Monday, July 24, 2000
Livestock auction is a learning experience
By Michelle Reiter
Staff Writer
For all the cows and bunny rabbits whose carefree lives end the moment they're put up for auction, another child learns the value of dedication and hard work.
That's the platform the FFA and 4-H livestock auction is built on. The two youth groups offer kids aged 8-18 an opportunity to sell an animal they have fed and cared for for several months or longer. According to Becky Shellhammer, one of the auction's coordinators, some are sold for $200 or more.
The kids not only receive the money from the auction, but also the commercial price for whatever animal they sold, which is provided by area businesses.
Most of the sum the kids collect in the end they get to keep.
Shellhammer said a small percentage of the profit is taken out to pay for next year's auction ads, but the kids keep the rest of the money and typically put it either towards college or towards another animal for next year's fair.
The money is not only well spent, it's well earned, Shellhammer said, for the kids' work starts in early spring.
The kids buy most of the animals around March or April - depending on the animal they're raising - and care for them according to 4-H/FFA regulations until it's time to go to auction.
Not only do the kids take over the care and feeding of their respective animals, but as part of the FFA/4-H project guidelines, they must keep charts and list production costs, labor input and management practices.
Finally, the kids go through an interview, where they show off and explain the project they've been working on.
The finished project - along with the animal itself - is reviewed by the organization which awards scholarships, awards and other benefits to kids.
For the auction, animals are separated into "large" and "small" categories. Lambs, goats and rabbits are sold at the small-animal auction, and steer, feeder calves and hogs are sold at the large-animal auction.
A two-animal limit is usually placed on each child, which allows them to have one animal in each category if they choose.
The kids then show their own animals, and, like at any auction, the product of their hard work is sold to the highest bidder.
Most of the purchases are made by businesses which then send them to market, Shellhammer said, where they are slaughtered and sold. Individuals from the community also buy animals at the auction, and these purchases often go directly to their dinner tables.
"People like to know where the meat is coming from," Shellhammer said. "They like to know it's fresh."
Because of the regulations involved in the auction project animals, they are also a guaranteed product, Shellhammer's husband, Mike, said. There are a variety of tricks that can make an auction animal look healthier than they actually are, he said.
One is feeding it vegetable oil, which can make the coats look glossier. This is against auction rules, as well as injecting the animal with any kind of medication to ward off sickness.
By following rules like these, the auction benefits both the kids and the community.
"This helps benefit the youth of Seneca County," Shellhammer stressed, adding that their own daughter - now 2 years old - will one day participate in the auctions.
For now, she is learning the ropes from an older cousin, who lets her help show her steer.
Both the small-animal auction and farmer bid for feeder calves will be held 2 p.m. Sunday - the first in the Lamb and Pig Barn and the second in the Beef and Dairy Barn. The large animal auction will be 9 a.m. the last Monday of the fair in the Cattle Barn.