MONROE - Every day since January, Alfonso has packed on another two and a half pounds. As of Saturday, he weighed a scale-groaning 1,277 pounds.
He had some help gaining all that weight.
Taylor Suddeth, 18, has worked daily at Carrousel Farms near Monroe with Alfonso and his buddy Frenchie since they were born about 16 months ago. During the summer months, she fed the cows before the sun came up and before the heat of the day drained them of their appetite. She brushed them down morning and night and kept them out of the sun so its rays wouldn't bleach their luscious black coats.
All the work paid off Saturday when Suddeth sold Alfonso, the grand champion steer at the Green County Fair's annual livestock auction for $4,150.25, or $3.25 per pound. Alfonso is a crossbreed of Angus, Simmental and Maine-Anjou.
Suddeth said she plans to use the auction money toward a degree in radiology at Madison Area Technical College, starting in August. She's shown animals at the fair with the Hiawatha 4-H since she was 8 years old, and Alfonso is only the latest in a long line of steers she's raised - Spongebob, Ja Rule, Socks, Mac, Bourbon and Mudslide have also received her care.
"They're like my pets. I always cry when they leave," she said.
Overall, gross sales at the Green County auctions were down this year from 2011. Total sales last year were $238,918; this year it was $222,365.
Mark Mayer blames this partly on fewer animals entered in 2012.
"This is probably due to both the heat and high feed costs that make animal projects more expensive," said Mayer, ag agent with the Green County University of Wisconsin-Extension.
Sales in the Fur and Feather Auction in particular were down almost $3,000 from last year.
A few birds died in the intense heat earlier in the week.
"Some kids lost some birds," he said.
Despite lower sales, the average price per pound paid for steers and lambs were both up from last year. Also, looking back over the past ten years, this year's sales are still in keeping with a general upward climb that peaked in 2008 with $253,681.
"This was another excellent sale and continued the trend for the Green County Fair Auction as one of the highest average price sales in Wisconsin," Meyer reflected in an email Sunday. "The credit for that goes to the exhibitors, their parents and especially the buyers who do such a great job of supporting our Green County youth."
According to Mayer, the 10 top buyers this year were Badger State Ethanol; Power Sales, Inc.; Ag Tech, Sloan Implement; M&D Truck and Equipment Sales; Pleasant Grain, LLC; Hoesly Meats; Pearl City Elevator; Speich Oil; and two Monroe dentists, Craig Carter and Janelle Eckdhal.
At $3.25 per pound, Alfonso outsold most of the other steers by a wide margin. Rustin Alton sold his runnerup reserve champ, a 1,308-pound steer, for $2 per pound to Ag Tech. The average per-pound price for non-champion steers was $1.53.
The top lamb, raised by Mitchell Wilson of the Clarence Bridge Pioneers, sold for $11 per pound to Speich Oil. The reserve lamb, raised by Kayla Klitzman of the Dayton Dairylanders, beat this price by selling for $12 per pound to the Evansville FFA Alumni. The average price for non-champion sheep was $3.96.
Lily and Hunter Brewer, both with the Jolly Mixers 4-H, sold their champion swine, respectively, for $6.25 per pound to Tri County Dairy and $4.50 per pound to Klondike Farms. Mitchell Grossen's reserve champion pig outsold the rest at $6.50 per pound to M & D Trucking. The average per-pound price for non-champion swine was $3.28.
Champions in the Fur and Feather Auction were Kollin Zahradka with the Clarno 4-H club, who sold a $175 rabbit to Cal Shaver Auction; Lindsey Woller with the Dayton Dairylanders, who sold a $225 turkey to Boss Family Farm (although this was outsold by non-champion Mitchell Grossen with a $425 turkey to Gary Grossen); Marley Malkow with the Jolly Mixers 4-H, who sold a $300 turkey to Jeff Malkow; and Evan Christen with the Belleville FFA, who sold a chicken for $345 to Plainview Stock Farms.
He had some help gaining all that weight.
Taylor Suddeth, 18, has worked daily at Carrousel Farms near Monroe with Alfonso and his buddy Frenchie since they were born about 16 months ago. During the summer months, she fed the cows before the sun came up and before the heat of the day drained them of their appetite. She brushed them down morning and night and kept them out of the sun so its rays wouldn't bleach their luscious black coats.
All the work paid off Saturday when Suddeth sold Alfonso, the grand champion steer at the Green County Fair's annual livestock auction for $4,150.25, or $3.25 per pound. Alfonso is a crossbreed of Angus, Simmental and Maine-Anjou.
Suddeth said she plans to use the auction money toward a degree in radiology at Madison Area Technical College, starting in August. She's shown animals at the fair with the Hiawatha 4-H since she was 8 years old, and Alfonso is only the latest in a long line of steers she's raised - Spongebob, Ja Rule, Socks, Mac, Bourbon and Mudslide have also received her care.
"They're like my pets. I always cry when they leave," she said.
Overall, gross sales at the Green County auctions were down this year from 2011. Total sales last year were $238,918; this year it was $222,365.
Mark Mayer blames this partly on fewer animals entered in 2012.
"This is probably due to both the heat and high feed costs that make animal projects more expensive," said Mayer, ag agent with the Green County University of Wisconsin-Extension.
Sales in the Fur and Feather Auction in particular were down almost $3,000 from last year.
A few birds died in the intense heat earlier in the week.
"Some kids lost some birds," he said.
Despite lower sales, the average price per pound paid for steers and lambs were both up from last year. Also, looking back over the past ten years, this year's sales are still in keeping with a general upward climb that peaked in 2008 with $253,681.
"This was another excellent sale and continued the trend for the Green County Fair Auction as one of the highest average price sales in Wisconsin," Meyer reflected in an email Sunday. "The credit for that goes to the exhibitors, their parents and especially the buyers who do such a great job of supporting our Green County youth."
According to Mayer, the 10 top buyers this year were Badger State Ethanol; Power Sales, Inc.; Ag Tech, Sloan Implement; M&D Truck and Equipment Sales; Pleasant Grain, LLC; Hoesly Meats; Pearl City Elevator; Speich Oil; and two Monroe dentists, Craig Carter and Janelle Eckdhal.
At $3.25 per pound, Alfonso outsold most of the other steers by a wide margin. Rustin Alton sold his runnerup reserve champ, a 1,308-pound steer, for $2 per pound to Ag Tech. The average per-pound price for non-champion steers was $1.53.
The top lamb, raised by Mitchell Wilson of the Clarence Bridge Pioneers, sold for $11 per pound to Speich Oil. The reserve lamb, raised by Kayla Klitzman of the Dayton Dairylanders, beat this price by selling for $12 per pound to the Evansville FFA Alumni. The average price for non-champion sheep was $3.96.
Lily and Hunter Brewer, both with the Jolly Mixers 4-H, sold their champion swine, respectively, for $6.25 per pound to Tri County Dairy and $4.50 per pound to Klondike Farms. Mitchell Grossen's reserve champion pig outsold the rest at $6.50 per pound to M & D Trucking. The average per-pound price for non-champion swine was $3.28.
Champions in the Fur and Feather Auction were Kollin Zahradka with the Clarno 4-H club, who sold a $175 rabbit to Cal Shaver Auction; Lindsey Woller with the Dayton Dairylanders, who sold a $225 turkey to Boss Family Farm (although this was outsold by non-champion Mitchell Grossen with a $425 turkey to Gary Grossen); Marley Malkow with the Jolly Mixers 4-H, who sold a $300 turkey to Jeff Malkow; and Evan Christen with the Belleville FFA, who sold a chicken for $345 to Plainview Stock Farms.