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Summary Of The Hokie Harvest Sale
Livestock Update, December 1997
D.E. Eversole, Animal and Poultry Sciences, Virginia Tech
The 1997 Livestock Merchandising Class entertained an enormous crowd of prospective horse and beef cattle buyers at the 3rd Annual Hokie Harvest Sale on Friday, October 31st. There was standing-room-only in the Livestock Judging Pavilion as 26 and 18 lots of university beef cattle and horses, respectively, were sold at public auction to 181 registered buyers from Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia. The beef cattle sale grossed $38,100 with a sale average of $1465 and the horse sale averaged $2566 with a sale gross of $46,200. Guest cattle consignors were Badger Hill Farms, Tazewell,Virginia; Matney Angus Farm, Cedar Bluff,Virginia; Mountain View Farm, Independence,Virginia; and Mare's Run Farm, Tazewell,Virginia.
Three different breeds of beef cattle (Angus, Polled Hereford, and Gelbvieh) were sold with the Lot 17/17A topping the beef cattle sale at $2550. This Polled Hereford cow, a '90 daughter of SBR Marathon Man 257T, ranks in the top 1% of the breed for MM EPD (+32). She sold to Dr. Don Richardson, Dunrovin Farm, of Crozet,Virginia. and her fancy 1-17-97 heifer calf, sired by MSU Optimum Z03, sold to Rena Funkhouser, Edinburg,Virginia.
In the bred heifer division, Lots 23A and 23B were the sale toppers at $1200 each. Lot 23A, a Woodhill Triple Threat daughter out of a Dividend dam sold to Audrey Johnson of Bluefield,Virginia. She also purchased the Lot 23B bred heifer which was an Ideal 3414 of 1418 934 daughter out of a Tonto cow with Pathfinder status.
The top selling horse was Lot 45, a 1990 chestnut Hanoverian gelding (17.0 hh) named Ensign, which sold to Jessica Smith of Blacksburg,Virginia., for $6,800. Ensign is a large, attractive, registered Hanoverian gelding whose sire is an approved American Hanoverian. This horse is very talented and has been a member of our equitation program. Lot 37, a 1994 bay Warmblood gelding (17.0 hh) named Ember brought $4500 from Bob Friel of Casanova,Virginia.
The 67 students did a marvelous job of preparing for the 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 Smith Reasor for serving as auctioneers for the horses and beef cattle, respectively. Students Ryan Brushwood, Joe Hawkins, Bradley Seal, Emily Smith, Susie Harris, Chris Timmons, and Jeremy Wampler served as ringmen.
The Barbecue Committee, with assistance from the Block and Bridle Club in the Department of Animal and Poultry Sciences, served a complimentary beef dinner to approximately 575 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 30, 1998.