Bids are up at Lawrence County livestock sale

NEW CASTLE, Pa. – A new project crossed the auction block at the Lawrence County Fair livestock sale this year. Carcass goats were added to the county’s list of livestock projects for 2006 and Shanna Wilson was the first youth to walk away with the grand champion carcass goat banner.
Her 46-pound prize-winning project brought a bid of $6 per pound from Tractor Supply Co. in Hermitage.
Good for goats. But Shanna wasn’t the only successful goat exhibitor at the Aug. 19 sale.
Jerrod Cornelius sold his 91-pound live grand champion market goat for a record price of $9.50 per pound to Hidenvaly Acres Dairy and Meat Goats. The bid was up $2.50 from last year and beat out the previous record price by 50 cents.
Reserve champion market goat honors went to Terri Wilson, who sold her 86-pound goat to AmeriKohl Inc. for $5.50 per pound. Terri also exhibited last year’s reserve champion market goat.
The 13 goats sold averaged $4.14 per pound with champions and $3.17 without.
Overall, the livestock sale totaled $179,706, up nearly $9,000 from last year.
Stellar steer sale. Steer exhibitors also had a a good year in the auction ring with two record-breaking sales.
Frank Telesz sold his 1,401-pound grand champion steer to Pizzas by Marchelloni for $3.05 per pound, a price that was just 5 cents less than the highest-ever bid set last year by the same company.
Hoss’s Steak and Seafood House bought Monica Drobezko’s 1,274-pound reserve champion steer for a record $2.95 per pound. The bid was 5 cents more than the previous record set in 2004.
In the carcass steer competition, Eric Book exhibited the grand champion entry, which weighed in at 737 pounds and sold to John and Donald Hoye for $2.75 per pound. This record-setting bid was up 50 cents from the record set last year.
Dean Livestock and Lawrence County Family Medicine purchased Blaine Book’s 660-pound reserve champion carcass steer for $1.30 per pound. The price was down 95 cents from last year’s record bid.
The 48 steers sold averaged $1.40 per pound with champions and $1.39 without champions.
Lots of lambs. Pizzas by Marchelloni made its fourth grand champion market lamb purchase in four years at the sale. The company paid $6 per pound for Megan McDanel’s 136-pound grand champion entry.
The record price for the reserve champion lamb climbed to new heights this year when Justin Martin’s 140-pound reserve champion market lamb sold to Richard Martin Trucking for $20 per pound. The price was $2 more than the record set in 2001 and up $16.25 from last year.
Aubrey Gibson’s 78-pound grand champion carcass lamb was purchased by GWS Trucking and the Hufnagel family for $5 per pound.
Apple Grove Veterinary Clinic bought Mike Thompson’s 60-pound reserve champion carcass lamb for $6.50 per pound.
The 64 lambs crossing through the sale ring brought an average of $3.56 per pound with champions and $3.12 without champions.
Hogs. Pizzas by Marchelloni started off the hog sale by purchasing Ryan Martin’s 262-pound grand champion hog for $5.50 per pound. The price was up $1.50 from what Pizzas by Marchelloni paid in 2005.
The 250-pound reserve champion hog, shown by Kimber Blair, went to DJ’s Smokehouse for $2.60 per pound.
The grand champion carcass hog banner went to Jamie Phillips for her 171-pound entry. Pizzas by Marchelloni purchase the prize-winning project for $3.50 per pound, a bid that was $1 less than the 2005 price.
Ethan McAnlis remained in one of the top spots in the carcass hog competition. Just like last year, he exhibited the reserve champion project, which weighed in at 163 pounds, and earned a bid of $3.25 per pound from auctioneer Duke Whiting. The bid was 55 cents more than what Whiting paid for McAnlis’ reserve champion carcass hog in 2005.
The 125 pigs averaged $2.25 per pound with champions and $2.20 without.
Raisin’ rabbits. In the market rabbit contest, Matthew Vanasco took top honors with his pen of three. The rabbits, which weighed 15.25 pounds, were purchased by David Copper for $22 per pound. The bid was $3 less than last year’s record-setting price.
The reserve champion pen of rabbits was exhibited by Cody Michael. His 16.13-pound pen sold to the Bruce Foundation for $18 per pound.
The 12 pens of rabbits averaged $17.86 per pound with champions and $17.33 without champions.
Cheese sale. Thomas and Lindsey Beatty gave repeat performances in the cheese auction, with Lindsey taking champion cheese yield honors and Thomas earning the reserve cheese yield banner. The two took home those same titles in 2005.
Twenty-one lots of cheese averaged $373.86 each. The auction totaled $9,200.
In addition, 21 wood carvings were also auctioned off for a total of $3,705, an average of $176.43 each. Part of these proceeds will benefit the county’s livestock development fund, which is used to make improvements to the fairgrounds. This is the second year the wood carvings have been sold and the total was down about $2,200 from 2005.
Auctioneers who donated their time at the livestock sale include Lloyd Braham, Don Braham, Mark Cunningham, Beth Hillmar, Duke Whiting and Matt Lawrence.
(Reporter Janelle Skrinjar welcomes feedback by phone at 800-837-3419, ext. 22, or by e-mail at jskrinjar@farmanddairy.com.)