I have not been on steerplanet in months, and to be honest, I only scanned the responses to this, but...I have three kids- 13-year-old twins and a 10-year-old.
First, it DOES take a while to get known in your county, but you will! Unfortunately, like almost everything in life (including school, sports, employment, etc) there is a certain amount of politics involved in 4-H and showing. You may not like it, and neither do I, but that's life and no amount of complaining is going to change that. The 4-H sale (whether it is a premium only sale, or the buyer actually takes the animal) is about recognition/advertisement for the buyers and about giving back to patrons of their business over the past year. And sometimes, the buyer just simply wants to donate to the 4-H program, no matter whose steer he buys. Most generally, the buyers feel good about helping out a kid and it is an added bonus that their business gets recognition for that!
There is one boy who wins the steer show at our county fair regularly (maybe not every year, but close to it). He is a great kid and a very hard worker. For whatever reason, it appears that some people in the county don't care for his family. (Perhaps they are jealous?) His calf is NEVER the top selling the calf- not even close. There is another boy who shows barrows. His father is a local businessman. His barrow ALWAYS sells double and triple of any swine there, no matter what his placing was in the show!
My kids ALWAYS write letters, make phone calls, and may even visit buyers in person before the week of the fair. Usually these are businesses in which their dad patronizes, but sometimes we include other buyers as well. The kids tell the buyers (either in letter, by phone, or in person) who they are. They thank the buyers for supporting 4-H in their county, even if they have never purchased one of our steers. Then the kids ask the buyer to support 4-H again this year by coming to the annual sale and the kids request that they buyer bids on their steer, if they are able. Usually, this is the place where we buy feed for our steers, the place where we buy tractor parts, where we bank, etc. My husband buys and sells EVERY cow at a sale barn that is not even in our county, and he has done so for years. My kids always write a letter and/or call them. One of the sale barn owners ALWAYS makes a special point to come buy one of our steers! They have even made arrangements to send someone else to buy our steer when they were also having a sale that day. This year, they purchased two of our steers at the sale.
You might not be farmers, but you have to buy feed for your steer somewhere. Have your child write them a letter. Pay attention at the sale and learn who the buyers are. Someone from the sale committee can help you with this or someone from your extension center. It does not have to be someone that you do business with, but you might be surprised who is there buying. For example, the local bank, the local grocery store, etc. My kids even write letters to our State Representative and Senator, because they usually come to the sale. They usually buy a baked goods item, but my kids still write them letters.
If I notice a particular buyer before the sale starts (especially one that we have written a letter to), either my husband or I and the kids will go over to them, thank them for coming, and again ask that they bid on our steer if they can. I also pay attention to who bids while my child and their calf is in the sale ring. After the calf sales, my husband or I and that child go to the buyer and thank them. We also go to everyone who bid on the calf and thank them for bidding on it. We definitely send the buyer a thank-you note in the mail after the sale.
Around here, everyone puts little "ads" in the local newspaper, also thanking each buyer. Again, this is recognition. We have a local business that makes really nice wooden plaques with engraved brass plates. They are really nice and not that expensive. I purchased a plaque for each business that bought one of our steers this year, because my husband has long-time relationships with all each buyer. They have the 4-H clover on them, the year, they business name, and my child's name. They say something like "Thank you for purchasing my market steer and thank you for supporting the 4-H program." The business then hung the plaque on their wall for all of their customers to see.
Good luck to you!
