4-H and FFA Livestock Sale Approaches

The annual Valley County 4-H & FFA Livestock Sale will be taking place on Friday, Aug. 3, 2018, at the Northeast Montana Fair Grounds. A pre-sale viewing will start at 3:30 p.m., with the sale beginning at 4 p.m. At present count, this year will see 27 market beef, 16 market lambs, 8 poultry, and 47 market swine up for auction.

This year's auctioneers will be Ed Hinton, Myron Malnaa, and Virgil Nelson. Beef superintendents will be Justin Fuhrmann and Jeremy Tihista. Superintendents for sheep and goats will be Grace Pankratz and Carla Tihista. Brian and Tasha Mix will oversee swine, and Donna Pankratz will be in charge of poultry and rabbits. Horses will fall under the purview of the horse committee.

Justin and Geraldine Furhrmann of the 4-Leaf Clover Club will be in town with their daughters, Mandy, 14, and Shelby, 17, for the sale. The girls will be bringing sheep and steers for the livestock sale. Mandy is in her seventh year with the club while Shelby is in her tenth year. Partial proceeds from a previous sale for Shelby went to purchasing a vehicle while the rest will go towards tuition and schooling in Miles City. Mandy's profits currently go into a savings account, for future use. Justin and Geraldine have been leaders of their club for over 10 years. Regarding the livestock sale, the family says, "We would like to thank the community and surrounding areas for their continued support of 4-H and the livestock sale."

Roman Fast, 10, is in his second year with the Cherry Creek Club. He will be showing his Hampshire swine and his Targhee sheep. He is not exactly sure what he will do with his money, so he will be putting it into his savings account for now.

Terms of the sale will be "cash". Any and all special arrangements for payment must be made with the 4-H member and/or family prior to the beginning of the sale. Clerks from First Community Bank (Glasgow and Hinsdale), Fort Peck Federal Credit Union, Independence Bank, Northwest Farm Credit Services, Valley Bank, and Wells Fargo Bank will handle sales. Anyone purchasing livestock, must see a clerk prior to leaving to submit payment and complete cut and wrap instructions or complete a "Post Fair Agreement" form for any market animal purchased which is not going directly to harvest. Representatives from Bear Paw meats from Chinook will be on site for cutting directions for beef and lamb, while Treasure Trail Processing of Glasgow will be available for swine purchasers.

Buyers may pool their money to purchase an animal to split into halves or quarters. Buyers may also consider purchasing an animal to be resold at the Glasgow Stockyards on Thursday at current market value. Trailers will be available to haul a purchased animal if this option is selected.

4-H serves youth in rural, urban, and suburban communities in every state across the nation. 4-H'ers are tackling the nation's top issues, from global food security, climate change and sustainable energy to childhood obesity and food safety. 4-H out-of-school programming, in-school enrichment programs, clubs and camps also offer a wide variety of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) opportunities, from agricultural and animal sciences to rocketry, robotics, environmental protection and computer science, to improve the nation's ability to compete in key scientific fields and take on the leading challenges for the 21st century.