Last Modified: Thursday, July 29, 2010 at 2:04 p.m.
The bidding started in fits and spurts Thursday morning, as auctioneer Bruce Campbell cajoled buyers to increase their offers at the Sonoma County Fair’s Junior Livestock Auction.
“Ten dollars. Give me ten dollars,” Campbell chanted into the microphone after the first lamb was brought on stage. “Ten dollars. Let me see ten dollars.”
No one raised their hand.
“Eight dollars. Can I get eight dollars?” he barked. “Help us out here.”
Last year, prices had plummeted by near double-digit percentages as the recession loomed dark in people’s minds. No one wanted to see that repeated this year.
And it didn’t. Overall, the average price this year rose by 9 percent.
A nervous grin on his face, Davey Dorr, 11, held his Supreme Grand Champion lamb while Campbell tried to jumpstart the auction.
The lamb auction traditionally kicks off the two-week livestock sale at the fair, where youths from local farm programs compete to win awards and receive top dollar for their animals.
On Thursday, the tradition came to life like a sputtering tractor that had sat dusty and unused in a field for too long.
Campbell finally got someone to bid $8, and right away he was looking for $9.
“Hopefully I get more than $10 a pound,” Dorr had confided a few minutes before walking his lamb on to the auction block. “That’s the break-even point.”
Davey had won top honors at the fair when his lamb was judged Supreme Grand Champion, earning him the honor of being the first to have his livestock auctioned.
He looked anxious as the price stalled around $9. Then, in a flurry of activity, the price rose quickly as hands shot into the air and the auctioneer’s rhythmic chanting quickened.
“I got $12 here. $12. Can I get $12.50?” Campbell hollered. “$12.50. I got $12.50. Do I see $13?”
The crowd of about two hundred people cheered and clapped boisterously as the bidding continued to climb.
Davey’s 130-pound lamb, which he raised for six months as part of the Healdsburg 4-H program, sold for $14 a pound. That was a 22 percent increase over last year’s opening sale, marking a strong start for the fair’s livestock auctions. The dozens of youth waiting to sell their sheep screamed and shouted, smiles stretched across their faces.
Business owners and local farmers willingly pay prices much higher than market rate to encourage the youth, who are members of Future Farmers of America and 4-H. The auction features different livestock every day and run through August 6. On Thursday, sheep, rabbits and goats were sold.
Sheep sold for an average of $7.54 a pound on Thursday, according to preliminary numbers. Last year, the average price was $6.91 (while the actual market price outside the fair was 90 cents a pound.) and it was $7.15 in 2008.
The higher prices were fueled, in part, by fewer animals being on the auctions block — 359 this year compared to 425 a year ago.
Higher prices mean that the young participants can potentially earn profit for their work.
“We were all just blown away at how the prices stayed up,” Campbell said. “I’ve sold enough lambs to know that if kids just break even they’re lucky, and what they earn is experience,” he said. “But this year, I think most of them made a little money.”
Sheila Quince, the auction organizer for the fair, was thrilled by the results. “We were ecstatic on the level of support,” she said. “By the time we finished the day .
.
. we were just happy, happy, happy.”
Teejay Lowe, chief executive of G&G Supermarkets, bought 4 of the first 10 lambs. He had enlisted the financial help of other businesses to create a pool of money to buy the lambs. Lowe wanted to avoid a repeat of last year. He bought Davey’s lamb in partnership with North West Insurance and Winzler & Kelly engineering in Santa Rosa.
Overall, last year, the total value of livestock sold dropped to $1.02 million, a decline of $120,000, which was the largest decrease on record.
“We brought in a lot of partners because we knew it would be tough for the kids otherwise,” Lowe said. “These kids have to know there is a reason for their work and they can make a living doing it.”
<p>The bidding started in fits and spurts Thursday morning, as auctioneer Bruce Campbell cajoled buyers to increase their offers at the Sonoma County Fair's Junior Livestock Auction.</p><p>“Ten dollars. Give me ten dollars,” Campbell chanted into the microphone after the first lamb was brought on stage. “Ten dollars. Let me see ten dollars.”</p><p>No one raised their hand.</p><p>“Eight dollars. Can I get eight dollars?” he barked. “Help us out here.”</p><p>Last year, prices had plummeted by near double-digit percentages as the recession loomed dark in people's minds. No one wanted to see that repeated this year.</p><p>And it didn't. Overall, the average price this year rose by 9 percent.</p><p>A nervous grin on his face, Davey Dorr, 11, held his Supreme Grand Champion lamb while Campbell tried to jumpstart the auction.</p><p>The lamb auction traditionally kicks off the two-week livestock sale at the fair, where youths from local farm programs compete to win awards and receive top dollar for their animals.</p><p>On Thursday, the tradition came to life like a sputtering tractor that had sat dusty and unused in a field for too long.</p><p>Campbell finally got someone to bid $8, and right away he was looking for $9.</p><p>“Hopefully I get more than $10 a pound,” Dorr had confided a few minutes before walking his lamb on to the auction block. “That's the break-even point.”</p><p>Davey had won top honors at the fair when his lamb was judged Supreme Grand Champion, earning him the honor of being the first to have his livestock auctioned.</p><p>He looked anxious as the price stalled around $9. Then, in a flurry of activity, the price rose quickly as hands shot into the air and the auctioneer's rhythmic chanting quickened.</p><p>“I got $12 here. $12. Can I get $12.50?” Campbell hollered. “$12.50. I got $12.50. Do I see $13?”</p><p>The crowd of about two hundred people cheered and clapped boisterously as the bidding continued to climb.</p><p>Davey's 130-pound lamb, which he raised for six months as part of the Healdsburg 4-H program, sold for $14 a pound. That was a 22 percent increase over last year's opening sale, marking a strong start for the fair's livestock auctions. The dozens of youth waiting to sell their sheep screamed and shouted, smiles stretched across their faces.</p><p>Business owners and local farmers willingly pay prices much higher than market rate to encourage the youth, who are members of Future Farmers of America and 4-H. The auction features different livestock every day and run through August 6. On Thursday, sheep, rabbits and goats were sold.</p><p>Sheep sold for an average of $7.54<NO1><NO> a pound on Thursday, according to preliminary numbers. Last year, the average price was $6.91 (while the actual market price outside the fair was 90 cents a pound.) and it was $7.15 in 2008.</p><p>The higher prices were fueled, in part, by fewer animals being on the auctions block — 359 this year compared to 425 a year ago.</p><p>Higher prices mean that the young participants can potentially earn profit for their work.</p><p>“We were all just blown away at how the prices stayed up,” Campbell said. <NO1><NO>“I've sold enough lambs to know that if kids just break even they're lucky, and what they earn is experience,” he said. “But this year, I think most of them made a little money.”</p><p>Sheila Quince, the auction organizer for the fair, was thrilled by the results. “We were ecstatic on the level of support,” she said. “By the time we finished the day .<TH>.<TH>. we were just happy, happy, happy.”</p><p><NO1><NO><NO1><NO><NO1><NO>Teejay Lowe, chief executive of G&G Supermarkets, bought 4 of the first 10 lambs. He had enlisted the financial help of other businesses to create a pool of money to buy the lambs. Lowe wanted to avoid a repeat of last year. He bought Davey's lamb in partnership with North West Insurance and Winzler & Kelly engineering in Santa Rosa.</p><p>Overall, last year, the total value of livestock sold dropped to $1.02 million, a decline of $120,000, which was the largest decrease on record.</p><p>“We brought in a lot of partners because we knew it would be tough for the kids otherwise,” Lowe said. “These kids have to know there is a reason for their work and they can make a living doing it.”</p>