Auction Was Spot On
Record setting year for the event
“Sold!” — That word was shouted out again and again by auctioneers Justin Mebane and Chad Souza on Saturday during the 74th Porterville Fair Jr. Livestock Auction at the Porterville Fairgrounds. The sale lasted through the afternoon as the scheduled 264 Lots of market animals, ranging from chicken and rabbit meat pens, lambs and goats, to hogs, bred Heifers, and steer hitting the auction block. And by the time the auction ended, it was a total success.
“The 2022 Porterville Fair Junior Livestock Sale was another outstanding sale — with approximately 30.5 percent of the money for the sale recorded as add-on monies outside of the sale ring,” said Susie Godfrey, Porterville Fair Manager.
The amount represents a total add-on value of $199,812.03 of the total sale receipts of $654,275.55 for 262 animals, Godfrey said, adding all numbers are still considered preliminary until the numbers are audited.
In 2019 there were 308 animals with a gross sale of $518,420.67 — or 46 less animals and close to $136,000 less than this year’s gross.
“It was a record-setting year with less animals,” said Godfrey. “It was a great, great year. We had record-breaking at the gate, record-breaking for the carnival. People were ready to get up and mingle again. And we’re happy they chose to do it here.”
The bidding for the Jr. Livestock auction started with Caiden Wallace of Springville leading his Grand Champion Commercial Bred Heifer up a ramp onto the auction ring. And it didn’t take long for the Porterville High School sophomore to hear “Sold! For $4,200.”
The Reserve Grand Champion Commercial Bred Heifer was shown by Camille Hyder, also from Springville. Her 4H
project sold for $2,000.
And Lot 3 was the last of the bred Heifers — with Brody Davis, another PHS sophomore from Porterville FFA — walking away with a $1,600 high bid, and bringing up the total for the three Heifers to $7,800.
Lots 4 to 9 held the rest of the Grand Champion animals taking the total to $47,360 for the Grand Champion animals alone.
“It’s down (in animals) a little overall but it is good to see the fair back and the auction back (in person) and the community supporting it,” said Monache Ag instructor Christie Bennett.
Many in attendance echoed the same sentiments and talked of the benefits of having a project fair animal.
“This gives the students a chance to show their livestock,” said Courtney Castle, Saucelito FFA advisor. “Our seventh and eighth graders can now show. It is feed management, flock health, and working together as a team. The students also worked on writing letters and learned about marketing their project.”
As the auction continued, the young exhibitors could be seen brushing, washing, and blow drying their animals before walking animals down the aisles, towards the auction ring, before waiting in holding pens or areas, until their Lot number was up.
At noon, the Heritage kid, a 106-pound meat goat, entered the auction ring.
Exhibited by Lucy Flynn of Ducor 4-H, the kid was sold at $1.26 a pound for $136.74, not counting the add-ons — additional donations from supporters.
By the afternoon, the stands were still packed and the bidding was still going strong.
“We are still receiving donations towards this animal and the total the goat brought is approximately $13,500,” Godfrey said on Monday morning. “The Heritage Association generates revenue to the fair to reduce the debt for the building of the new fairgrounds. It is important that we continue to support the youth of our community through this unique scholarship program.”