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Summary of the Hokie Harvest Sale
Livestock Update, December 1996
D. E. Eversole, Animal and Poultry Sciences
The 1996 Livestock Merchandising Class entertained a huge crowd of prospective horse and beef cattle buyers at the 2nd Annual Hokie Harvest Sale on Friday, November 1st. There was standing-room-only in the Livestock Judging Pavilion as 27 and 34 lots of university beef cattle and horses, respectively, were sold at public auction to 192 registered buyers from Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. The beef cattle sale grossed $31,425 with a sale average of $1163 and the horse sale averaged $1317 with a sale gross of $44,780.
Four different breeds (Angus, Polled Hereford, Limousin and Gelbvieh) were sold with the Lot 27 Angus bull, a September `95 son of Rito 9FB3, topping the beef cattle sale at $1500. This yearling bull was purchased by Shane Anderson of Hinton, W.V. The second highest selling beef cattle lot was Lot 6, an Angus five-year-old cow sired by R & J Ace with a 1-14-96 heifer calf at side by GAR Traveler 1489. The cow sold to Robert Feaganes, Madison Heights, Va., for $900 while the fancy heifer calf was purchased by Amy Wolfrey, Frederick, Md., for $1000. Volume buyer of the evening was Arthur Medel of Manassas as he purchased three bred cows.
The top selling horse was Lot 1, a 1993 chestnut, Dutch Warmblood filly named Pure Pleasure (Duncan), which sold to Anne Pallie of Castleton, Va., for $6,600. Duncan has great potential to be a show jumper since her dam was nationally ranked in the top ten horses two consecutive years in the Junior Jumper Division. Lot 26, a 1995 chestnut Warmblood gelding named Nebelson brought $2700 from Susan Strong of Ferrum, Va.
The 46 students did a marvelous job of preparing for this sale. They gained "hands-on" experience in sale management, budgeting, cataloging, advertising, livestock photography, clerking, and health requirements. A special thanks is extended to Jeff Marsh and Albert Epperly for serving as auctioneers for the horses and beef cattle, respectively. Students Cara Talbert, Carter Marsh, Benjy Morris, and Mike Stiles served as ringmen.
The Block and Bridle Club in the Department of Animal and Poultry Sciences served a complimentary barbecue dinner to approximately 480 guests. Their support and cooperation are greatly appreciated.
The response from the buying public and feedback from the students in the class have been overwhelming in favor of continuing this student- managed livestock sale. Plans are currently underway for another beef cattle and horse sale on October 31, 1997.