Community supports Junior Livestock Auction
Heritage Animal sold Saturday
The community support shown to the Porterville Fair is one of the hallmarks of the event over its 70-year existence. And, no day or event over the five days displays that more than Saturday when the Junior Livestock Auction and its buyers from the surrounding area take center stage.
Porterville Fair Executive Board President Mitch Brown welcomed everyone to the auction and spent some time helping the auctioneers recognize the buyers, many of which he knew personally because of his and their many years supporting the fair, such as Casey Tharp of EM Tharp, John Corkins of Corkins Farms and Research For Hire, and Mike Bennett of Home Realty and Land Co., just to name a few.
“I’ve been here for 10 to 15 years now,” Brown said. “I went through the fair as a participant and my kids have been through it. Now it’s my turn to give back.
“It takes a community to make this go. We could not do this without this community coming together,” he said
More and more animals are sold each year at the fair and this year 364 lots, besting the previous year’s total of 345, went through the auction that began at shortly after 9 a.m. Saturday morning with the heifers, followed by the grand champions. The number of lots is the
second most animals sold at the fair since 2000. The record is 384.
Last year the livestock auction, generated a record $593,335 in sales and there was a feeling 2018 would top that when the bidding concluded Saturday afternoon. The grand total for the 2018 auction and Heritage Animal were not available prior to publication.
Prices were good most of the day, but when they lagged, the livestock sale committee could dip into the add-ons to bring up prices. Add-ons are what people donate to the sale, but are not for any particular animal.
The Junior Livestock Auction is culmination of months of work that began with selecting and buying the young animal and raising it for the fair. Kids between the ages of 9 and 18 raise and show their animals at the fair either as a part of 4-H or FFA.
The lessons that are learned are valuable.
“They learn how to buy it right, feed it right and then here we try to get them money for their animals so they can buy another one next year and keep that process going,” Brown said. “They learn how to be in business.”
At noon, the Heritage Animal, a 250 pound hog raised and shown by Tanner Nuckols of Strathmore High School FFA, was sold for $29,250. That tally was expected to be even higher as people were allowed to add-on into Saturday evening. Last year the Heritage Animal generated about $22,000 for the fair.
“I can’t thank you enough for all of you supporting this fair,” Brown said.
Along with the notoriety that comes with raising the Heritage Animal, Nuckols receives a scholarship as well, which will help as the senior enrolls in college in the fall in pursuit of a bachelor’s in Farm Management with a minor in Animal Science.
Nuckols is the fourth generation to show at the Porterville Fair. He is currently the Strathmore FFA chapter president. Last year he received his State FFA Degree and is expected to apply for his American Farmer Degree next year. He has participated in the Tulare County Farm Bureau Youth Leadership Program for three years and is a Porterville Junior Fair Board Member.
Proceeds from the Heritage Animal sale go toward reducing the debt of the fair.
The grand champions, which were selected Thursday night, almost always draw the top dollars. The Grand Champion Heifer of Levis Davis of Porterville FFA sold for $2,500.
The Grand Champion Meat Pen of Chickens shown by Nisiah Martinez of Prairie Center 4-H sold for $750. Strathmore FFA Ricky Loftin’s Grand Champion Market Hog went for $45 a pound. The Grand Champion Steer of Brittany Hefner was sold for $7.50 a pound.
Ty Lewis of Waukena 4-H saw his Grand Champion Market Lamb go for $14 per pound. Jake Lewis of Waukena 4-H sold his Grand Champion Market Goat for $8 a pound.
The Grand Champion Rabbit Meat Pen shown by Lucas Gemmell of Burton 4-H was sold for $600.
The importance of the Junior Livestock Auction and its buyers was not lost on the young exhibitors.
“It gives me the chance to sell my rabbits and make money so I can do it again next year,” said Alison Cizek, of Porterville FFA.
Saturday and Sunday were the final two days of the fair. In addition to the Junior Livestock Auction on Saturday, country singer Wade Hayes performed Saturday night on the BUD Stage.