The Blaine County Journal News-Opinion - We've Got The County Covered

The Blaine County 4-H/FFA Livestock, Horse and small animal entries again impressed fairgoers as they made their way through the various buildings. The Horse shows took place Tuesday in the George Ortner Arena with plenty of worthy Grand and Reserve winners crowned. The Senior Horse Grand went to Emma Paulson with the Reserve being awarded to Jessa Schroder. The Junior Horse Grand went to Fletcher Anderson while Lynley Conrad claimed the Reserve.

Fletcher Anderson had an incredible Blaine County Fair, in addition to his Junior horse Grand, Fletcher won the Grand in Junior Swine, Market Swine, Junior Beef and was the Reserve winner in the Junior Round Robin. Other multiple Grand winners were Walter Schoen with top awards for Junior Lamb and Market Lamb. Madilyn Gruszie won the Grand in both the Senior Swine and Senior Round Robin categories. Laura Danley was the big winner in the Junior Rabbit and Market Rabbit categories winning Grand in both.

Lynley Conrad was the Grand Junior Poultry winner as well as the Reserve Junior Rabbit recipient. Tyler Schoen won the Grand for the Senior Lamb category and added a couple of Reserve ribbons in the Market Lamb and Senior Beef categories. Alexis Elias took home the Grand in the Junior round Robin as well as Reserves in Junior Swine and Market Swine. Wylee Simenson had a great Blaine County Fair winning the Senior Beef Grand as well as winning the Senior round Robin Reserve. Ashlyn Hofeldt was the Junior Dog Grand ribbon winner as well as the Junior Cat Reserve ribbon winner.

Ayden Alisch won the Market Beef Grand while Morgan Friede won the Reserve. In the Senior Rabbit division, it was Grace Buck winning the Grand, there was no Reserve and Clara Laird won the Senior Poultry category. Natalie Richman won the Grand for Junior Cat and Owen Davies the Grand for Senior Dog. Sterling Bemis was the Reserve Senior Dog recipient and Hadley Hofeldt garnered the Reserve Junior Dog award. Gracie Skoyen picked up a Reserve for her Senior Swine Entry. Colter Snedigar won the Reserve for Junior Lamb and Hannah Schoen was the Reserve winner for the Senior Lamb Category. Wacee Simenson took home the Junior Beef Reserve ribbon and Abby Danley was the Reserve winner for Market Rabbit.

The Dog. Rabbit, Poultry and Cat shows all took place throughout the morning and early afternoon on Thursday. The Market Beef, Swine and Lamb weigh-ins and ultrasounds all took place on Thursday afternoon with the 4-H/FFA Market Swine, Market Lamb and Horsemanship shows taking place on Friday. The Market Beef Show took center stage bright and early Saturday morning. The ever-popular Market Livestock Sale took place later in the day, drawing a large crown and a good number of buyers.

The five-year history of the Blaine County 4-H/FFA Livestock sale tells a mixed tale with overall averages bouncing up and down from year to year. In 2018 The average Market Beef sold for $2.36/pound, in 2019 that number rose to $2.91/pound before falling back a year later to $2.59/pound. 2021 saw a huge jump in price with a record $4.57/pound average for the Market Beef. That number fell back a bit in 2022 with an average price of $3.16. A total of 21 Market Beef was sold at the Livestock sale this year with the Grand and Reserve winners earning the biggest paydays. Morgan Friede was the Reserve Champion Market winner and sold for $4.40/pound to Ezzies Wholesale, Ayden Alish was the Grand Champion Market and was bought for $4.25/pound by First Bank of Montana. $2.00/pound was the low price of the sale.

As far as Market Swine go 2022 was a banner year with 42 Market Swine selling for a record average of $6.30/pound. Market Swine have been steadily rising in the past five years jumping from $3.43/pound in 2018 to $4.00/pound in 2019 and $4.17 in 2020. A huge jump occurred in 2021 as sale prices soared to $5.69/pound. Unlike the Market Beef the numbers dipped in 2022. The Market Swine still saw a fantastic increase in value. The top seller for Market Swine was Ashlyn Hofeldt's Blue-Ribbon Hog that was sold to American Garage for $8.50/pound. Hadley Hofeldt sold her Market Swine second to last but drew a whopping $8.40 after being bought by Phillips County Insurance. Natalie Richman's Blue Ribbon Market Swine also eclipsed the eight-dollar mark and was sold to Havre Ford for $8.10/pound. The Market Swine numbers were strong all the way down with the low sale being a very respectable $5.50/pound.

The Market Lamb Sale saw just eight animals sold and a significant drop in value from the previous year. In 2018 the average Market Lamb sold for just $2.96/pound. That number jumped each year thereafter to $3.37/pound in 2019 and $3.66/pound in 2020 before smashing the record in 2021 with an average sale price of $5.29. This year that number fell back significantly to $3.80/pound. The high going to Mary Simmons Market Lamb after it was purchased by KelMac angus for $4.30/pound. The low Market Lamb sold for $3.40/pound at this years sale.

Selling at this years Livestock sale were three Market Rabbits for the first time. With nothing to compare it to the Market Rabbit sale numbers can be wildly interpreted. The top sale was Sydney Bowles Market Rabbit to Cassie Johnson of Lodestar Land and Realty for $200. Laura Danley's Market Rabbit sold for $60 to Dustin and Vicki Hofeldt. Abby Danley sold her Market Rabbit to Margaret Scoville for $50.

Congratulations to all Blaine County Market Beef, Swine, Lamb and Rabbit entries for completing your project with a sale at the 2022 Blaine County 4-H/FFA Livestock sale. See you next year!