Sold! Stock sale is Friday

MOSES LAKE - The annual livestock sale for exhibitors at the Grant County Fair will be at 9 a.m. Friday at the Ardell Pavilion at the fairgrounds, 3953 Airway Dr.

It's the culmination of the spring and summer's work for 4-H and FFA participants who raise cattle, pigs and lambs to show and sell during the fair.

Mike Wallace, a volunteer and FFA advisor at Quincy High School, explained how it works. "There are two sets of money," Wallace said, one being the price that a processor would pay for livestock at any sale. "That's called the floor price," he said.

Anything an exhibitor receives above the floor price is the support price, Wallace said. If the floor price is 50 cents per pound, and the final bid is $2 per pound (and the animal is sent to the processor), the $1.50 difference is the support price. Traditionally businesses, organizations and individuals bid on animals raised by local kids and pay the support price. That money goes back to the exhibitors.

Currently exhibitors are required to learn animal care techniques that promote food safety and quality, Wallace said, "how to treat their animal as a product that's going to enter the food chain." A quality product is good for the floor price, he said.

Sale prices differ between animals because the owners differ - some kids work a lot with their animals, some don't; some kids invest a lot in feed, others don't. Some kids work with their animals, others don't.

By the time kids get to the sale, the hard work is done. It's just a matter of showing off the ribbons, entering the ring and collecting the money. But many exhibitors like that show ring.

"I love showing. Showing is way more fun," said Cooper Raap, who's from Ephrata but belongs to the Basin Buddies 4-H chapter in Quincy.

"I like the sale, because of course the money," said Nate Gonzalez, of Quincy, also in the Basin Buddies. "I like the showing, because it's fun looking at the judge and the ribbons, but I like the sale."

"Showing, I think," said Shelby Eckenberg, of Mattawa, when asked which is more fun.

Exhibiting at the fair requires working with the animal, and the show ring is where kids prove they did that work. "And it shows you've been making progress from the beginning," said Desiree Rodriguez, of Mattawa.

"I think it's about the same," said Dylan Beck, of Moses Lake, when asked about relative fun. "It's fun just to do it, pretty much."

Showing is "kind of a learning experience. Get out there and show off your year's work," said Tanner Pugh, of Moses Lake.

"I'd say it's more fun to show him. Because it gives you a chance to show the judge how good he is and how well you've worked with him," said Paden Wallace, of Quincy.

The sale ring is relatively less challenging, Desiree said. "As long as you show your confidence and smile, you'll have a better chance to sell your pig better," she said.

Once the sale is over the animal goes to the processor and the exhibitor goes home, check in hand.

But separation isn't that easy.

Both Nate and Cooper said they would miss their pigs.

"I try not to act like I do, but - yeah," Cooper said.

Not everybody will miss their fair animal. "I'm kind of happy to see this one go," Dylan said. "He's just kind of - ornery."