Kaleb Dausman, holding the goat, was among the 4-H’ers participating in the annual sale of champions at the 2015 Kosciusko County Fair. Dausman sold milk from his Grand Champion Senior Doe. The milk was sold to Louis Dreyfus Commodities for $1,450. The total sale last year brought in $417,544.28.

WARSAW— The annual 4-H Livestock Auction is set to begin at 10 a.m. Friday, July 15, with the sale of champions beginning at 7 p.m.

The auction is the culmination of a year of hard work and dedication of more than 400 4-H animal exhibitors in Kosciusko County. Through the projects, 4-H’ers learn valuable life skills and lessons. The auction is the final step for their projects and the lesson about marketing.

The auction begins promptly at 10 a.m. and poultry members will be back in the auction with 4-H’ers selling birds. The auction continues with no breaks through the following order: sheep, goat, poultry and waterfowl, dairy and beef steers, dairy calf feeder steers, rabbit, dairy, swine, pork loins and ribeyes.

Buyers may register at the 4-H office at the fairgrounds starting at 8 a.m. Friday, July 17, but can register anytime during fair week at the 4-H office.

The 2015 sale total was $412,105.28 with an additional $5,439 from the buyers support group for a grand total of $417,544.28. There were 475 lots sold during the auction.

The number of lots were down by 83 from 2014, primarily due to the absence of poultry. Additionally the total dollars were down $20,130.51 from 2014. The previous sale total record was in 2014 raising $437,674.79 and the record number of total lots sold was also in 2014, with 558 lots.

Last year was the inaugural year for the 4-H dairy lease program, increasing the number of members in the dairy project. The program has grown by nine 4-H’ers for 2015.

The Sale of Champions includes the grand and/or reserve grand champion animals of each species. The king and queen kisses will also be sold during this sale. The Sale of Champions will follow the same sale order as the regular auction.

Individuals may opt to add a set dollar amount for a specific 4-H’er’s animal. This can be accomplished by filling out an add-on slip in the 4-H office during the week of the fair, in addition to the day of the auction.
Sale bills will be available at the 4-H office at the fairgrounds or on www.ag.purdue.edu/counties/kosciusko.