Virtual livestock auction to help students raise money
Event allows Porter County 4-H members to participate in sale despite county fair’s cancellation
David King, a 10-year 4-H member, has had to do with local shows for his cattle, swine and goats.
Normally this week, he would have been doing that at the Porter County Fair, which drew tens of thousands of visitors to the fairgrounds each year to check out the animals, eat traditional fair foods, and catch a few rides and maybe a band or other live entertainment.
With the COVID-19 pandemic shutting down fairs across the state, organizers of the fair here set up an online auction to take the place of the usual “celebration sale” held at the end of each fair, where 4-H members auctioned off their animals to earn money back toward their education and to invest in livestock for the coming year.
The virtual auction, limited to one animal per member, offers the chance to support 4-H members to a larger crowd who might not otherwise go to the auction, as well as offer locally raised food that could stock a freezer for the year, a 4-H official said.
Jonathan Kraft, committee chair for the celebration sale and business owner and lead auctioneer for Kraft Auction Service, which is handling the sale, said he expects some bidders will be willing to pay more for the livestock given the situation for 4-H members while other bidders will be looking for a way to fill their freezers for a good price with locally raised food while also helping out local kids.
“This is a good opportunity,” he said, adding 153 animals are up for sale, a little more than half of the number sold each year at the celebration sale and in group lots ahead of the sale combined.
The cancellation of the fair, said King, 18, of Morgan Township, “was rough at first” and King was upset about it but the local shows in the area have helped because he was raising the livestock anyway.
He decided to sell a goat during the online auction, adding 4-H members are “very fortunate” Kraft Auction Service is offering the sale.
“There’s a lot of places not having an auction at all,” said King, a member of the Morgan Township Volunteer Fire Department who plans on going to Ivy Tech Community College for paramedic science and fire science.
“It’s going to be very different
but it will be nice to get a little bit of a kickback,” he said, adding it’s not all about the money.
He usually sells four or five animals at the fair — a steer, a couple of pigs and a few goats. King decided on the goat from a business standpoint, because he purchased the steer in the fall and the pigs in the spring and has invested less in the goat.
As a backup, when the pandemic started, he got butcher dates in late July and September, respectively for the steer and the swine, “and then it turned out to be good,” King added.
Organizers limited the auction to one animal per 4-H member for logistical reasons in holding the first virtual event, Kraft said, and to make it easier for more kids to participate.
“We tried to make it fair to get everyone in,” he added.
Kraft and his wife, Anna, who also sits on the auction committee, suggested the virtual event, said Cheri Birky, who sits on the committee with them.
“It was a good fit,” Birky said, “It was their idea to give it a try. These kids put so much time and money into their projects. This is a great way for them to maybe recoup some of their losses.”
The virtual auction, she said, is new territory for everyone, including the 4-H members, the organizers and the buyers, and organizers don’t know what to expect but hope buyers pitch in during a difficult time.
The 4-H members, she said, “are totally innocent in this whole virus thing,” and many of them were torn about purchasing swine in March when the pandemic took off. Some of the members were able to cut their losses and some weren’t.
“It’s been a lesson for a lot of these kids. 4-H is more than having an animal, taking it to the fair and the auction. They had to make some difficult decisions,” she said, adding the auction also is a way to honor 10-year members going without that recognition because of the cancellation of the fair. “It’s their last hurrah.”
Kraft, who has been chair of the celebration sale committee for four years and involved with the auction for almost 15 years, expects the virtual auction to last two and a half or three hours.
“It should be a fun time for everyone,” he said.
The virtual celebration sale takes place at 6 p.m. Thursday. For more information or to register to bid and view the online catalog, go to www. portercountyfair.com/celebration sale.