Fair culminates with auction
Months of raising livestock culminated this weekend with the California Mid-Winter Fair & Fiesta livestock auction.
Bidders nodded and signaled as youths sold their prized cavies, poultry, rabbits, market goats, feeder calves, swine, sheep and beef.
The smaller animals took the ring Friday with swine, sheep and beef on Saturday.
Brawley FFA club member John Cummings and Buster were prized with the Supreme Champion honor and netted $12 a pound at auction. Morgan Veysey of M&M 4-H and Cutie Pie were named Junior Champion during the week and netted $20 a pound, the highest two auction sales for beef.
Cummings, doing FFA for six years showing steer, netted the highest auction sale price he’s ever gotten.
“My second year showing steers got the same thing,” he said of winning the Supreme Champion honor.
“That’s the best we’ve ever gotten,” he said of the $12-per-pound auction sale this year.
“It was pretty good,” said Cummings. “It came down to us two, we’ve been steer buddies from the very beginning (Veysey).”
Veysey home-grew her steer and wasn’t expecting a high finish.
“I’m honestly really shocked. He was homegrown and I never thought I would ever get Junior Champion with a homegrown steer but he came out as one of the best and I’m so proud of my baby,” she said.
Rounding out the day Saturday, Audrey Galindo of Mulberry 4-H and her Supreme Champion sheep was sold for $42.50 at the auction.
“I’m just so proud of him and how he did,” Galindo said. “I wasn’t expecting to do that well and so it’s great to know there’s people down here that support us.”
On Friday, Rose Fiorenza sold her Best-of-Breed cavie for $500. In poultry, Alyssa Hernandez sold her Supreme Champion poultry meat pen for $600.
While official numbers for the auction are yet to be finalized and can take up to a few days, those involved in the auction feel it was a good year overall.
“We haven’t had one that hasn’t sold for the average,” said Joe Montenegro who is on the fair Board of Directors. “You compare the price per pound of the animals here, compared to other major fairs and they’re basically at base price ... we’re a couple dollars above that.”
Montenegro said the cycle of the participants and businesses that purchase the animals contributes to the entire community.
“A lot of these kids that you see are kids that are going to (college) and they use part of that money to finance their education and now they’re coming back and helping us,” Montenegro said. “The generosity of these folks in the Imperial County overwhelms me.”