Sale of Champions Results
Elizabeth Jones' Reserve Champion 4-H Market Heifer sold for a record $28,000 in the 2011 Sale of Champions.
Two Records Fall at 2011 Iowa State Fair Sale of Champions
With a final swing of the gavel, the Iowa Foundation for Agricultural Advancement (IFAA) raised $286,300 for the 14 exhibitors of 4-H and FFA Grand Champions in the Sale of Champions Saturday, August 20, at the 2011 Iowa State Fair.
Two champion records were broken during the Sale. The Reserve Champion 4-H Market Heifer sold for a record $28,000, besting the previous mark of $20,000 set in 2008. The Grand Champion 4-H Broiler Pen also set a new record with a price of $5,800. The previous record was set in 2010 with a price of $5,700.
Participants in the Sale of Champions were asked to find hometown supporters to set a floor price for bidding. The purchaser in the auction paid the difference between the floor price and the final sale price. Each participant in the Sale takes home a check for 80 percent of the animal’s sale price. The IFAA keeps 20 percent to fund the scholarship program and cover Sale expenses. In addition to their sale earnings, the exhibitors of the Grand Champion 4-H Market Steer, Grand Champion 4-H Market Hog and Grand Champion FFA Market Lamb earn the use of a new aluminum livestock trailer for one year courtesy of Featherlite, Inc., of Cresco.
When added with the $147,000 of scholarships and performance and carcass awards presented prior to the Sale, the IFAA bestowed $429,700 on young livestock and poultry exhibitors during the day’s event. Since the inception of the Sale of Champions in 1988, the IFAA has given out more than $4.3 million through Sale proceeds and scholarships to deserving youth participating in agricultural-related projects and interested in agricultural-related careers.
