MONROE - Gross sales from the Green County Fair's 4-H and FFA meat auctions Saturday, July 20, were up about $30,000 from 2012, according to Mark Mayer, the ag agent for the University of Wisconsin Extension for Green County.
"All of the average per-pound prices for the large animals were up substantially from last year, and all the average price/pound paid for large animals were record highs," Mayer said in an email Sunday.
For kids participating in the 39th annual event, the payout is significant. Pigs averaged $4.22 per pound, up 82 cents from 2012 and almost seven times the current market price, according to Mayer. For sheep, the average auction price per pound was $6.31, up $1.27 per pound from last year and almost six times the current market price.
Steers averaged $1.92 per pound, up 31 cents from 2012.
The money is nice, but it's the educational journey each of the 4-H and FFA kids take to the auction barn that ultimately attracts buyers year after year. Participants in the auction are required to keep a record book of their income and expenses and train in meat quality assurance, animal husbandry and food safety. They also have to go out and meet with two buyers personally to discuss their project animal and invite the buyer to the fair.
This process is vital to teaching kids people skills and business skills, Mayer said, and directly results in the popularity of the auctions among buyers.
Mayer calls this "learning by doing."
Kade Allen, who won reserve champion this year for his 1,329 steer Ted, has lived a lifetime of learning by doing, the fair way. He's only 18 and a few months out of high school but already he's helping run a 100-cow farm in northern Wisconsin.
He's been showing at county fairs since he was in early grade school. His steer Ted is a orange-golden Simmental breed and has showgirl eyelashes, thanks to genetics that give him two layers of lashes.
Now Allen plans to study animal science at Black Hawk East in Kewanee, Ill., and be on the college's livestock judging team. The money he's received from Ted's sale will "definitely" help cover his school expenses, he said. Ted was sold to Johnson Tractor for $2,591.
The grand champion steer, the 1,307-pound Cruise (named after the popular "Florida Georgia Line" song), belonged to Nicole Witt, a 17-year-old entering her senior year at Monroe High School. Cruise was purchased by Craig Carter DDS for $3,921.
Like Allen, Witt's been participating in fairs since she was very young, from helping her older brother to entering on her own.
"I've always been around it," she said.
"All of the average per-pound prices for the large animals were up substantially from last year, and all the average price/pound paid for large animals were record highs," Mayer said in an email Sunday.
For kids participating in the 39th annual event, the payout is significant. Pigs averaged $4.22 per pound, up 82 cents from 2012 and almost seven times the current market price, according to Mayer. For sheep, the average auction price per pound was $6.31, up $1.27 per pound from last year and almost six times the current market price.
Steers averaged $1.92 per pound, up 31 cents from 2012.
The money is nice, but it's the educational journey each of the 4-H and FFA kids take to the auction barn that ultimately attracts buyers year after year. Participants in the auction are required to keep a record book of their income and expenses and train in meat quality assurance, animal husbandry and food safety. They also have to go out and meet with two buyers personally to discuss their project animal and invite the buyer to the fair.
This process is vital to teaching kids people skills and business skills, Mayer said, and directly results in the popularity of the auctions among buyers.
Mayer calls this "learning by doing."
Kade Allen, who won reserve champion this year for his 1,329 steer Ted, has lived a lifetime of learning by doing, the fair way. He's only 18 and a few months out of high school but already he's helping run a 100-cow farm in northern Wisconsin.
He's been showing at county fairs since he was in early grade school. His steer Ted is a orange-golden Simmental breed and has showgirl eyelashes, thanks to genetics that give him two layers of lashes.
Now Allen plans to study animal science at Black Hawk East in Kewanee, Ill., and be on the college's livestock judging team. The money he's received from Ted's sale will "definitely" help cover his school expenses, he said. Ted was sold to Johnson Tractor for $2,591.
The grand champion steer, the 1,307-pound Cruise (named after the popular "Florida Georgia Line" song), belonged to Nicole Witt, a 17-year-old entering her senior year at Monroe High School. Cruise was purchased by Craig Carter DDS for $3,921.
Like Allen, Witt's been participating in fairs since she was very young, from helping her older brother to entering on her own.
"I've always been around it," she said.