Sale of Champions raises over $80,000 for scholarships and youth programming
(DOSWELL, Oct. 14, 2022)––The Oct. 1 State Fair of Virginia Youth Livestock Sale of Champions raised $83,200 in support of the fair’s long-standing commitment to youth.
The 2022 State Fair welcomed youth exhibiting market cattle, swine, goats and sheep for the opportunity to compete for scholarships at the annual Sale of Champions.
The sale celebrates the hard work of Virginia 4-H and FFA participants, and auction proceeds benefit the State Fair Youth Scholarship Fund and the fair’s continued support of youth across the commonwealth.
“We are thrilled that the community continues to support this worthy effort and that so many students will benefit from the 2022 Youth Livestock Show and Sale of Champions,” said Marlene Jolliffe, the fair’s executive director. “And we couldn’t do it without all the help from our committees, volunteers, The Meadow Event Park staff and Virginia Cooperative Extension. The livestock shows and the Sale of Champions embody part of the State Fair Youth Development Board’s mission—to connect farmers, teachers, leaders and businesses in offering encouragement and recognition to Virginia’s youth as they participate in competitions and educational programs.”
The fair offers youth more than $100,000 each year in scholarship funds through 4-H, FFA and vocational competitions and specific equine, fine arts and horticulture competitions. Sale of Champions proceeds support competition premiums as well as an endowed scholarship fund open to all youth State Fair exhibitors and an applied scholarship program for youth livestock exhibitors.
The Sale of Champions featured the auction of grand champion and reserve champion market animals from this year’s 4-H and FFA youth livestock shows. Exhibitors received 25% of their respective animals’ purchase prices—75% as a cash premium and 25% in scholarship funds. The following are this year’s winners:
- Grand Champion Market Beef, exhibited by James “Wyatt” Marshall of Augusta County and purchased for $15,650 by Glenmary Reserve Meats, BRANDT, McGuire Woods LLP, DOTS Beef, Dwight Houff, James River Equipment, Virginia Grain Producers Association, Land of Promise Farms, Blair Construction, Middlebrook Farm, Knight Cattle, CFC Farm and Home Center, Dick and Julia Rose, Virginia Club Calf Producers and Steve and Cindy Marshall.
- Reserve Grand Champion Market Beef, exhibited by Landon Marshall of Augusta County and purchased for $13,750 by Virginia Soybean Association, Glenmary Farms LLC, Ironsides Animal Health, Marshall Farms, Virginia Beach Farm Bureau, Wightman Crop Insurance, Weller & Associates LLC, Pryoville Farm, Everett Farms Inc., James River Equipment (Harrisonburg and Fishersville), Dick and Julia Rose and Steve and Cindy Marshall.
- Grand Champion Market Hog, exhibited by Landon Marshall of Augusta County and purchased for $18,000 by Smithfield Foods and McGuire Woods LLP.
- Reserve Champion Market Hog, exhibited by Hunter Ross of Chesapeake and purchased for $17,500 by Virginia Pork Council, Smithfield Foods, Land of Promise Farms, Hog Wild Bar-B-Que, Hog Slat Inc., Kevin and Heather Newton, Virginia Beach 4-H Livestock Club Inc., C&H Pipeline Solutions and Stallings & Stallings Farms.
- Grand Champion Market Lamb, exhibited by Kylie Blevins of Washington County and purchased for $4,650 by First Bank & Trust Company, Cargill Protein, Lakeview Tack Shop, CFC Farm and Home Center, Keith Simmons and family, Gore Trailer Sales and Blackwater Creeds Foundation.
- Reserve Champion Market Lamb, exhibited by Josephine Caldwell of Rockbridge County and purchased for $3,700 by Frank Graves, Augusta Cooperative Farm Bureau Inc., Blackwater Creeds Foundation, Wilmer and Peggy Stoneman and John Broaddus.
- Grand Champion Market Goat, exhibited by Chet Boden of Frederick County and purchased for $4,550 by K&R Concessions, Hog Slat Inc., Two Kings Concessions, Lynwood Broaddus, Performance Food Group, Fords Foods, Virginia Farm Bureau and Mount View Farm Inc.
- Reserve Champion Market Goat, exhibited by Kelsie Caldwell of Rockbridge County and purchased for $3,800 by Virginia Soybean Association, Nutrien, Corteva/DuPont Pioneer and Nutrien Ag Solutions.
- Additional auction items raised $1,600 with donations from Land of Promise Farms, Pryoville Farm, Mount View Farm Inc., Scott Farms, Pelican Joe’s Donuts and ETS.
The 2023 State Fair of Virginia will run from Sept. 22 through Oct. 1. Information is available at StateFairVa.org.
The State Fair is held each fall at its permanent home at The Meadow Event Park in Caroline County and attracts over 200,000 fairgoers. The event celebrates the best of Virginia’s past, present and future through scholarship initiatives, creative programming and a focus on the commonwealth’s agriculture and natural resources industries.
Media: Contact Pam Wiley, vice president of communications, at 804-291-6315.