 Sale
of Champions Welcomes Goats
By
Carol
Spence
LOUISVILLE, Ky., (Aug. 30, 2006) – Stefan Fink wasn’t thinking
about making history when he brought his goats to this year’s
Kentucky State Fair. But history was made, when his Supreme
Champion goat was auctioned off during the 4-H/FFA Sale of
Champions.
Market goats are fairly recent additions to the state fair,
having been shown only since 2004. This, however, was the first
time since the Sale of Champions began in 1980 that the auction
included the Supreme Champion and Reserve Grand Champion market
goats in the usual slate of market steers, hogs and lambs. The
inclusion reflects a growing trend in the state.
“Our numbers almost doubled last year as far as our 4-H projects
here in Clark County,” said Roy Turley, a University of Kentucky
Cooperative Extension Service agent in Stefan’s home county.
“We’re already seeing a growing interest in it for next year and
it’s not even that time yet. We won’t really get geared up until
we have our first livestock meeting, which will be in November.”
According to Chris Caudill, of the Kentucky Department of
Agriculture and goat superintendent at the fair, the goat
industry is growing all over the state.
“We’re one of the top states as far as boer goat breeders are
concerned,” said Caudill, who believes that has contributed to
the rise in the number of goats shown at the fair by members of
4-H and FFA.
“It’s become a popular youth project for the simple fact you
don’t have to have a farm to show market goats,” he said. “A kid
can take on a goat project and work that project a lot easier
than a steer or a beef heifer or dairy cow. It could even be a
city kid for that matter. A lot of these goat exhibitors are
nonagriculturalists. I’ve found that very unique.”
Turley, the Clark County Extension agent, attributes the
interest among 4-H’ers to both the compact size of the animal
and the fact that there’s not a lot of expense involved.
“It doesn’t take a lot of feed. It doesn’t take a lot of
housing. It doesn’t take a lot of medicines to apply to the
animal, as compared to a horse or a big cow or a steer,” he
said.
Stefan, 12, isn’t a newcomer to livestock. He’s been working
with sheep in 4-H “since I started walking,” and got interested
goats five years ago. He said he finds goats particularly
appealing, in part because of their personalities.
“I just like showing them. They try to talk to you and they
can’t,” he said. “They follow you around and they want to be
petted.”
This year’s inaugural Supreme Champion and Reserve Grand
Champion market goats also had another distinction. They were
shown by family members. Stefan’s first cousin, Jaclyn Farris,
18, a freshman in the UK College of Agriculture, won Reserve
Grand Champion with her 73-pound goat. Continuing the family
tradition in another category, Farris’ younger sister, Jayme,
15, had the Reserve Grand Champion market lamb during the sale.
And Stefan’s younger sister, Allison, 6, had the Reserve
Champion novice goat. Novice winners are not included in the
Sale of Champions.
The Finks and the Farrises “are top-notch families,” Caudill
said. “They really know how to show their animals. The kids are
very much involved in projects. When I think of livestock
exhibitors in Kentucky, they are very experienced and very
knowledgeable in what they’re doing. They have it down to a fine
art.”
Stefan’s 79-pound Supreme Champion goat, a boer cross, brought
$6,000 during the auction. Ron and Lynn Carmicle and Tom
Schifano (Arison Insurance Services) had the winning bid.
Farris’ Reserve Grand Champion goat brought $5,000 from the
Kentucky Goat Producers Association, Hayward Spinks and BASF.
“You couldn’t ask for a better price for the first time,”
Caudill said. “That’s a respectable price for both of them and
that will continue to go up in the future.”
Stefan was happy with the outcome of the sale.
“It was exciting. We bought the goat for $300 and it went for
$6,000,” he said. “I got 60 percent of that, which was $3,600,
so it paid for the other ones, too,” meaning the other three
goats he brought to the fair. He also took home the third and
fourth prize awards in two other classes of market goats.
To cap a perfect evening, Stefan had his picture taken with
Rachelle Phillips, Miss Kentucky 2006.
“The only picture she was in was the goat picture,” he said. |
