Jr. Fair livestock auction again sets record

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Although the 159th Van Wert County Fair was officially over by Tuesday, one of the most important events of the fair for Junior Fair livestock exhibitors was held that day: the Junior Fair Livestock Auction.

The auction provides a paycheck for youngsters who spent the past year caring for animals they then exhibited at the fair. And, as they have the past several years, local businesses and organizations made sure they went home with a nice check for their efforts.

As it has the last few years, the livestock auction again followed a trend of fewer animals, but higher average payouts, and again produced a record average payout for Junior Fair animals.

Paul Pohlman, auction advisor, noted that the average payout this year was a record $478.95 per sale unit (some sale units, such as rabbit meat pens, comprise more than one animal), up from $471.82 in 2014 — the previous record average payout. Total payout in 2015 was $127,500 for 266 sale units, versus $145,320 for 308 sale units last year.

Moreover, while this year’s Avian Flu scare kept poultry and turkeys off the fairgrounds, auction participants made sure exhibitors of those species didn’t go away empty-handed. Exhibitors raised $6,677.25 in donations to pay the 22 poultry exhibitors for birds they didn’t get to show at the fair. That’s an average payout of $303.51 per exhibitor this year, versus $330.47 per actual animal sold in 2014. While the number is down a bit, no birds were actually sold this year.

Sale numbers for turkeys, which also weren’t exhibited on the fairgrounds this year because of the possibility of Avian Flu, sold for a total of $10,970, an average of $342.81, a bit down from the $366.67 paid per sale unit in 2014.

There were winners and losers, though, among livestock exhibitors. Those who showed steers, goats and swine had the largest pay increases this year, while exhibitors who showed (or planned to show) rabbits, turkeys, poultry, sheep and dairy feeders got less this year than in 2014, although the prices were still considerably higher than the average prices paid out over the past decade.

The largest overall amount was paid for the 73 swine exhibited at the 2015 county fair, with a total of $36,420 paid out by hog buyers. That’s an average sale price of $498 per animal, up more than $20 per animal over 2014 numbers.

The highest average sale price per animal went, unsurprisingly, to steers, which had an average sale price of $978.33, up nearly $100 per animal from the $879.81 average paid out last year. The total sale revenue for the 21 steers shown was $20,545, versus $22,875 paid for 26 steers last year.

While hogs had the largest number of animals sold, the next largest sale group was rabbits, where 68 sale units were auctioned off for a total of $16,888 and an average sale price of $248.35, down from the $306.76 average paid out in 2014 for 74 sale units.

Other species sale totals, as well as 2014 numbers, are as follows:

• Goats – 10 animals sold for a total of $6,015, an average of $601.50 per animal ($5,950 was paid in 2014 for 11 animals, an average of $540.91).
• Dairy feeders – 34 dairy feeders were sold for a total price of $16,135, an average of $474.56 (24 animals sold in 2014 for a total of $15,865, an average of $661.04).
• Sheep – 26 animals sold for a total of $11,450, or an average of $440.38 per sale unit (11 animals sold in $5,950, or an average per animal of $550.91).

Also sold this year was the traditional gallon of milk, the proceeds from which go to Junior Fair dairy exhibitors, who don’t sell their animals at the auction.

The gallon of milk sold for $2,400, or an average of $400 per person (the price in 2014 was $2,500, for an average of $416.67 to each dairy exhibitor).