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ASHLAND — The auctioneer’s rapid calls bounced around the Ashland County Fairgrounds Coliseum Friday morning.
Auctioneer Andy White began the day with a reminder of what stood behind every animal in the ring.
“Ladies and gentlemen, the slogan is, ‘Behind every animal is a dream worth backing.’ Today, you have the opportunity to support 627 dreams,” White said.
The fair’s success happened inside the Ashland County Fairgrounds Coliseum. The 627 Junior Fair exhibitors brought their animals to the annual Junior Fair Livestock Auction to show off their hard work.
The one-day, two-ring auction started at 8:30 a.m.
The first round started with the Sale of Champions, featuring rabbits, chickens, turkeys, goats, lambs, hogs, baby beef and market steers.
The sale is through months of work for the young exhibitors. Buyers bid on animals throughout the day, supporting the 4-H members and the work they put into raising and showing their projects.
Market hogs and chickens entered the rings around 9:15 a.m. Rabbits followed at 10:15 a.m. Market goats started around 11 a.m. Baby beef, market steers, dairy animals, turkeys and lambs filled the schedule through the afternoon.
Some animals sold by the pound. Others sold by the head.
The auctioneer kept the pace quick as buyers placed bids and exhibitors watched their months of work finally pay off.
Exhibitors Parker and Bria White spent months working toward their own dreams. They also spent the summer competing against each other.
A little sibling rivalry did not hurt.
It may have even helped the two sisters earn Grand Champion and Reserve Grand Champion at the Junior Livestock Auction.
Parker’s lamb, Juno, earned Grand Champion market lamb. Bria’s lamb, Ozzy, earned Reserve Grand Champion.
The sisters raised both lambs at home after they were born in mid-December.
“We raised them from babies, so we lambed them out at our house,” Parker said.
The White family raises about 20 ewes each year. The family also uses embryo transfer in its breeding program. This year’s Grand and Reserve Champion lambs came from that program.
Bria said the results fulfilled a goal she carried for years.
“It’s a goal, especially for me, I’ve had for years — to come here and win Grand and Reserve,” Bria said.
The sisters worked with their lambs throughout the summer. Neither were willing to give the other an easy win.
“There definitely was lots of competition, all summer long,” Parker said.
That competition ended with Parker and Bria standing side by side in the Coliseum. Their lambs held the top two spots in the Sale of Champions lamb show.
Juno and Ozzy each sold for $30 per pound.
The sale brought a bittersweet ending to months of raising and preparing the lambs. The sisters spent much of the year caring for animals they knew they would eventually have to sell.
Still, the auction gave them a chance to see the fruits of their labor.
The Junior Fair Livestock Auction may have marked the end of one project, but it started the beginning of another year of dreams, hard work and maybe a little more sibling rivalry.
See more photos from the Junior Fair Livestock Auction:
