RALEIGH – Eleven-year-old Abigail Wilson, of Rowan County, showed the grand champion junior market and N.C. Born and Bred lamb at the N.C. State Fair.
The junior livestock grand and reserve grand champion steer, barrows, lambs, goats and turkeys were sold in the Sale of Champions auction Saturday at the N.C. State Fair.
N.C. Farm Bureau purchased the lamb shown by Wilson for $7,000.
“Livestock shows are the heart and soul of the North Carolina State Fair,” said Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler. “These are the best animals in North Carolina, and the exhibitors are some of the brightest kids in our state.”
The grand champion junior market steer was shown by Arnold Carpenter, 13, of Macon County. Harris Teeter placed the winning bid of $25,000.
Katie Gibson, 13, also of Macon County, showed the N.C. Born and Bred steer, which was purchased by Harris Teeter for $10,000.
The reserve grand champion junior market steer was shown by Bill Jones, 19, of Buncombe County. The N.C. Farm Bureau purchased the steer for $10,000.
Hunter McMillen, 7, of Currituck County showed the grand champion barrow, purchased for $11,000 by the N.C. Farm Bureau. The N.C. Born and Bred barrow sold for $5,500 to Ethan Thompson, 13, of Wilson County. Reserve grand champion exhibitor Talton Correll, 7, of Rowan County earned $6,000 for his barrow. N.C. Farm Bureau purchased all the barrows.
The N.C. Farm Bureau also purchased the reserve grand champion junior market lamb for $5,000 from Corey Goss, 14, of Washington County.
Joel Dahms, 16, of Durham County showed the grand champion junior market and N.C. Born and Bred meat goat, which was purchased by N.C. Farm Bureau for $6,000.
Wilson also showed the reserve grand champion junior market meat goat, which was purchased by Iron Horse Auction for $4,100.
N.C. Farm Bureau purchased the grand champion turkey for $4,500, exhibited by Victoria Pender, 17, of Wake County. Leah Thomas, 15, of Yadkin County showed the reserve grand champion turkey, which was purchased by Talley Farms for $3,500.
According to the State Fair, bidders paid a total of $97,600 for the top animals, the highest auction total since 2007.
Following the auction of the grand and reserve grand champions, remaining junior livestock animals were sold in a truckload auction. For each category, final bids were divided equally among entrants.
E.B. Harris of Warrenton ran the auction with the help of Bruce Shankle and Livestock Director Neil Bowman.