Bids are Up at Fair Livestock Auction
By Diane Booth Conway,
Merced County Fair Publicity Director

2007 Fair's Grand Champion Steer
2007 Merced County Fair Junior Livestock Auction

   When the auctioneer banged the gavel for the last time at the 2007 Merced County Fair’s Junior Livestock Auction, sales totaled $443,184, down $43,000 from last year.
   Youngsters from around the county in 4-H and FFA, as well as independent exhibitors, watched as their market swine, beef, goats and lambs were sold at the annual auction, Saturday, July 21, during the 116th Merced County Fair. The fair was July 17-22. Rabbit meat pens were sold at a separate auction on Thursday, July 19.
   There were fewer market livestock sold at the fair this year, but the average bid for those animals was up 5 percent from the previous year, said Robin Hauck, the fair’s CEO.
   "This fair has always received a lot of community support when it comes to the community buying animals at the Junior Livestock Auction,” said Richard Regalo, the fair's Livestock Superintendent. "A lot of these people who buy animals at the auction participated in 4-H and FFA themselves."
   Regalo doesn’t know why there were fewer animals at this year’s auction, but he speculated that some 4-H and FFA and independent exhibitors might have been discouraged from participating in this year’s fair after last year’s record-breaking heat wave.
   There were 492 animals sold at last week's auction compared to the 538 sold at the 2006 fair. The animals sold at both auctions were 31 beef, 288 swine, 109 lambs, 53 goats and 11 meat pens (three rabbits to a pen). There was a drop in the number of beef, swine and goats but the same number of lambs were sold this year. Nine fewer meat pens were sold at the rabbit auction compared to the previous year.
   The weather for the auction was “perfect,” Regalo said, which was a welcome relief after the record-breaking heat during the 2006 fair. At last year’s auction extra fans, misters and plenty of water were brought in to keep the buyers as comfortable as possible during the auction and it was a struggle to keep the exhibitors and their animals cool, he said. “There appeared to be more buyers this year who came and stayed for the entire auction to bid on animals.”
    Although there were still a lot of animals to be auctioned this year, the sale, which lasts about eight hours, went very smoothly, Regalo said. “We have great support from the fair’s Board of Directors and the CEO Robin Hauck,” he said adding, most of the livestock office team that works at the fair takes vacation time to be there. “Every one of them showed at this fair. They love agriculture and they love the kids.”
   Volunteer help from parents, 4-H and FFA leaders and teachers also continues to be important, Regalo said. “The more efficiently you run the sale, the better it is for the students and the auctioneers. The sale ran smoothly because we had a lot of volunteer help,” Regalo said.
   The quality of the animals sold at the Junior Livestock Auction is top notch, he said. “The quality is excellent, it’s as high as it's ever been. The top grade animals could compete anywhere in the state.”
   The average per pound selling prices at the 2007 fair are as follows: The average price per pound for goats was $5.01, beef was $2.80 per pound, the average price per pound for sheep was $4.65, for swine the figure was $3.58 per pound and rabbit meat pens (3 rabbits) were sold for an average price of $217.
   The average seller price for market lambs was $586. The average seller price for market goats was $452, the average seller price for swine was $858 and for beef, the average seller price was $3,415.
   The 2007 Merced County Fair's Grand Champion and Reserve Grand Champion Meat Pens are: Grand Champion Rabbit Meat Pen, Chris Alberg, Ballico, Livingston FFA, $300 and Reserve Champion Rabbit Meat Pen, Querida Flores, Los Banos, Los Banos Community 4-H, $300.
   The 2007 Merced County Fair’s Reserve Grand Champions and Grand Champions are as follows: Jordyn Cooper, Hilmar, Hilmar Colony 4-H, Reserve Grand Champion Market Beef, 1,282 pounds, $7.55 per pound, $9,679; Kara Orr, Los Banos, Los Banos FFA, Reserve Grand Champion Market Lamb, 134 pounds, $6 per pound, $804; Cody Jacobsen, Le Grand, Le Grand 4-H, Reserve Grand Champion Market Goat, 100 pounds, $12.25 per pound, $1,225; Josh Medeiros, Hilmar, Hilmar FFA, Reserve Grand Champion Market Swine, 260 pounds, $10.50 a pound, $2,730; Brittney Machado, Winton, Buhach Colony FFA, Grand Champion Market Beef, 1,275 pounds, $5 a pound, $6,375; Ashley Costa, Newman, Gustine FFA, Grand Champion Market Lamb, 130 pounds, $20 a pound, $2,600; Patrick Spadafore, Los Banos, Los Banos Community 4-H, Grand Champion Market Goat, 95 pounds, $10.50 a pound, $997.50 and Tara Medeiros, Hilmar, Hilmar FFA, Grand Champion Market Swine, 265 pounds, $11.50 per pound, $3,047.50.
   For information, call the fair office at 722-1507 or email to Info@MercedCountyFair.com or fax at 722-3773. Visit the 2007 Merced County Fair’s award-winning website, www.MercedCountyFair.com

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