For the first time in its long history, an animal in the Sale of Champions at the State Fair sold for a six figure sum when AT&T, Monsanto and DeKalb Asgrow combined to bid $100,000 for 12-year-old Shaelye Varner’s grand champion crossbred steer. The price easily surpassed the former record of $62,000, which was set only a year ago, and was one of four records broken during the sale.
In all, the Sale of Champions, the auction of the Illinois State Fair’s prize-winning junior livestock, raised an astounding $260,095 for not only the junior producers who raised the champion animals, but also the 4-H and FFA programs, which each receive 10 percent of the proceeds.
Shaelye, a resident of Morris, has been showing since she was five-years-old. She plans to save her winnings and use them to further her career aspirations.
Other notable mentions were Mitch Holmes of Mahomet, who won the Land of Lincoln Grand Champion Wether. He sold to Terry Duffy and CME Group for $5,000, but then resold to Frank Hoffreiter, Becks Seed, Channel Seed, Hunter Nutrition, and Sky Ride for the same price.
Also getting 2nd place in the 31st Annual Illinois Championship Auctioneer Contest was Abbey Schmid of Clinton
