Livestock show premium auction nets $210,000 for competitors

Cathy Spaulding, Muskogee Phoenix, Okla.
·3 min read

Mar. 9—Immediately after receiving more than $10,000 for his Grand Champion Steer on Saturday, Oktaha 4-H Club member Rylan McQuay already planned for the future.

"Buy another steer," the fourth-grader said. "The last one was $4,000."

Exhibitors had a lot of planning on their minds Saturday during at the Muskogee Regional Junior Livestock Premium Auction Sale. Rowdy Fewel, who is on the show's board of directors, said the premium auction raised $210,000, spread among the 174 youth who showed.

"That's just live auction money only," Fewel said. "That does not include the add-on money."

Wade Rousselot, who bid for Armstrong Bank, said he bid on exhibitors from Wagoner County — primarily Wagoner, Porter and Coweta.

There have been plenty of top animals this year, he said.

"In the just Wagoner County Premium Sale alone, we had about 110," Rousselot said before the show. "I don't know how many made it tonight. I haven't gone down the list. I've already seen a lot for Wagoner, Porter and Coweta tonight."

The regional show's Premium Sale list showed about 39 exhibitors from Wagoner County, about 65 from Muskogee County, about 10 from McIntosh County, about 17 from Cherokee County. Exhibitors also came from Sequoyah, Adair, Haskell and Okmulgee Counties.

Many exhibitors keep their animals and said they plan to buy other animals or show at other spring exhibitions.

Rylan's mother, Courtney Berry, said he will show the steer at the Oklahoma Youth Expo, which runs this week in Oklahoma City. She said he missed last year's Expo, which was canceled midway through the show because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Wagoner FFA member Maggie Brumnett, who showed the Grand Champion Lamb, said she also plans to put her winnings toward another show animal. She said she felt honored to receive her winnings.

"When I first started out, I never expected to win Muskogee once, much less twice," she said. "I'm extremely thankful for my family and friends who got me where I'm at today."

Maggie, a sophomore, said showing the winning lamb is one of her biggest accomplishments. She said she won Grand Champion Lamb when she was in eighth grade.

"At the time, I never expected to win it again," she said. "And this year, going in, I definitely didn't expect it to happen."

Porum FFA member Isaiah Sallee, who showed the Bronze-winning heifer, also said he plans to buy another one for next year. He said he has four more years to show.

Isaiah said it took "a lot of fitting, washing and working" to prepare his Simmental heifer for the shows.

Fort Gibson FFA member Karson Osborn, who showed the Bronze-winning doe kid, said he put in a lot of work to get the goat's hair right.

He said he feels all the work he put into the kid has paid off. He said this is the first year to show goats, but has shown hogs for 13 years. Osborn said he had the third-overall spot hog and fifth-overall cross hog at this year's regional show.

Doe kids are as much work as hogs, Karson said.

"Does, you spend a whole lot more time making them grow hair and having their hair longer," he said. "Hogs, the big thing is conditioning them and getting them exercised."