Livestock Auction – Exhibitor’s Portal

NOW! As soon as you know you are planning to participate as a livestock exhibitor or have your project in the barn, it’s time to start promoting your project to prospective buyers! Some buyers, especially large buyers, require you to contact them well before the start of the fair. Waiting until fair week means you are less likely to be “on their list” on sale day.

Considered the gold standard, in-person contact is the first way. Plan a day over the summer break to visit prospective buyers! Come prepared to talk about your project. Call ahead to schedule a time with the business owners for extra impact. Discuss your project with your network of family and friends to share how it is teaching you lessons that last. 
Keep an information page about your project (with a picture for extra impact) and how contacts can become a buyer and/or donor with you, so you are ready when you see friends, family, and contacts! (LINK TO BUYER REGISTRATION FORM!) 
Have a family conversation about who you support as a family:  doctors, optometrists, dentists, banks, employers, financial or tax professionals, insurance companies, your grocery store, and your car repair facility. I could go on, but you get the point!

The next step after you have completed your entry to the 4-H Extension Office is to make your entry to the Hancock County Fair via the Jr. Fair Online Entry process. Contact the Jr. Fair Office for more details. Keep in mind that the information you submitted to the extension office is NOT available to the Hancock County Fair, based on privacy restrictions from the extension office. What you enter to the Jr. Fair Office at the Hancock County Fair is what the Sale Office receives. The livestock sale pulls the information (Names, parents’ names, addresses, emails) directly from your entry, so take time to enter information correctly – capitalize your name, include both parents, enter your full address, and provide an email you check on a regular basis!

Each department is different so the best point of contact for weigh-in department-specific information is your department superintendent, whose name and contact information are listed in the fair book.
Only ONE project is taken through the sale on Monday. These decisions need to be made at the start of the start-of-fair weigh-in. Don’t wait to think about this or talk to your parents until you get to the weigh-in!
At each weigh-in or tagging/banding date, your project will be assessed, and you will be provided with a weigh slip.

At Fair Weigh-in, keep in mind you can only take 1 project through the Monday Premium Sale. If you only have one project, that is your sale entry.
In the event you do not complete your project or your project does not meet the final requirements at the weigh-in, you can chose to take your project home immediately (i.e. withdraw from the fair) or keep your project at the fair and sell the base bid buyer established by the department.

If you are bringing multiple projects in the same department and your Monday Premium Sale entry is from that department, you will either sell the remaining projects to the base bid buyer established by the department or in some department-specific cases you have the option to notify the department that you will be taking the animal home instead. Double-check the fair book for required timelines because if your department allows this, you likely need to notify them well before the week of the fair!
If your Monday Premium Sale project is in a different department, you will have similar options with regard to selling to the base bid buyer or, in some cases, taking home additional projects. See the fair book for department specifics.

If you are bringing multiple projects from different departments, you will select which department you will represent in the sale, and the specific project within that department,  and other projects will either be sold to the base bid buyer established by the department or in some department-specific cases you have the option to notify the department that you will be taking the animal home instead. Double-check the fair book because if your department allows this, you likely need to notify them well before the week of the fair!

All feeder exhibitors participating in a feeder division must take one feeder from each division they are participating in through the feeder sale.
Any second projects within the same division can be declared as a Take Home animal at weigh-in and returned to the exhibitor's farm for finishing. This animal is brought back as a steer for the next year's fair.
If the exhibitor has selected a Feeder as the Monday Premium Sale project, the same feeder project will participate in the Saturday Feeder “Back-to-Farm” sale. Others in that same division can be declared as Take Home.

All feeder exhibitors participating in a feeder division must take one feeder from each division they are participating in through the feeder sale.
Exhibitors who wish to return that feeder to their farm have the option to purchase the animal at the Saturday Feeder “Back-to-Farm” sale and pay the discounted price of 10% of the final called bid amount – named the “Exhibitor Buy-Back Exception.” The “Exhibitor Buy-Back Exception” is for feeders purchased by the exhibitor or the parent/guardian of the exhibitor. Feeders purchased under other names do not qualify for this exception.
Feeders purchased on the “Exhibitor Buy-Back Exception” will be released to the exhibitor based on the Monday/Saturday release schedule posted in the Sale program.

The second project in any feeder division can be declared as a Take Home project and returned to the farm for finishing by the exhibitor for the next year’s finished Steer project.
Exhibitors wishing to return with the first project in a division (the one slated for the Saturday Feeder “Back-to-Farm” Sale), have the option to purchase the animal at the Saturday Feeder “Back-to-Farm” sale and pay the discounted price of 10% of the final called bid amount – named the “Exhibitor Buy-Back Exception.” The “Exhibitor Buy-Back Exception” is for feeders purchased by the exhibitor or the parent/guardian of the exhibitor. Feeders purchased under other names do not qualify for this exception. The animal becomes the possession of the winning bidder, regardless if that is the exhibitor, the parent/guardian, or someone else.

The short answer is Yes. If you have one project, you have to take the project through the Monday Livestock Sale and sell it to the department-selected base bid buyer. If you have multiple projects, see the questions above. Some departments have alternative options, but check the book or talk to your department superintendent for more information.

The short answer is No for all animals except for feeders. As a market sale, the purpose of the livestock project is to finish the project with a market animal ready for slaughter. See the feeder section for options of bringing a feeder back the following year as a finished Steer.

The Saturday Feeder “Back-to-Farm” sale is essentially how the Market Price and Market Buyer are established for all Feeders. Since Feeders are not a finished animal, they do not go to slaughter. The animal will go to a farm to be finished. Calves that are not participating in the Monday Premium sale will leave immediately following the Saturday Feeder “Back-to-Farm” sale.
The Monday Premium Sale is the traditional Livestock Auction where buyers come primarily for the purpose of supporting the Livestock community by paying a Premium bid to each exhibitor presenting a final project. In some cases, the buyers are family or friends, but in many cases, the buyers are local businesses.

Your project is 100% your responsibility until you either hand it off to the Market Buyer on Monday or until your department superintendent releases your care after the Monday Livestock Sale. You should continue to provide your project with all the necessary care to present a good final product at the Monday Sale. Buyers are in the barns all throughout the fair. Each department may have additional expectations. Speak with your department superintendent.

Congratulations!! You will be provided a folder with information on your options, but note that there is very little to nothing that you HAVE TO do if you choose. If your champion animal was already the project you selected to participate in the Monday Premium Sale, it will still sell on Monday. If not, it will become your Monday Premium Sale entry, and the other selected project will be switched to Base Bid or Take Home. If your champion is in the swine, steer, lamb, or goat department, your champion will leave the grounds with the designated processor selected by the Livestock Sale Committee to complete the required ODA testing. If your champion is not purchased on a home bid, you should contact the processor the day after the sale to discuss your options. See the Sale of Champions within the Jr. Fair Livestock Auction – Exhibitor Information section of the Fair Book or contact the office with additional questions.
After you sell your animal, please take the animal to the Legacy building for a Champion photo with your buyers!
(Need to update champion packet to include some of this information, including BAC, BAC to Pr. Donations, another project swapped out, ODA testing/processor, two champions)

The order of the sale is available in the fair book in the Jr Fair Livestock Auction section or at the Sale Office. For the approximate time your specific species will be selling, contact your department superintendent.

The Monday Premium Sale is your final opportunity to demonstrate your product and the skills you have learned. Treat it like you would the other demonstrations during the fair: dress your best, smile, make eye contact, and show off your “product” for the buyers to see.
Immediately after the auctioneer calls the final bid, exit the ring where Jr Fair Board and members of your department will assist you with the care of your project while you are directed to go shake your buyer's hand and give them a Buyer Placard.
You will then return to your project and at the direction of your superintendent, either return to the barn to take your animal to the truck to be loaded. For the specifics of your department, please review the expectations with your department superintendent.
Note: shaking the buyer’s hand and giving them a Placard does not complete the required Thank You Requirement. Buyer have spoken: They don’t want gifts given in the sale arena during the sale day as they are left trying to keep track of items in the dusty arena and then carrying them around after the sale.

The Thank You Requirement is to simply acknowledge the time and support your buyer provided to you in a genuine way – a card, a special gift, a phone or in-person conversation, a letter, a photo are some examples – and to provide photo evidence of this to the sale office via the online exhibitor/parent portal.
You should complete this as soon as you receive your Thank You Report from the sale office the week following the Monday sale.Failure to complete this may result in delays in receiving your check.

No! Thanking your buyer goes above the handshake and passing out of placards in the ring. The Thank You Requirement IS NOT to be completed in the sale arena.
Based on Buyer Feedback, buyers find gifts and thank you cards giving during the sale to be disruptive to their buying activities and don’t enjoy holding multiple gifts/cards in the dusty arena. Buyers prefer that a thank you be provided after the sale is complete or even days later after the “dust has settled!” The most coveted Thank Yous are handwritten cards that buyers can display in their place of business!

Depending on how you thank your buyer, you may need to be creative. If you call your buyer, capture a screenshot of the call after the call is made. If you are visiting, ask the buyer to snap a photo with you. Buyers love it if you share those images with them! If you will be sending a card or letter, snap a photo of it before dropping it in the mail. If you are delivering a gift, take a photo of it before you drop it off.

All exhibitors will be sent via USPS a “Thank You Report” roughly one week after the Monday Livestock Sale. This report will detail the premium buyers of your project as well as any donors to that point.
A final copy of your buyers and all donors will be included with your check.
Note: The Thank You Requirement only applies to the Monday Premium Buyers, but thanking all your donors also is a great touch!

There are many creative ways to thank your buyer, but the most important factor is to be genuine. A genuine thank you does not need to have a heavy price tag or be flashy – a phone call, a handwritten note or letter, a visit.
Some of the more creative and elaborate thank-yous include a gift. This is NOT a requirement, but it certainly helps a buyer remember your name the following year! 
The most coveted Thank Yous are handwritten cards that buyers can display in their place of business!

When you have a group of buyers listed on your thank you report, note that all the buyers within the group will also be listed. Each buyer listed on the report should be thanked. The group’s organizer is also listed and should be thanked. We realized this is more than just a single buyer, so something simple, like a phone call, is sufficient! 

Checks are initially released at the Celebration of 4-H in October each year.
All exhibitors who have submitted the Thank You Requirement can pick up the check themselves or send a designated representative. Checks for exhibitors who have completed the Thank You Requirement and not picked up that evening during the Celebration of 4-H are sent by USPS within 3 business days.
Watch for more information from the Jr. Fair and 4-H extension office on the specific date and time for the Celebration of 4-H.

The short answer is yes! Write the card or letter to thank your buyers and put them in an addressed and stamped envelope to bring with you to the event. If you forget to do so, we can pull the list of buyers for you, and for $2 per card (Cash Only), we can supply you with the tools to complete the requirement while you are at the event.
If you are unable to provide the proof of completing the requirement while at the event, you can complete it after the event, and checks will be mailed to you after proof is submitted.

Checks for exhibitors who have completed the Thank You Requirement and not picked up that evening during the Celebration of 4-H are sent by USPS within 3 business days.
After the Celebration of 4-H, checks are held until November 30^th and will be sent by USPS within 2 business days following the fulfillment of the Thank You Requirement by the exhibitor.
After November 30^th, checks may incur a $30 reprint fee and will be reprinted and sent by USPS within 7 business days following the fulfillment of the Thank You Requirement by the exhibitor.

If you have more specific questions, please email me with the information, and I’m happy to help.
Sarah Moyer – sarah.moyer@hancockfairgrounds.org