For the first time in Cass County (Mich.) history, a heifer was sold as the grand champion beef ani-mal last Thursday in Cassopolis during the Cass County Fair.
Hudson High of Decatur had the honor of showing the bovine and sold it for $7 a pound to Pam Carpenter. The heifer weighed in at 1,260 pounds. In total, High received $9,235.
Allie Conrod of Sturgis took home $3.50 per pound for her reserve champion market beef animal, a steer, that weighed 1,405. She sold it to Ber-rybrook Farms for the $4,942.50 total.
In dairy beef, Kole Sparks of Marcellus won both grand and reserve champion overall. He sold both animals at auction, receiving $2.35 per pound ($3,936.50) for his 1,590-pound grand champion, and $2.45 per pound ($3,344.25) for his 1,365-pound reserve champion. Poehlman's Farms paid the high bid for the grand champion, and Tone's Trucking Inc. purchased the reserve.
Buyers paid $252,082.25 for 53 beef and dairy beef animals.
Julia Klein of Marcellus raked in $5.25 a pound for her grand champion dairy feeder calf from BW Farms. At 575 pounds, the calf brought in a total of $3,318.25. The reserve champion was exhibited by Evan Schmucker, also of Marcellus, who sold the 478-pound Holstein calf to Klein Farm for $3 a pound ($2,034).
The lamb show was dominated by Katherine Gregory of Edwardsburg. She sold both the grand and reserve champion lambs to buyers, receiving $5 a pound ($680) for the 136-pound grand champion from Pier Perfection Co. and $425 a pound ($548.25) for the 129-pound reserve champion from the same company.
The dairy club sold a gallon of milk for a collective $13,985 from buyers (see list). The amount was split among the club members to support their individual pro-jects based on their achievement for the year. This year, the supreme champion exhibitor was Carlee Cady of Decatur.
In the swine sale, Jackson Whitmyer of Cassopolis sold the grand champion market hog, a gilt. It weighed 289 pounds, bringing in a high bid of $6 per pound ($1,814). Buyers in-clude: Butch Bender and Community Mills. Ella Boulanger of Cassopolis raked in $8.50 for her 286-pound reserve champion market hog and gilt. Footing the $2,481 bill were Boulanger Farms, RPS Ser-vice and Shane Shidler of Edward Jones.
In all, 123 swine sold at the auction, bringing in $179,191.25 for youth exhibitors.
The small animal sale turned 124 rabbits, earning $52,270; 65 goats for $44,655; 60 chickens, $30,200; one dozen eggs, $1,500; 46 ducks, $25,100; and 17 turkeys, $8,025.
Emma Carlisle of Cassopolis sold the grand champion market broiler in the chicken sale last Saturday at the Cass County (Mich.) Fair. It brought in $450 from Tone's Trucking Inc./Tone family. The reserve champion was sold by Annabell Bent of Marcellus to Chad Geoit for $450. Add-ons bumped her profit up to $625.
The grand champion market roaster was purchased by Rolling Acres Farm and Plymouth Glass Co. They paid $1,000 to exhibitor Charles Schmeltz. Lane Leach of Cas-sopolis took the reserve champion title and walked away from the auction $950 richer with the sale of his bird to buyers Jonathan Leach, Anna Leach, Rogers Rentals and Prestly Photog-raphy.
Colton Sobieski and Brynley Solloway, both of Cassopolis, showed the grand and re-serve champion market heavyweight chickens, respectively. Sobieski earned $1,675 from Joe and An-gie Sobieski, Steve and Tina Tucker, and Dragginfly Enterprise. Solloway took home $1,300 paid by Bou-langer Farms, U.S. Business Systems and Diamond Lake Day Care.
Two grand champion rabbits were sold at the auction. Dowagiac's Cheyenne Wilson exchanged the top fryer for $1,300 from Nemgel's Watercress Farm, Amanda Wilson, Wyatt Wilson, Smith Family, W&W Tree Service and Dan Wilson. Emma Fankhauser, champion roaster exhibitor from Lawton, received $650 from B&Q Ma-chine Inc. for her rabbit.
Reserve champions exhibitors selling at the auction included: Jaley Vaughn of Dowagiac and Schmeltz. Vaughn walked away $500 richer with the sale of his reserve cham-pion fryer to B&Q Machine Inc., and Schmeltz sold his roaster to Rolling Acres Farm for $1,500.
Gregory returned in the small animal auction with the grand champion meat goat, sell-ing it for $1,600 to Pier Perfection Co. and Dave and Terri Fryman. The reserve champion was shown by Elaine Starr of Niles, who earned $500 from Fashion Gurlz and Your Space Storage in the sale.
Starr also sold her grand champion crossbred market goat for $550 to R.B. Trucking. The reserve champion was purchased by Walther Farms, who paid $525 to Cassopolis exhibitor Ethan Her-ring.
Blane Belakovich of Dowagiac exchanged his grand champion dairy goat for $400 from RJ and Samantha Lee, while Madison Marshall of Lawton took home $300 with the sale of the reserve champion to Your Space Storage and Fashion Gurlz.
The poultry project sold a dozen eggs to U.S. Business Systems for $1,500.
The Randolph siblings of Cato, N.Y. competed for the top prize in the tom turkey show, with Adaline receiving the grand champion title and Remington coming up close behind with reserve. Adaline sold her turkey to CGI Detailing for a $775 total, and Remington earned $525 with the sale of her reserve champion. Wyatt Wilson of Dowagiac exhibited the grand champion hen and sold it to Jim and Ora Sherman for $850.
Kameron Holmes of Dowagiac and Mackenzie Schuur of Marcellus sold the top two ducks in the small animal sale. Holmes pocketed $450 from Paul and Kathryn Kent for his grand champion duck and Shuur sold the reserve for $700 to five buyers. They include: Mathew and Lauren Wilds, Red Bull Ranch, Your Space Storage, Fashion Gurlz and Tone's Trucking Inc.
In total, 584 small and large animals walked through the auction ring, bringing in $775,736.50. Last year, 730 animals brought in $752,506.90 in bids.
Buyer List
• Gallon of Milk: We Got Milk/Jenna Rickett, Mike and Leslie Bradley, Cass County Farm Bureau, Dussel's Farm Market, Jake's Country Meats, McDonald Underground, Ber-rybrook Farms, Greenmark Equipment Union, Wayne High Farms, Gold Coast Sales, Ausra Farms/Terry Ausra, Southwestern Michigan College, Livestock System Solutions, Cameron Hayden, Hayden's Hillside, Fedore Veterinary Services, Klein Farm, Maplewood Farms, Kelsey Lake Farms, Makg's Show Pigs, Matt and Brooke Osbeck, Zach Lock, Walther Farms, Dean and Glenda Hass, Hardings Mar-ket, Wally Works for You, Keystone Co-op, Hillside Farms/RJ and Samantha Lee and Katie and Cody Stick, Erick's Carpet Cleaning, James Hershberger family, Waldschmidt Farms LLC, Quality Mason-ry Inc., Matthew and Lauren Wilds, McKenzie Highlands, Good Lyfe Farms, Scott's Pig Roast, Bau-er Farm, Pikeview Belgians, Grabemeyer Farm, Elden Kuehl/Beck's Seed/Elden Kueul, Andy Ausra Farms, C. Wimperly Auto Group GMC, Grabemeyer Farm, David and Cindy Gleason, Karter and Kaleigh Isabell, Koontz-Wagner Services, Greenstone Farm Credit Service, WJW Flatwork, Marty and Amanda Smego, Obrien Farm/John and Carol Obrien, Dan and Sara Gleason, Big Tony's Pizzeria, Burnips Equipment Co. Three Rivers, Robinson-Seelye Farms, Jim and Michelle Sylvester, Chad Yordy, Blake Hartsell, Keith and Karen Hartsell, Kurt and Sara Hartsell, High Quality Farms, Brett and Bailey Bowman, Christianson Industries, Conklin Farms, Fashion Gurlz, CGI Detailing, Your Space Storage, Isa-bel's Outdoor Lawncare, Oakwood Farms, Bergman Small Animal PC, Jeff and Lisa Withers, Poeh-lman's Farms, Midwest Energy and Communications, Greg's Dock Service, Herb and Joyce Miller, Heinhold Hog Market, H&H Feed and Grain, Reed, Ed and Kelly, Christopher and Rachel Reed, The Faux Blonde, Dennis and Jamie Peterson, Cass Construction, Integra Ag, Deubner family, Sam and Jenna Rickett, Diamond Lake Day Care, Tyler Ambs, and Steensma family