—
The final event for 4-H’ers showing livestock at the annual Cass County 4-H Fair is always somewhat bittersweet.
The auction marks the culmination of a year-long project, raising an animal from a young age and training it to be shown in front of hundreds of people.
The flip side is that it marks the final moments the youths will have with the animals they spent hundreds of hours feeding, training and grooming for the annual competition.
According to fair officials, the auction of 257 animals netted $171,806.40.
Depending on the 4-H member, the money might go toward buying next year’s animal or toward college expenses.
Among the top selling animals were Isaak Mersch’s reserve grand champion steer, who sold for $4,410; Larissa Walker’s grand champion dairy steer, which went for $3,510; and her brother Conner’s reserve grand champion dairy steer, which was sold for $2,056. All three prices were records in the respective categories.
The 4-H’ers who sold animals paid 10 percent of the difference of their sale price and market value as part of the auction’s entry fee.
The 4-H association will use that money to make improvements at the fairgrounds.
One record set in Saturday’s auction was for a kiss from 2010 fair queen Sarah Robertson. The kiss, which she gave to her 3-year-old cousin, Jack Richason, went for $3,100 put up by a group of 18 people.
And congratulations are also in order for Erica Zartman, the outgoing Cass County fair queen, after her boyfriend, Evan Guckien, asked her to marry him on stage during the auction.
We’d like to thank those who bought animals at the auction. By taking part in this annual tradition, these civic-minded organizations and individuals helped to ensure a brighter future for some hard-working young people.
