In the News...

Auction Equals Payday for 4-Hers

Monday, August 16 2010

The Durango Herald
By:Patrick Young
August 15th, 2010

La Plata County 4-H kids, 125 strong, cashed in Saturday night at the annual Junior Livestock Auction.

"They work year-round for it, so this is kind of their big day, and it means a lot for them," auctioneer Cody Story said. "Kids raising steers, they'll actually start going out next month and looking for steers to buy (for next year's fair)."

More than 200 registered bidders packed the stands in the fairgrounds pavilion for a chance to bid on livestock raised by local kids.

Sold at this year's auction were 16 sheep, 46 pigs, 31 cows, 17 goats, four rabbit pens and six poultry pens.

Seventeen-year-old Keely Dezendorf's grand champion steer, Larry, sold for $4.25 a pound to Diamondback Excavation in one of the night's main events. The 1-year-old, 1,399-pound steer earned Keely $5,945.75, more than enough to cover her overall investment in raising the animal. What's left over, she said, will go toward her college education.

Far more than money, Keely invested a lot of time and energy into Larry, washing him three times a day and keeping him in a cool room to help him grow a healthy coat. Since purchasing him last November, Keely has grown attached to the animal.

"He's got an awesome personality," Keely said. "I love that steer. ... It's going to be so hard tomorrow to put him in the trailer to go to slaughter, but it all pays off."

"He lives better than us," said Keely's proud mom, Kathy Dezendorf. "She takes care of it and grooms it. ... You do that every day, you get attached."

Keely has been involved in 4-H for nine years. She has entered steers and goats in fairs past, however, this is the first time one of her animals has been named champion.

"I've never won my class before, and then to go overall grand (champion) is just great," she said. "All my family was crying; it was a big deal."

"There's lots of kids here who worked really hard, and this is their payoff night," said State Sen. Bruce Whitehead, D-Hesperus. "I have a daughter who's in 4-H and sold (a goat) here earlier tonight, so I know how much hard work these kids do."

Isabella Whitehead's 74-pound goat sold for $5.75 per pound.

Whitehead said he has purchased animals at several different fairs in the past. As chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, he feels it's important for him to support both the kids and agriculture in his district.