BROWNSTOWN — The 4-H Livestock Auction held on the last day of the Jackson County Fair each year always draws a large crowd.
Many of those on hand are family and friends of the 4-H’ers selling their hogs, cattle, goats and sheep or just interested spectators. They come to see how much each exhibitor earns from all of the time and effort they put into raising their animals.
For the record, the 135 animals sold at this year’s auction brought $240,550.
In the end, many 4-H’ers walked away with a pretty nice paycheck — money many of them plan to stash away for their postsecondary education or perhaps other purposes. The auction provides a pretty nice dividend for them.
There’s also a large group of businessmen and businesswomen who attend the livestock auction.
Richard Beckort with Purdue Extension Jackson County said they get a different benefit by purchasing the livestock.
“It’s just a way that a lot of ag businesses and others can give back to those kids and those families that buy seed, feed, tractors and everything from them,” he said. “They’re all here to support each other.”
Jeff Austin, owner of Jeff’s Car Wash in Brownstown, belongs to that group.
“I grew up in 4-H and was a 10-year member,” he said. “My children and grandchildren have been or are in 4-H.”
The auction is a just way to give something back to the community, Austin said.
For most 4-H’ers, raising livestock and then selling them at the auction can be kind of bittersweet.
For Joanna Fansler, 10, of Norman, the livestock auction was a new experience but one she found interesting and kind of sad as she was selling the Duroc hog she had been raising since April.
In fact, it was such a sad day that her mother and brother stayed at home, her father, J.W., said.
“They didn’t want to see this,” he said.
J.W. said his daughter has a savings plan for her money, which allows her to keep 10% to spend on what she wants. And there’s one other benefit for her.
“I pay for the feed,” he said.
Emma Tormoehlen, 16, of Seymour, said she was a little bit sad about selling her hog, Booger, but not a lot.
“I’ve gotten used to the process and just go along with it,” she said.
Tormoehlen said she will probably save her earnings because she plans on going to college after high school.
She said she didn’t really care how much Booger sold for but just wanted to have a good time on the last day of the fair.
Jenna Klosterman, 16, of Dudleytown said she also was a little sad about selling her hog — named Red — but happy with how much the auction earned her.
Her plans for that money?
“Probably put it in savings for college,” she said.
Unlike the others, Albert Claycamp, 13, of Jennings County said he wasn’t really sad about selling his crossbred hog at the auction, and he had different plans for his earnings.
“Trying to buy a dirt bike,” he said.
For 10-year 4-H member Kaleb Brown of Seymour, selling an animal at the auction was a new experience.
He said his goat named Dos (Spanish for two) brought him pretty good money, and that’s something he can use when he heads off to college later this summer.
“It was pretty fun,” Brown said of raising a goat and showing it during the fair.
This year’s auction offered a benefit to some other 4-H’ers — those who raised chickens and rabbits.
“There has always been a push to get those groups in, and this was a good time to give those kids an opportunity,” Beckort said. “They’re spending money and raising them. They’re doing a good job just like everybody else.”