Stark County Fair totals more than $443,000

CANTON, Ohio – Nearly half a million dollars poured out of bidders’ pockets at the Stark County Fair’s junior market livestock sales.
The two-day sale, held Aug. 31 and Sept. 3, totaled $443,403.15, a hefty jump over last year’s sale total of $415,343.05. 4-H’ers sold 720 project lots during this year’s fair.
Steer sale. The Kline family continued its winning streak, showing both the grand and reserve champion steers.
Louise Kline sold her 1,340-pound grand champion steer to Fisher Foods for $4.25 a pound, 50 cents better than last year’s bid of $3.75 a pound.
Paris-Washington Insurance and Robertson’s Heating Supply purchased L.V. Kline’s 1,315-pound reserve champion steer for $2.75 a pound.
Kiko Meats bought Stanley Soehnlen’s grand champion steer carcass for $1.75 a pound, down a dollar from last year’s price.
James Brenneman sold his reserve champion steer carcass for $1.75 to Campbell Oil Company and Bell Stores.
The 108 steers sold for $198,159.25 and averaged $1.46 a pound, including champions.
Lambs and wool. The Klinesty continued in the market lamb show at the Stark County Fair, as Louis Kline repeated as grand champion lamb winner, and followed right up with the reserve champion lamb.
Her 139-pound grand champion sold for $6.25 a pound to Steve Smyers of Hartville.
Kline’s 134-pound reserve champion sold for $5 a pound to a syndicate of buyers: Paul and Dorothy Pahovey, Judges Mike Howard and Dave Stucki, state Rep. John Hagan, Priscilla Cunningham and Meagan Todaro.
Shana Shultz raised the grand champion lamb carcass, which sold for $3 to Smithers Medical Products, a drop of $2 from last year.
Patty Estock’s reserve champion lamb carcass sold for $4.50 a pound to Mac Trailer.
The 80 lambs totaled $22,061.05 and averaged $2.25 a pound, including champions.
In the wool sale, Maggi Estock’s grand champion wool sold for $500 to Artist Gallery. Joe Rindchen’s reserve champion wool sold for $275 to Judge Sara Lioi.
Market goats. Stark County continues to award champion honors to both dairy and meat breeds in the goat show.
Jordan McNeil’s 98-pound grand champion dairy market goat sold for $5 a pound to state Rep. John Hagan, Judges Mike Howard, Dave Stucki and Sara Lioi, state Rep. Scott Oelslager, Meagan Todaro, Paul and Dorothy Pahovey, and state Sen. Kirk Schuring.
Jim Kalleker of Kalleker Drywall paid $3.25 a pound for his daughter Tiffany’s 92-pound reserve champion goat.
Brothers Adam Lundberg, 13, and Jacob, 15, battled in the meat goat show, with Adam coming out on top with his 90-pound Boer goat. It sold for $5.25 a pound to Stark County Sheriff Tim Swanson.
Swanson teamed with county auditor Kim Perez to buy Jacob Lundberg’s 89-pound reserve champion Boer for $4.25 a pound.
The 10 dairy goats averaged $2.91 a pound and 13 meat goats averaged $2.45 a pound.
Hogs. The public official syndicate returned in full force for the champion hog sale, eyeing Louise Kline’s 275-pound grand champion.
The gavel came down on $4.50 a pound to buyers county commissioner Richard Regular, state Rep. John Hagan, Judges Mike Howard, Dixie Park, Dave Stucki and Sara Lioi, state Rep. Scott Oelslager, Meagan Todaro, Paul and Dorothy Pahovey, and state Sen. Kirk Schuring.
Bids perked up when 9-year-old Sara Klehm brought in her 271-pound reserve champion hog. The first-year 4-H’er earned $8 a pound, a possible reserve champion record bid, from Chris Kostiuk.
In her last year in 4-H, Tiffany Kalleker sold her grand champion carcass hog for $3 a pound to Herren Tax Services and the Committee to Elect Gabric, Krupko and Masterson for Marlington School Board.
Linda Brahler’s reserve champion hog carcass sold for $4.25 a pound to Wolfe Ag Service.
The 230 hogs averaged $1.64 a pound, including champions, and totaled $92,142.85.
Small animals. A simple prediction was right on target for the turkeys at the small animal sale Aug. 31.
Auctioneer George Kiko said if the Sippo Valley Longbeards could get the champion turkey to “talk,” it’d be a good night.
But Rebecca Faverty’s 40.8-pound gobbler stayed silent, thus setting the course for the sale.
Twenty turkeys sold for $2,915, averaging $145.75 with champions. That average is down by more than $120, causing the overall turkey sale to plummet from last year’s $6,200.
Although it was Faverty’s champion that doomed the rest of the group, it didn’t suffer the curse.
A team of buyers bought the bird for $1,000, tying last year’s record. They included Gabric Farms and Cathy Krupko, Carolyn Gabric and Tom Masterson, all running for Marlington school board.
Andy Baltzly’s 31.4-pound turkey brought only a quarter of the price of last year’s reserve champion. Sippo Valley Longbeards and National Wildlife Turkey Federation paid $250 for the bird and then donated it back to the 4-H buyers’ barbecue set for Oct. 9.
Worth it with chickens. The chicken sale fared better with 111 pens selling for $19,425. They averaged $176.59 with champions, down $11 from last year’s average.
Jennifer Indorf skipped her first class of the year at Stark State College to sell her 15.54-pound champion pen. It paid off with a $1,100 bid from Hartville Kitchen, up $100 from what the same buyer spent last year.
Last year when Anna Reese placed 11th in her class, she vowed to spend more time with her chicks and build a new pen. It worked. This year the youngster placed second overall with her 16.49-pound pen, which received $750 from County Commissioner Richard Regula, Judge Mike Howard, Judge Dave Stucki, Judge Dixie Park, Paul Pahovey and Lee Foster, who is running for Fairless school board.
Family ties. Brother-sister duo Daniel and Rachel Saunier dominated the rabbit sale and got plenty of support from their family when it came time to sell their champions.
First, Daniel’s 13.44-pound champion pen sold for $500 to his dad’s Eric’s Lawn Care and Denny’s Mower Service. The bid beat last year’s $300 price.
Rachel followed him in with her 14.02-pound reserve pen. Eric’s Lawn Care again stepped up, along with Fitzpatrick Realty and Terry’s Truck and Trailer, and paid $750. This topped last year’s winning bid by $325.
Cheese yield. Stark County Dairy Princess Hannah Rummell grabbed the grand champion honor for the cheese yield contest. A day’s milk production from her Jersey yielded 8.94 pounds of cheese.
Gabric Farms and the Committee to Elect Gabric, Krupko and Masterson for Marlington School Board paid $900 for the basket. The bid was down $500 from last year.
Robert Weisgarber’s reserve champion cheese basket, with a yield of 7.28 pounds, sold for $400 to Paris & Washington Township Insurance. The bid was only half of last year’s reserve champion sale price.
The nine cheese baskets averaged $497.22 and added $4,475 to the sale total.
Dairy feeders. The field of dairy beef feeder calves keeps growing at the Stark County Fair, booming from 20 when the project started in 1994 to this year’s crop of 117 head, which is up 20 animals from last year.
Lindsey Royer’s 690-pound calf topped the group, earning grand champion honors. Royer, in her last year as a 4-H’er, sold her feeder to Cope Farm Equipment for $3.25 a pound.
Justin Kinser, who raised last year’s grand champion, took home the reserve champion ribbon this year. His 480-pound calf sold for $2.75 a pound to Kiko Auctioneers.
The 117 feeders totaled $95,696, up more than $28,000 over last year’s sale. The calves averaged $1.49 a pound, including champions.
Kiko Auctioneers donated their services for the two-day marathon sale.
(Farm and Dairy’s Kristy Hebert, Susan Crowell and Katy Wuthrick contributed to this article.)