by CSU Extension Office and Jr. Livestock Sale Committee
With the dust of the sale ring clearing and all transactions checked and verified, the 2018 Middle Park Fair and Rodeo Junior Livestock Sale inched its way to a record-setting year with the net total of the sale approaching $243,00O. Over 140 Businesses, parents and local supporters from Grand, Summit, Routt and Moffat Counties convened at the Junior Livestock Sale held on Friday, August 10 at 7:00 pm to bid on market livestock projects raised locally by 4-H/ FFA youth.
Blake Terryberry (right) smiles during the 4-H auction as ringman Dave
Sammons looks for bidders. Sammons has been a ringman at the Middle
Park Fair & Rodeo junior livestock sale for 20 years. Also pictured in the
background is Cheyenne Jacobs.
Although no new records were set with champion purchases, the sale remained very strong throughout the evening, even into the resale portion of the sale as Auctioneer Randy Lewis sold over 97 lots in the regular sale and 25 lots in the resale. The resale portion of the sale is where individuals that purchase in the regular sale donate the animal back to the resale, and money that is raised is donated to the original purchaser’s charity of choice. This year the resale raised over $10,000 for its various recipients.
Historically, Grand County has a reputation for being cattle country, and the sale started off with the Grand and Reserve Champion Beef projects exhibited by Robyn Halley and Luci Bruchez. The two champions combined brought close to $25,000 and were purchased by Murphy Cattle Company and Northwest Ranch Supply. The average of the sale remained high, with beef averaging over $7,400 per head, the swine averaging $2,100 per head, goats averaging $880, and sheep averaging $975.
It was a strong showing of community support; the sale remained strong even though we saw the total number of animals in the sale increase, due to increased participation from the youth of Grand and Summit counties in market livestock projects.
The Middle Park Junior Livestock Sale Committee is always amazed at the continued support of the community in helping kids reach future personal and educational goals through the Junior Livestock Sale. For many of the kids, it is a yearlong commitment to caring for and raising their projects for fair, and we send our sincerest gratitude to those who invest in our community’s youth. Junior Livestock Sale Committee members are Rick Wahl – Chairman, Taura Perdue – Treasurer, Sami Lechman – Secretary, and Sheena Terryberry – Committee Member.
