Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Delila DeGrave stands with the lamb she has raised for market this year with the Gogebic County 4-H Club.
By CHARITY SMITH
Bessemer - The Gogebic County 4-H Club, a division of the Michigan State University-Extension program, will be hosting a virtual livestock showcase and auction on Aug. 6-8.
"We decided to go on with it because we didn't have any other option, to have a way for the kids to sell them other than selling them personally," said Ashley Dennis, 4-H program coordinator. "We thought this way, they would still be able to take part in an auction and sell their animal to the highest bidder."
According to Dennis, MSU-Extension is providing a virtual platform called "fair entry" for counties statewide to use for showcases, virtual fairs and auctions, because the university is not permitting any in-person gatherings until after Sept. 1.
"It's been a learning process for both the youth and the adults, because we have done a lot of virtual learning and online meetings," Dennis said. "It's more interesting to see how the communication is there and not there at times for the kids who don't like to sit still for an hour and make decisions on certain stuff, but they sit through it and they get it done. It's just a different atmosphere."
Dennis said the kids would rather meet in person and be able to talk to each other, and have some fun afterward. "They don't have that right now. ... But it's a different way of learning and a new normal that we are getting used to," she said.
Twenty-five kids are marketing their animals this year. Up for auction will be seven steers, four lambs, 12 hogs, three pens of turkeys, and two pens of broilers (chickens). There will be no weights on the animals this year, instead people will just bid on the type of animal. She said because of COVID-19 restrictions they haven't been able to use their scale or get together to weigh any animals.
People will be able to go online starting at noon on Aug. 6 until 7 p.m. on Aug 8. Dennis said that if there is a "bid war" going on after 7 p.m. on Aug. 8, that the bidding will be allowed to continue until all bidding ceases. The animals are scheduled to go in for processing Aug. 10.
All profits from the sale will go to the youth, minus some extra expenses. According to Dennis, kids generally use the funds to purchase animals for next year or save for college.
The judging for this year's livestock will take place virtually, as well. Participants have until Thursday to submit videos and pictures to the judge for the competition. The judge will then have five days to review them and determine the winners. The first and second place finishers will receive a plaque and a banner.
The auction can be found at fairentry.com. A link will be posted on the 4-H club's Facebook page. For more information, email Dennis at [email protected].
