Commentary: Springdale Students Show Prize Livestock At Washington County Fair

STAFF PHOTO Michael Woods • @NWAMICHAELW Ben Anderson with the Springdale FFA gets Cash, his reserve grand champion market steer, cleaned up and prepped for the 2014 Junior Livestock Premium Auction at the Washington County Fair on Thursday in Fayetteville. More than 100 prized animals were sold at the annual auction.

STAFF PHOTO Michael Woods • @NWAMICHAELW Ben Anderson with the Springdale FFA gets Cash, his reserve grand champion market steer, cleaned up and prepped for the 2014 Junior Livestock Premium Auction at the Washington County Fair on Thursday in Fayetteville. More than 100 prized animals were sold at the annual auction.

Thursday, September 4, 2014

The grin on Ben Anderson's face got bigger each time the auctioneer yelled. "Hup! Hup! Hup!"

The price of his prize steer just got higher.

Anderson showed the reserve grand champion steer last week at the Washington County Fair in Fayetteville. On that Thursday, it went on the auction block and drew $3,000. A nice payoff for his work.

Kennedy Edwards got a $700 paycheck for her grand champion market goat.

But these students' livestock -- both animals bred and raised for meat -- won't dress anyone's table anytime soon. The annual Premium Livestock Auction at the fair pays young exhibitors the premium price promised at auction, and the stock goes back with the students to their home barns.

Plus, for three weeks after the fair, supporters can call the fair to donate money to particular students -- making that paycheck even sweeter, explained Edwards' mother, Carie Edwards.

"It's for people who want to support the student, but can only donate, say, $25," Carie Edwards said. "So she could end up with $1,200 or $1,500."

Edwards and Anderson showed their prize animals representing the FFA chapters at Springdale's two high schools. Edwards is a junior at Har-Ber High School, and Anderson a junior at Springdale High School. He also represented the Bethel Grove 4-H Club. They joined 25 classmates from Har-Ber and 51 from Springdale showing at the fair. In addition, Josie Kutz, a Har-Ber FFA member, raised the grand champion chain of broilers.

Edwards explained what it takes to raise a grand champion boer goat -- she's done it two years in a row.

"My teacher told us the main factors are genetics, food, exercise and the environment where they live," Edwards said. She spouted off the feeding schedule and treadmill training the goat -- named Pistol -- gets daily.

Before the auction, Anderson took Cash, a Chi-Maine Anjou cross, for a wash and dry. He explained his care for Cash, and even the steer's need for shiny, conditioning hairspray before the show.

Anderson also spent nights in a camper on the fairgrounds to watch out for Cash. After each day's activities at the fair, the beef cows were taken from the barns and tied to the fairground's fences where they could get grass and catch cool August breezes.

"I checked him at 9 p.m., 11 p.m. and midnight ..." Anderson said. "At home, he's in a pen and not tied. I check to make sure he hasn't got tangled up."

Goats stay confined in a pen at the fair -- just like at home -- so nightly supervision wasn't necessary, Edwards explained.

"Pretty much, anything I can do, I did it twice daily," Anderson said of his steer, listing feeding, walking, clipping hair. "You've just got to get it done. And I wouldn't trade anything for it."

The fair gave Anderson the chance to show off his other talents, too. He entered goats, chickens, canned goods and photos, earning many blue ribbons. His pen of commercial broilers, the judges called best, and a black-and-white photo of his cat in a dogwood tree earned him another reserve grand champion ribbon.

"I love to cook," Anderson said, and his mother, Darla, who taught him, agreed. "Well, he likes to eat, so ..." He entered pickled okra, pickle relish, barbecue sauce, spaghetti sauce, green beans, grape jelly and more.

He also earned a first place for his agricultural-mechanical project -- a bale grapple and accumulator designed to pick up hay. "It's a lot faster," Anderson said. "We picked up 1,100 square bales with it a couple of weeks ago."

Exhibitors also put together a gift basket to present to the local businessmen who buy their stock -- Hugg & Hall Equipment for Edwards and Reliable Concrete for Anderson.

Anderson and Edwards both plan to enter their stock in the Arkansas-Oklahoma State Fair later this month in Fort Smith and the Arkansas State Fair next month in Little Rock. Here, they'll have the chance to actually sell the animals at market price. Or someone from another state might buy the champion animal in their fairs, with different age requirements, Carie Edwards explained.

The students admit giving up the animals that have become pets will be hard, but both plan to use the money to buy another animal to show next year, and some will be saved for college.

Edwards wants to attend college on a rodeo scholarship, and Anderson hopes to earn a degree in animal science and start a cattle company with his family someday.

NW News on 09/04/2014