Local News
4-H Livestock Auction shows some winners!
On Friday, August 9th, the annual 4-H Livestock Auction was held at the 62nd annual Warren County Fair. The crowd filled in, and it looked to be a good show.
Scared of heights?
Taking a look at the competition beforehand, we found that there were some extraordinarily beautiful animals for sale.
And there were some huge ones too.
The kids were loving it, and the animals seemed to enjoy the attention too.
An esteemed buyer, Blaine Keller, showed us around and introduced us to the company that has worked with the auction for decades, Gore’s Custom Slaughter. “Gore’s takes 90% of the auctioned animals and assists with the butchering process.” Jeff and Josh Gore, owners of the store since 1979, told us a little about its history.
“My Grandfather established this family business back in 1961 in Edinburgh and it has been a reliable family business ever since,” Jeff told us.
Now to the main attraction – awards were handed out to the kids who had raised these animals themselves. By properly feeding and caring for them, they made some beautiful livestock.
Now to the main attraction – awards were handed out to the kids who had raised these animals themselves. By properly feeding and caring for them, they made some beautiful livestock.
The auction went off with a bang and a flurry of prices as the Grand Champion pig was let loose in the pen, and what a fine pig it was. It sold at $4 dollars a pound to the Linden’s Apple House.
The Reserve Champion Pig was next, which sold for $3.30 a pound.
The Class 1 Reserve Champion Pig was next, which sold for $2 a pound. Valley Heart lucked out on an excellent price for such a good looking pig.
The Class 2 reserve Pig was next, selling at $2.30 a pound.
The Class 3, and final of the awarded pigs, was next, selling at $2.40 a pound.
The other pigs were auctioned off, and the auction moved onto the winning steers. The Grand Champion Steer, a gorgeous looking brown beast, was sold for $2.60 a pound.
The Reserve Champion Steer was next. This gentle giant went for $2.10 a pound.
The Class 2 Champion Steer followed and sold at $1.80 a pound, another excellent price on another quality looking animal.
The Class 3 Champion Steer was next, and was sold for $3 a pound.
The Reserve Champions were next up and there appeared to be little, if any drop off in the quality of the animals judging by appearance. The Class 1 Reserve Steer was sold for $1.85 a pound to VA livestock.
The Class 2 Reserve Steer was sold for $1.55 a pound, again a seeming steal for a fine-looking animal.
The Class 3 Reserve Steer was sold for $2.20 a pound.
The Class 4 Reserve Steer, a wild beast with some temper, was sold for $2.10 a pound.
The Lambs were up next, taking the lead was the Grand Champion Lamb selling at $10 a pound to Rocky Ham.
The Reserve Champion lamb was then auctioned off at $4 a pound to Chelsea Farms.
The Class 1 champion lamb was then sold for $3 a pound.
The Class 2 champion lamb was sold for $4.50 a pound.
The Class 3 champion lamb was then sold for $3.25 a pound to State Farms.
The Reserve champions were up next. The Class 1 reserve was sold for $3.75 a pound.
The next lamb to be sold was the class 3 reserve champion for $3.25 a pound.
The next animal to be auctioned off was the Grand Champion Goat, auctioned off for $700 to Rockingham Co-op. With the auction almost over, there were just three animals left. The Grand Champion Chicken was next, a rare lavender breed of chicken, which was sold for $325 to the Strasburg Co-op. That’s a pretty penny for a very pretty bird.
Not all birds are created equal, but some are weird looking. The Reserve Champion Chicken sold for $100, and was definitely an odd looking bird with that distinctive hairstyle.
And finally the Grand Champion Rabbit, the only rabbit to compete, was sold for $200 – that’s one special bun.
With the auction over, 4-H took a moment to thank the families and companies that helped sponsor the auction and make this great event possible. And that’s a wrap from the 2019 Warren County Fair livestock auction.
