Kerry Hyatt of Devlin was thrilled her 4-H steer earned the “Grand Champion” title during the Rainy River Valley Agricultural Society Fall Fair on the weekend, but she would have liked to see higher bids at Saturday’s auction.
At $2. 345/lb., her steer claimed one of the highest bids (from Landmark Feeds), along with Mitchell Haw whose steer cashed in at $2.35/lb. But it’s not the best prices they’ve had, as last year’s Grand Champion staked a $2.40/lb. bid.
“I think [the bids] were alright, but I know we’ve had better years,” she noted on Monday.
“They could have been a little better,” echoed Susan Irvine, who helped organize the auction. “The bids dropped off in the middle, but I’m just glad that we were able to sell them all.”
Hyatt’s steer earned her a total of $3,084, which she noted will be put towards her education when she heads back to Brandon, Manitoba’s Assiniboine Community College in the fall.
She is studying Agribusiness there, but has spent the past several months working at the Emo Agricultural Research Station to fulfill her co-operative education requirement.
So she is no stranger to the local ag-community or the 4-H club of which she has been a member since she was 10-years-old.
In fact, Hyatt took the Grand Champion title in 1999 and earned the Reserve Champion Market Steer title in 2005.
“I was really, really surprised,” she stressed of her accomplishment on the weekend. “I didn’t really have any expectations as to how high of a bid I would get, but my goal was to be in the top half of the group.”
Hyatt explained while there were a number of local businesses out at Saturday’s auction, it would be great to have even more support in the hopes of seeing some higher bids.
“If the kids had to pay for the animal themselves and the feed, some wouldn’t be making much money,” she noted, citing with feed costing about $1,000 for the year, about $800 for the animal, plus other costs, 4-H members are lucky to earn $1,000 auctioning off their steer.
But she added it’s not all about money—it’s also about the experience.
“I think it’s a good thing for kids to do because they learn, not just about cattle, but how to handle money, like calculating how much you spend feeding your animal,” said Hyatt. “It also gets kids involved in the community because the 4-H beef show is a big event in the community.”
First year 4-H member, Brandon Benjamin, also of Devlin, was named the Reserve Champion Market Steer, taking a $2.20/lb. bid from Kaemingh Fuel and bringing in $3,113.
And closely following Hyatt’s and Haw’s top amounts was Kevin Gemmell’s steer taking $2.265/lb.
While last year only two participants earned less than $1.70/lb. for their steer, this year five of the 27 steers went for less than that amount.
“Just talking to people, I heard some people were disappointed with the bids,” noted Hyatt. “But it just depends. A lot of businesses are based around the mill and it wasn’t stable for a little while. But things are looking better now, so maybe next year the bids will be higher.”
“We have great support from the local businesses,” added Irvine. “It’s great to have everyone come out.”
The results for the 2007 4-H beef show are as follows:
•Grand Champion Market Steer—Kerry Hyatt
•Reserve Champion Market Steer—Brandon Benjamin
•Grand Champion Showman (Hereford Association trophy)—Matt McQuaker
•Reserve Champion Showman (CIBC trophy)—Kevin Gemmell
•Grand Champion Heifer—Sarah Truelove
•Reserve Champion Heifer—Riley Caul
•Craig Advent Memorial Award—Samantha Stahn
Market Steer Open Show (First Weight Class)
•Champion First Weight Division—Brandon Benjamin
•Reserve Champion First Weight Division—Justin Benjamin
Market Steer Open Show (Second Weight Class)
•Champion Second Weight Division—Kerry Hyatt
•Reserve Champion Second Weight Division—Tegan Miller
Market Steer Open Show (Third Weight Class)
•Champion Third Weight Division—Ben Miller
•Reserve Champion Third Weight Division—Kylie Fileccia
Senior Beef Showman (four+ years of experience)
•Champion Senior Showman (Badiuk Equipment Ltd. trophy)—Matt McQuaker
•Reserve Senior Showman—Kevin Gemmell
Intermediate Beef Showman (three years of experience)
•Champion Intermediate Beef Showman (ETA Contracting trophy)—Samantha Stahn
•Reserve Champion Intermediate Beef Showman—Tyler Nielson
Junior Beef Showman (two years of experience)
•Champion Junior Beef Showman (MacDonald Motors trophy)—Robert Stevens
•Reserve Champion Junior Beef Showman—Angel Nixon
Novice Beef Showman (first year)
•Champion Novice Beef Showman (Barwick Service trophy)—Kylie Fileccia
•Reserve Champion Novice Beef Showman—Savannah Hughes
Senior Heifer Class
•Grand Champion Heifer (Cattleman’s Award)—Sarah Truelove
•Reserve Champion Heifer (Gemmell Award)—Riley Caul
•Top Charolais Heifer (Carlson Family Award)—Riley Caul
Junior Heifer Class
•Grand Champion Heifer—Samantha Stahn
•Reserve Champion Heifer —Jolene Stahn
