By KAREN BINDER
Illinois Correspondent

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Illinois State Fair officials were “hog happy” to see the annual Governor’s Sale of Champions collect more than $100,000 in the auction. Proceeds from the event will be split between the junior producers who raised the animals and the state’s FFA and 4-H youth education programs.

Ogden teen Brandon Wyatt’s grand champion steer Roscoe, a 1,321-pound AOB Key, sold for the most money – $35,000. “I couldn’t believe it,” the 18-year-old said. “All the hard work finally paid off.”

His stepfather first interested him in showing livestock and he credited the man for teaching him “all the tricks of the trade.” Wyatt plans to major in agribusiness at Parkland College in Champaign. His winnings will go toward his college education, after which he wants to “to look around and hopefully find a job.”

The record price for the grand champion steer is $50,100, set in 2008.

The winning bid was placed by a Springfield physician, Dr. Margaret MacGregor.  She and her husband own and operate Holders Hill Farm near Auburn, Ill., where they raise various livestock, including Trakehner horses, a breed well-suited for competition.

“Medicine is my profession, but horses are my passion,” MacGregor said.  “I am blessed to live in a community that allows me to do what I love each and every day.

“Good luck to all the members of FFA and 4-H,” she added. “Keep up the good work!”

Two other grand champions sold for more than $10,000. Brandt Consolidated and Friends of Land of Lincoln Breeders purchased the Land of Lincoln Grand Champion Steer exhibited by Kyle Walsh of Jerseyville, for $18,500. And DEKALB, Asgrow and Monsanto combined to buy the Grand Champion Barrow for $18,000. The barrow was shown by Dylan Decker of Atkinson.

The junior producers who raised the champion animals receive 80 percent of the sales price, and the remaining 20 percent is divided equally between FFA and 4-H.

The best commodities exhibited at the State Fair were auctioned and brought in more than $5,000 for the University of Illinois. Sale proceeds ranged from the best wine and cheese to honey, bacon and processed beef.

Money raised from meat and dairy product sales will be donated to the university’s Sleeter Bull Fund, while the remainder will benefit the Superior Young Producers Scholarship Fund at the University of Illinois. Income from the sale of the grand champion honey and doe’s milk goes to their exhibitor.

Among the top sellers were the Avanti Cheese Co. in Walnut, with the Grand Champion Cheese, which sold for $1,025; Eickman’s Processing of Seward, with the  Grand Champion Ham, Summer Sausage and Processed Beef each selling for $700; and a case of Prairie State Winery’s wine made in Genoa, for $625.