The annual 4-H livestock auction brings a range of emotions for the 4-H’ers who have spent the past several months raising their animals.
Avery Hensley, of Needam, has five goats at the fair and isn’t as emotional as she had been in the past, she said.
“I understand that this is important,” Hensley said. “Agriculture feeds tons of people and so I’m doing something good. I’m supporting the agriculture industry by doing this.”
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At the annual auction, 4-H’ers know their time with their animals is coming to an end, and saying goodbye is never easy, they said.
“You form a bond with them. That’s something that’s hard to break when the auction comes,” Hensley said.
Brittany Porter, a 16-year-old Indian Creek High School student, said her cows become her best friends after spending months grooming, feeding and training them.
“You’re spending so much time with them and you have that bond,” she said. “Then you come to the fair and bond even more. Then you have to sell them and it’s all over. You have to let them go.”
Eighteen-year-old Lacey Sichting said she cried for an hour after she sold her first goat at the fair, but then her dad explained the purpose of livestock.
“If I wanted to be on a farm, like I did back then, I needed to realize that they’re livestock and that is what they are here to do,” she said.
For Sichting a 10-year 4-H’er, raising and selling her animals each year became less emotional as she got older.
“I still get a little sad when they leave, but then again, I know I will get more, and they’re going to give someone a meal,” Sichting said.
And they also get the chance to earn money for the next animal they can work with for the next year’s fair.
Eleven-year-old Lauren Peddycord, of Franklin, puts the money she earns each year into an investment to raise more livestock.
“I know what’s going to happen. But at the end of the day, I can sell my pig and my cow and I can get new ones,” she said.
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Today
10 a.m.: Read, Touch, Taste for kids ages 4-7, Heritage Hall.
11:30 a.m.: 4-H and Open Class exhibits open.
2 to 7 p.m.: Indiana Blood Center Blood Drive, west of Fair Office.
4 p.m.: Jurassic Kingdom Dinosaur show, east of Fitzpatrick Hall.
5 p.m.: Midway opens.
Don Smock Award presentation, Indoor Arena.
Livestock Auction, Indoor Arena.
6 to 7 p.m.: Free stage: Duo Tones.
6 to 11 p.m.: Poor Jack Amusements Weekend Madness of the Midway, $25 unlimited ride bracelet.
6 p.m.: Jurassic Kingdom Dinosaur Show, east of Fitzpatrick Hall.
6:30 to 10 p.m.: Gospel music in the Christian Music Ten, north of Scott Hall.
7 p.m.: Horseshoe pitching.
Cash drawing at the Day Sponsor Booth, entrance to Herring Hall.
7:30 to 9:30 p.m.: Free stage, Jaxson Deno.
7:30 p.m.: Demolition Derby, $10 adults, $5 kids, Grandstands.
8 p.m.: Jurassic Kingdom Dinosaur Show, east of Fitzpatrick Hall.
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