As you may or may not know our 4-H members are counting down the days to fair. Our livestock and poultry members have been feeding, grooming, exercising and weighing to get ready for the big day. They have very specific weight requirements to meet. Thanks to Wynn Auer for donating our livestock scales (which are accurate enough to weigh a 3lb chicken) these requirements will be easier to meet this year. In years past we have had members that could not participate in the auction due to not meeting these weight restrictions.
Our weigh in is on Wednesday, April 16th (keep your fingers crossed). We have one pig that is barely going to make weight. Thursday is the market class, where animals are judged on their conformation. Friday is showman ship, where the members are judged on their ability to show their animal. And finally our awards presentation and auction is on Saturday, April 9.
To summarize how all this works our members spend about $350.00 on a show hog (their goal is to win Grand Champion), another $300.00 on show feed containing no less than 19% protein, then a finisher to soften them up and add finish or a desired amount of fat. So you can see they have a lot invested into the success of their project. Not to mention they are walking them and exercising them daily. You can help support their efforts by the following:
A) Donating bonus money to offset the cost, $25.00 minimum is set by the Jr. Livestock Association. The CCJLA does not guarantee a buyer for these kids, so this bonus money is a life saver for many of them.
B) Bidding via silent auction, where you do not have to be present but agree to pay so much per pound ($2.75-$4.00 depending on how they place in their show is about the going rate). The Auctioneer will start the bid at the price that has been committed. You may be outbid by someone attending the auction.
C) You can commit to total sale price regardless of weight, which is between 230 and 280 lbs. For example you may say I will pay a total of $800.00 for your pig.
D) Or, you can attend the auction and participate in the live bidding. It is very exciting and for those of you who have never participated it is an event you just have to attend.
The members pay for the butcher and the wrap and will deliver your pork ready for the Bar-B-Q.
For our poultry members all the above applies except for a few things. This is the first year the fair has opened registration for a market pen and only the Grand and Reserve Champion will go through the auction. The 4-H Council and CCJLA have selected only twelve members in the county to participate in this first time event and we have two of our own Sandy Valley 4-H members participating, Nicole Bangs and Chasen Young. The market pens of poultry will be exhibited in the small animal barn and sold via silent auction where spectators can drop a total sale bid into the box. You do not have to be present to bid in this way. You can commit to a price and have your name and amount submitted for you. Chickens will be sold in a pen of three and will be delivered to you live. You can process them yourself as you desire.
We also have our Navajo Wool members that will be submitting their projects for judging. They have felted, sewn and weaved their creations. This is a first time project for our fair and we are looking forward to seeing them all succeed. Our club will also be participating in the demonstration contest, educational display, judging and many other exhibits and events.
Our fair has not yet been able to include the horsemanship members due to limited space. They promote a PRCA Rodeo and can not spare any arena time. Many of them however, do participate in demonstrations and other contests and events.
We wish all of our members luck at fair this year. But our prayers have to be with the numerous project leaders, volunteers and parents that are asking themselves at this very moment “What did I get myself into”. For those of you that have not had the opportunity to participate, 4-H is an extremely time involved program that requires many dedicated and selfless volunteers. We are creating the leaders of tomorrow and teaching these life skills is a long and tedious task. Thanks to all of you that have made this possible for us and our members. We will keep you posted on our success.
