shy of last year’s high bid.
Farmdale’s Chris Diehl sold his 125-pound reserve champion for $2.50 a pound to Barry and Rhonda Pidgeon of Damascus and Carrollton Livestock Auctions.
Diehl came through the sale ring again, this time with the grand champion carcass lamb project. Last year, Diehl took reserve placing.
The 58-pound winner brought $8 a pound from Trumbull County Recorder Diana Marchese.
Kari Solomon of Lordstown took the banner for reserve champion carcass. Her 62 1⁄2-pound project went for $6 a pound to Ed Meloni of Meloni’s Market in Vernon.
Eleven carcass lambs averaged $3.20 a pound without champions.
The 32 lambs averaged $1.73 a pound without champions.
Market goats. Emily Whitlatch of Fowler made her first trip through the champion’s sale with the 87-pound champion market goat. Gustavus Hardwoods outbid others to win the project for $3 a pound.
Sean Offerdahl made another appearance in the winner’s circle, this time with the reserve champion market goat. Offerdahl’s 84-pound project fetched $2.25 a pound from Amos Farm and Feed in Bristolville.
Eleven market goats averaged $2.64 a pound without champions.
Dairy steers, feeders. Newton Falls farmgirl Jennifer Andrella waited past midnight last year to sell her grand champion dairy steer, but got to appear during daylight hours with both champion and reserve champion projects this year.
The 1,185-pound champion brought 80 cents a pound from Montgomery Dairy Farm.
Her 1,261-pound reserve champ brought $1 a pound from Barry Pidgeon of Damascus and Carrollton Livestock Auctions.
Eight dairy steers averaged 71 cents a pound without champions.
Andrella was through the sale ring again with the grand champion dairy feeder. Her 477-pound calf brought $3 a pound from veterinarian Tim Matlock of Mantua Vet Clinic.
In her last year of 4-H, Bristolville’s Elizabeth Boorn returned to the winner’s circle with the reserve champion dairy feeder. Boorn had shown the champion feeder in 1999, 2000, and 2001, but was booted from either top spot last year.
When the bidding was over, her 600-pound reserve champion brought $1.50 a pound from the Trumbull County Farm Bureau. Boorn was also selected Junior Fair queen.
Twenty-nine dairy feeders averaged 95 cents a pound without champions.
Steer projects. In her first and last year with a market steer project, 18-year-old Lindsay Mizicko of Niles sold her 1,213-pound champion to Gibson Governor Insurance for $2.10 a pound.
The 1,249-pound reserve champion market steer, exhibited by Emily Whitlatch, brought $1.90 a pound from Cortland Showcase of Floors. The 11-year-old has raised the reserve champion for the past three years.
Both market steer bids topped last year’s $1.50 and $1.60 bids for the winners.
In the carcass steer competition, Chase Brown of Cortland took top honors with his 672-pound project. The carcass brought $1.75 a pound from Ainsley Oil Company.
The 704-pound reserve champion carcass, raised by Ryland Mathews of Kinsman, brought $2.70 a pound from Countryside Vet Clinic.
Fifty-five market steers averaged 95 cents a pound without champions.
Thirteen carcass steers averaged $1.74 a pound without champions.
Hogs. Johnston’s Ryan Bell, whose sister Jennifer took the top award last year, proved his know-how by raising this year’s grand champion carcass hog.
The 200-pound project sold for $3.25 a pound to county commissioner candidate Don Barzak.
Amy Brown of Bristolville sold her 208-pound reserve champion for $2.25 a pound to her grandparents, Donna and Wes Campbell, also of Bristolville.
In the market hog competition, Ryan Winfield of Fowler took top honors. Winfield sold his 269-pound champion for $2.10 a pound to Damascus and Carrollton Livestock Auctions.
Bud Scott of Midway Chevy Buick Pontiac in Orwell paid $2.10 a pound for Brooke Wagner’s 249-pound reserve champion.
In the market hog showmanship contest, Drew Turner won the senior division; Ryan Bell, intermediate; Monica Boorn, junior; and Codi Letcher, novice.
Outstanding pork project winners were Jen Bell, senior; Ryan Bell, intermediate; and Emily Whitlatch, junior.
Twenty-eight carcass hogs averaged $1.47 a pound without champions.
Eighty-five market hogs averaged $1.57 a pound without champions.
Charity projects. More than $260 was added to the county’s 4-H endowment fund when Diana and Dominic Marchese paid $13 a pound for this year’s charity pen of chickens.
Gary Offerdahl of Hubbard raised the pen, which weighed in at 20 1⁄2 pounds.
Amber Hoffstetter of Vernon and other members of the Badger Pork Raisers fed the 205-pound charity hog.
Dave Bailes and DLB/BP Oil of Farmdale paid $3.60 a pound for the project, which benefits St. Jude Children’s Hospital.
Sale receipts totaled $159,563, up $200 from last year.
(Reporter Andrea Myers welcomes reader feedback by phone at 1-800-837-3419, ext. 22, or by e-mail at amyers@farmanddairy.com.)
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