By MELISSA HART
Michigan Correspondent

EAST LANSING, Mich. — The Sale-abration turned into a night of celebration of youth in agriculture, as government officials and ag enthusiasts gathered to shine the spotlight on exhibitors of champion livestock, at the conclusion of the Michigan Livestock Expo at Michigan State University.

 Gov. Rick Snyder, Michigan Director of Agriculture and Rural Development Keith Creagh and other notables enjoyed a “Taste of Michigan” reception before the sale of champions at the MSU Livestock Pavilion. As youth from around the state prepared their animals to be presented for auction, event coordinators provided a venue of the celebration of agriculture.

“We try to present something positive for agriculture for our government officials to see,” said coordinator Ernie Birchmeier. When asked if it was difficult to convince the governor to come to the sale, his quick reply was “Absolutely not.

 “Governor Snyder really believes in this industry because he knows it’s full of hard-working business people who are used to taking care of business. He also knows the young people involved here are the next generation of business people.”

Dressed in his recently acquired green Michigan Farm Bureau polo shirt, Snyder addressed the crowd: “This is about young people who work really hard, but beyond that, it’s about the support your young people are getting from the volunteers and those bidders giving back to reinvest in the future of agriculture. Congratulations.

“This reinforces the reason so many of us are committed to reinventing Michigan and seeing this only gets me more fired up. We need to do everything possible to keep our young people in agriculture.”
When Snyder concluded, he took a spot at the corner of the sale ring and took bids as the auction began with the Grand Champion steer exhibited by Kenton Klingaman of Tekonsha. Meijer, Inc. purchased the steer for $20,000.
Meijer completed a buyer’s trifecta, purchasing the Grand Champion hog exhibited by Lauren Wildt of Homer for $15,000 and the Grand Champion lamb exhibited by Ryan Waltke of Burr Oak for $12,000.

The record-breaker of the night was the purchase of the gift basket of dairy products representing the Supreme Champion dairy cow exhibited by Parker Hardy of Tipton. A group of buyers set a new record of $21,000.
Those buyers were the Michigan Milk Producers Assoc., Varnum Law Firm, Kroger Co. of Michigan, Zeeland Farm Services, Michigan Soybean Promotion Committee, Michigan Soybean Assoc., NorthStar Cooperative, Dairy Farmers of America, Calder Dairy, Vita Plus and Caledonia Elevator.

When auctioneer Bill Sheridan’s gavel fell for the last time, $167,000 was invested in the future of Michigan agriculture through the sale of champions, reserve champions and showcase market livestock. While a portion of the money goes to each exhibitor, the remaining dollars are reinvested into the program for scholarships.

Before the sale began, 11 scholarship recipients were recognized. “Each year we give out 10 $1,500 scholarships and one $1,000 scholarship to youth who have participated in the livestock expo or their county fair for at least three years,” said Birchmeier. “We have now awarded more than $300,000 in scholarships with the money raised from this auction.

“The beauty of the livestock expo is that is driven by all volunteers. We have professionals using their vacation days to make the livestock expo and this sale a success. These people believe in Michigan agriculture and the future of this industry. Now that’s exciting.”