By TIM THORNBERRY
Kentucky Correspondent LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Some of the most expensive foods in the world include Kobe beef, weighing in at $516 a pound; matsutake mushrooms, a pricey $1,000; Densuke watermelons, a whopping $6,100 each; and Almas caviar, an astounding $25,000 for a small tin.
But none of those can compare with a certain Kentucky country ham. The 16.05-pound 2010 Kentucky State Fair Grand Champion Country Ham was sold at the 47th annual Kentucky Farm Bureau (KFB) Country Ham Auction for a record $1.6 million. That equates to about $100,000 per pound.
The auction happens every year during the fair and proceeds go to the winning bidder’s favorite charities. Mark Haney, KFB president, said the event is one of the most-anticipated of the year for the agency.
“Not only is it an enjoyable time of fellowship and an amazing opportunity to put Kentucky agriculture on center stage for the day, but it is also the launching pad for some extremely generous charitable donations to be made,” he said.
“We are very proud of the fact that our organization has now helped put more than $5.6 million into the hands of local charities over the last 47 years, and it is even more encouraging that the auction is now bringing in higher and higher bids despite these tough economic times.”
Of that $5.6 million, nearly $3 million has been raised in the last two years. The 2009 winning ham bid came in at $1.3 million.
That is quite a contrast, considering the winning bid was $124 at the first ham auction in 1964. The bids have grown enormously since then and over the last 10 years, they have averaged $462,048.
This year’s two bidders, Bernard Trager, chairman of Republic Bank and Trust, and Dr. Mark Lynn & Associates, owner of Dr. Bizer’s Vision World, joined forces to put up $800,000 each.
Trager used the same strategy last year to be a part of the winning team. During this year’s event he sent word across the room to Lynn offering the proposal, thus setting the stage to make the record bid.
“They came over and said, ‘Let’s both do it for $800,000,’“ said Lynn, who was attending the breakfast for the first time. “I thought ‘why not?’ It’s for charity and everybody wins that way.”
Lynn indicated his bid amount would go to the University of Louisville, Visually Impaired Preschool Services and Eastern Area Community Ministries. Republic Bank and Trust did not specify the recipients of its donation, but stated the majority would go toward local health care and education, according to information from the KFB. “My son, Steve, likes to say, ‘What we make here, stays here,’“ said Trager. “As a local institution with local interests, we’ll be supporting the community’s education and health care interests with our donation.”
As for the producer of the ham – Broadbent B&B Foods – this isn’t the first champion ham it has produced. That occurred in 1967, which also broke a record with a bid of $825. All told, Broadbent, which is a KFB Certified Roadside Market, has produced 14 champion hams that have brought in a total of $2.9 million in bids over the years.
Owner Ronny Drennan said he was amazed by this year’s auction.
“The amount of money raised at this auction for charity is unbelievable,” he said “In 2006 a Broadbent Grand Champ set the record as the ‘Half Million Dollar Ham,’ which was broken last year, only to be broken again this year.”
The annual breakfast is now in the massive South Wing of the Kentucky Fair and Expo Center, with thousands of attendees. It began however, at a restaurant located on the fairgrounds with a small gathering of staff, ham producers, Department of Agriculture Shows & Fairs representatives and the University of Kentucky’s meat specialist, with the idea of calling attention to quality
Kentucky cured ham with a focus on farm-city relations and raising money for charity.
“It’s always a good day when you have a hand in raising $1.6 million for charity over breakfast,” said Susie Tanner, KFB’s commodity director and ham breakfast event coordinator.
Tanner added the agency is proud of the history of the event, and said this year’s winning bid adds to that legacy. |
