The annual Junior Livestock Sale at the Colorado State Fair raised more than $500,000 Tuesday afternoon in Pueblo.
Livestock exhibits auctioned at the fair included champion steer, lamb, goats, hogs, goats turkey and rabbits.
The highest price paid Tuesday was $62,000 to Julia Frye of Johnstown for her grand champion market steer.
The 2016 junior sale, the championship event for Colorado Ag Youth involved in 4-H and FFA, is the largest event of its kind in Colorado, according to Fair organizers.
The junior tradition draws hundreds of business and community leaders to Pueblo to “bid on the best of the best” while supporting Ag Youth.
“Over the past 37 years, the Colorado State Fair Junior Livestock Sale has raised $9,794,289 for the youths involved in Colorado’s 4-H and FFA programs. This sale is a reflection of their dedication to the animals and the agricultural community,” state fair general manager Sarah Cummings said in a news release. “I’d also like to thank the generous philanthropists who come out to support these amazing kids; the sale would not be possible without them.”
The Grand Champion Market Hog, purchased Tuesday by Denver Rustlers, a junior livestock booster group including Denver Post Chairman William Dean Singleton and furniture mogul Jake Jabs, fetched $33,000 for Rayna Hodgson of Greeley. The Reserve Champion Hog brought in $32,000 for Ty Piper of Fowler.
This year’s sale brought in $524,700, according to preliminary figures.
This year’s grand champion market beef price of $62,000 set a record for the category.
The 2015 Revised Junior Livestock Sale raised $534,650. Sale proceeds go directly to the youth exhibitors.
