The Whidbey Island Area Fair starts Thursday, and with it comes an annual favorite — the 4-H Livestock Auction.
This year’s auction is Saturday, Aug. 2.
Each year, youths of 4-H purchase livestock to raise for the auction, either a calf, lamb or piglet.
“The kids raise them throughout the winter, they learn about health and nutrition, they learn about weight management, they work with their animals so that they’re safe to handle,” said Sarah Bergquist, the program coordinator for 4-H youth development.
Elizabeth Bishop, 17, has been with 4-H for four years. She will be selling lambs and a steer at the auction.
“It’s kind of fun to see all the different people come out and a lot of them from our community,” she said, “and it’s really great to see that support.”
Bishop said she started in 4-H through the mentorship of her stepfather Scott Corfman.
“My stepdad … lived on a farm, and so he kind of showed me how to show a cow and how to feed them and everything like that, and I thought it was really cool,” Bishop said.
Her stepfather also used to be the superintendent for the 4-H Beef Club, so Bishop became familiarized with the program and the benefits it offers participants, and that kept her in the club.
“You get so much out of 4-H. You can learn leadership and you learn responsibility for taking care of these animals, and you learn how to make friends,” she said.
Her first year, she didn’t have an animal of her own. Instead, she just went to club meetings, helped in the barn, watched the shows and helped out in any way she could.
“It was okay that I didn’t have an animal, because I still could participate,” said Bishop.
The benefits of 4-H are numerous, according to Bergquist. Other than learning how to manage the health and weight of their animals, they also learn how to manage finances and marketing, they get an understanding of where meat comes from, what is required to produce it and, through the selling of their animals, they raise money that is often saved for college.
Bishop saves a portion of her money each year for college, after the expenses of getting ready for next year’s project.
After her senior year in high school, Bishop has plans to attend Washington State University to study human development and, eventually, nursing.
But first, she has plans to finish out her high school career with another year in 4-H.
She started selling beef because of her stepfather’s influence, but lambs came later, after the last person in the lamb program graduated high school and aged out of the youth programs. Because they wanted to keep lambs in the auction, Bishop took up the mantle.
“I enjoy overcoming the challenge of halter breaking a lamb or halter breaking a steer, because it’s definitely a lot of work and it doesn’t just come easy,” she said.
The Livestock Auction starts at noon on Saturday in the fair’s livestock arena, though bidder registration starts at 11 a.m. The predicted average of bids is about $2.50 per pound for steers and hogs, and $3.50 per pound for lambs. Steers are sold by the quarter, hogs by the half and lambs as a whole.
Pam Bishop-Corfman, on the livestock sales committee, said that she expects prices to be around $800 for a quarter of a steer, about $250 for half a hog and about $350 for a lamb.
The optional services of a butcher and meat processor is offered to buyers after the auction.
This year, the ages of participants ranges from 9 to 18. After raising the animal for months, it can be hard to let them go to slaughter at the end.
“That’s a tough day, especially for the younger ones,” Bergquist said.
“It’s worth it, because you can tell the people what exactly went into your animal, and that it’s healthy, and it’s really nice to tell people that,” Bishop said.
