For as long as the Latah County Fair has been around, the Latah County 4-H and Future Farmers of America (FFA) have put on an animal sale. FFA, a youth organization, specializes in agricultural education in raising livestock and business skills. Latah County 4-H is similar but teaches leadership skills, healthy living, science, technology while remaining close to agricultural and rural roots. This sale allows members of 4-H and FFA to show off their hard work in raising animals.
Andrew Saralecos, president of the Latah County 4-H and FFA Market Animal Sale (LMAS) for four years, says this sale is part of a long running project that 4-H and FFA has put on for years.
“Under the FFA and the 4-H program, the projects, quote on quote, they raise, be it a steer, a swine, a lamb, poultry, you name it,” Saralecos said. “They have an entire rubric they have to through, and it’s an educational opportunity to learn how to raise, how to care for and also marketing. Everything that goes into the nuisances of raising livestock.”
Animals sold can vary during this event and must be shown to judges. The club members also have to show off their knowledge of the animal they raised, including knowing and understanding the individual species and how they are shown, and what somebody is looking for in terms of quality of the animal, Saralecos said.
“It’s a fairly in depth and rigorous program,” Saralecos said. “Each are set up slightly different but are parallel enough that they go hand in hand.”
The animals have to go through a livestock sale, where people can bid on the animals. It’s the final step of the project, and the LMAS started looking for ways to keep the livestock sale alive. Since the fairgrounds are property of the city of Moscow, they knew they would be subjected to any regulations Moscow put out.
“When COVID-19 started and everything started rolling, our committee started looking very early on at what our contingency plans if we end up where we are today,” Saralecos said. “We had several scenarios ran and under that model, we said okay, if we have to we can do a closed private event as a contingency for the show.”
This meant that only parents could come to the event. According to Saralecos, the event tends to draw 8-10,000 people each year, which is a big safety concern apart of why they decided to make it a private event. .
For the sale, they did a virtual online auction for the livestock. Buyers could register on the Latah County Fair website and view the animals they wish to purchase. This allows the members to not only show off their hard work, but also allows them to complete the final step of the project—selling a market ready animal.
“It’s kind of like an eBay auction,” Saralecos said. “You get a picture and a little description, and you bid on it.”
The bidding varies depending on the livestock being sold. For steer, swing and lamb, price per pound determines the cost of them. For poultry and rabbits, the bidding starts at the price per head or pen.
Saralecos and the committee were glad that they were able to allow the members to complete their project. The members made money off the bidding, which goes back to them and their families. It’s an investment to take care of the livestock, Saralecos said. The auction allows them to get a return on that investment, covering costs of taking care of the livestock and money to do another project next year.
“If they aren’t able to finish it, then that leaves these kids on the hook for individual animals that are worth several thousand dollars apiece,” Saralecos said.
Saralecos explained that a 1300-1400-pound steer could be worth 1822 dollars, which is at a $1.35 a pound.
Due to the online format and money being tight with people, combined with businesses suffering as well, the auction could be impacted.
He is hopeful that people will rally behind the kids, since the livestock were raised in Latah County and well cared for. They weren’t crowded together in a pen like on factory farms or raised in high stress environments. They were raised by individuals on open ranges and cared for so they can be presentable for buyers.
Ryan Hill can be reached at [email protected]