When Joe Hyland saw Dakota Crissman, 10, walk onto the Beef Palace Auction Arena stage Friday night with a hog more than half his size, Hyland turned to his friend and said, “This is the one.”
But he wasn’t talking about the reserve champion hog, ironically named Little Boy.
Hyland said he was bidding on the boy and his future.
“I grew up in an agriculture family,” Hyland said. “I showed cattle, did livestock judging and probably have a greater understanding of the effort these kids had to put in to get to this level they’re at. They deserve their rewards.”
Hyland, of Hyland Investment Company, bought Little Boy for $22,000, jump-starting a record-breaking night for the Junior Livestock Champions Auction at the National Western Stock Show with the first eight animals alone bringing in $250,000. Ninety total head of livestock were sold.
The auction also saw record prices for the Grand Champion Lamb, which sold for $28,000, and the Grand Champion Goat at $19,000.
Kashen Urban, 19, of Roosevelt, Okla., said he was pleased with how his hard work preparing the Grand Champion Lamb, Burson, paid off.
He said he will use the money he receives from the lamb’s buyer, Great American One-Stop Auto Care and John E. Cavey Co. Inc., to help pay for his education in animal science and business at Oklahoma State University.
“But the bad part is that I can’t come back to the show again,” Urban said.
The participants must be between the ages of 9 and 19.
Urban has won the Grand Champion Lamb category for the past three years. Since his first showing in 1997, his lambs have been named Grand Champions four times and reserve champion once.
“My dad knows how to pick ’em and feed ’em, and I get ’em ready for the show,” Urban said.
Urban and the other youth presenters were not the only winners Friday night.
Twenty percent of the proceeds for each of the top eight animals and 10 percent for all others auctioned go to the National Western Scholarship Trust.
The trust grants 61 scholarships to colleges and universities in Colorado and Wyoming for the next generation of agribusiness leaders and rural medical doctors, according to stock show spokeswoman Kati Anderson.
Kylee Hagemann, 20, a scholarship recipient from last year, said she has used the scholarship to attend Northeastern Junior College in Sterling.
“It’s so great of these guys to come here and support us and give money to our cause,” Hagemann said.
Randy Pennington, of Trans west Trucks, which bought the Grand Champion Hog for $29,000, said he is happy to contribute to the scholarship fund.
“I do this to contribute to the agricultural community and to get these kids on a good start,” Pennington said.
Hyland said he thinks the youth who participate in the livestock show learn valuable skills such as hard work, responsibility and how to deal with adults.
“I wish all children grew up in this kind of environment,” Hyland said.
Staff writer Katherine Crowell can be reached at kcrowell@denverpost.com.
