Our county fair is bigger than our state fair, both in entries and visitors to the fair. But Del Mar in July is much nicer than Sacramento in July. Our fair does not have any programs for buying animals or setting prices at auction, your on your own. They do do allot of Scholarship programs, most of that if funded by animals burchased then donated back to the scholarship program, these animals are then sold for a set price per pound.
Our county fair grand got more than the state fair grand this year. Average price on beef was 3 a pound GC went for 13 reserve for 12. Rich kids, no, kids that had made a good impressions on the people they had came in contact with, you could look at their animals and see the work they had put into them, I know for a fact the grand was purchased for $1800 out of the pasture. The buyers talked about the kids and not the animals, when I spoke to them.
Most of our buyers are there for 2 things to support the kids and put meat in the locker, blue ribbon animals only sell and you may only sell one animal in the auction (unless you have champion or reserve)
My boss/ best friend's (since we met in 4H in the 70's) family has been purchasing animals at the fair for over 50 years. I know for a fact that one year he spent $45,000 on animals he bought 3 steers, one of which was sent to the scholarship program, no one bid on it he bought it for average, he did the same on 8 hogs, 4 sheep, and I believe a goat that year. He took home 2 steers, 2 hogs and a veal. He makes a practice of bidding on every animal he receives a letter on, he does not buy every animal but will bid, if they take off then he lets them go.
I have taken home beef I did not need because a could not stand to see the kid sit in the ring and not get a bid, I started it off, bid myself up twice and ended up buying it. She did not make much but she did come to me and thank me for helping her out that day. I all so received a thank you letter later that summer.
To combat the the risk of losing money, one of the FFA groups in the county presales all their calves, they show them but do not run them through auction. Kids do not make as much but then they do not run the risk of losing either. They buy commercial calves, feed them commercial feed, keep all their imputes down, they will not win a show or a class for that matter but they make money.
We have a smaller fair that runs about a month after county, we used to take our second animal up there to show and sell. A more local deal, we would show up early help build pens , clean up trash, whatever they asked, but come auction time our kids got on the low side of average.
We were not locals, we still sold them they made some money, we knew the deal going in. After several years of doing it the kids started getting better money, people up there started recognizing their name from the year before and they made friends with the local kids, met the other kids parents, left an impression.
My youngest is now in college and doing great, gets his work done and if it takes him an all nightie he does it, I contribute allot of his work ethic to his livestock projects, work first play after. He did not learn that from the check he got at the end, or the ribbons, banners, or buckles, it was more from the experience and memories from those years.
The last thing I have to say is I have about 6 or 7 people I consider close friends, everyone of them was from 4H and FFA, some live far away others close, but anyone of them could call and ask for help or I could do the same, we would all be there for the one that needed it. That is what I think the projects are about.
