Area steer sets state record

COLUMBUS - An Auglaize County teen and her steer named Cruiser shattered a record at the Ohio State Fair Sale of Champions livestock auction on Sunday afternoon at the WCOL Celeste Center.

Ryleigh Egbert's Grand Champion Market Beef went for $225,000, smashing the previous record of $140,000 set in 2011. In fact, the whopping sale amount for Cruiser represents the highest bid on any animal ever since the Sale of Champions began in 1968, according to the Ohio State Fair.

Egbert's Grand Champion Market Beef was purchased by S&S Volvo of Lima.

Also on Sunday, the Grand Champion Market Burrow shown by Nick Adams of Mercer County sold for a record $66,000. It was purchased by the Ohio Farm Bureau along with partners Bob Evans and Kroger, according to a news release from Ohio Farm Bureau.

The Grand Champion Market Goat shown by Braxton Method of Auglaize County sold for $26,000.

Egbert gets to keep $22,000 of the $225,000, Burrow gets to keep $10,000 of the $66,000 and Method gets to keep $5,000 of the $26,000. The rest of the money goes to the Youth Reserve Program for carcass contests, more than 20 scholarships, outstanding market exhibitor programs, outstanding breeding exhibitor programs, showmanship contests, skillathons and many other 4-H and FFA activities, per the Ohio State Fair.

Other local winners were dairy champions Logan Topp for Grand Champion Ayrshire and Madelyn Topp for Grand Champion Brown Swiss. Both are from Auglaize County.

Egbert, 16, during a Monday afternoon Zoom session with media said she was still trying to process the shock of seeing her steer Cruiser win Grand Champion Market Beef and set a new auction benchmark.

"I have shown steers for eight years and this is my first time being able to be in the Sale of Champions with Grand Champion Market," she said, noting her winnings will got toward her college and into her savings account.

She also commented on what makes Cruiser such a unique and special steer.

"My calf has always been something very special to me and quite a lot of people, I'd like to say, especially my family and I. Ever since we saw him we kind of knew, like, that was one that we kind of wanted and he was very unique in his pattern. You didn't see much like him," she said. "For him to have as much power as he did and still have the structure that he had was extremely good."

Egbert said she has enjoyed her best season with Cruiser, an animal with which she shared a close blond.

"We won many, many shows with him," she said. "Being able to have him do that well in the winter and then also to pull through and be able to win the state fair was something that made him very special and something that will definitely be memorable for me and my family."

Asked about the work it takes to raise a champion steer, Egbert cited the two key requirements of time and commitment, saying many people don't realize how much kids have to sacrafice to compete.

"We don't get to go to the swimming pool every day. We stay home and work our cattle and we go to the barn," she said. "We would rather give up our summer and I would do it every summer that I have the chance to."

Egbert said it was hard to say farewell to Cruiser.

"They truly do become your best friend. You give up hours of anything else, whether it's sports, whether it's your summer, whether it's anything, sleep, you give up a lot to do them and you're out there a lot," she said. "They know more about you than sometimes you know about you and the bond with them is extremely, extremely close. So being with them every day you get so emotionally attached to them. So being able to watch him leave was very hard."

Raising livestock is a family affair for the Egberts.

A reporter noted that before the auction the announcer pointed out that Egbert had raised the steer for her grandfather. She was then asked what she thought her grandfather would say about her grand champion.

"I think he'd be very proud … watching me and my accomplishments," Egbert said while fighting back tears. "And just being there and seeing that I did do it for him."

Egbert thanked her family and others for supporting her in raising her steer.

"My family and I, we raise club calfs and sell them throughout the country and we raise them here and then sell them to different counties and different states to go and show," she said.

She said her sister, too, shares a passion for raising livestock.

"My sister has exhibited two champions in the Sale of Champions and a reserve through the Sale of Champions and she has exhibited at the Ohio State Fair all of her years," she said. "I have been showing cattle since I was six but I've only been able to exhibit in 4H here since I was nine."

The Sale of Champions showcased Ohio's premium livestock, junior fair exhibitors and generous supporters, a state fair news release states. The sale bill included grand and reserve champion market beef, market barrows, market chickens and market lambs, as well as the grand champion market goat, market turkey and a block of Swiss cheese to represent the seven dairy champions. In full, the livestock was auctioned for a total of $676,500, breaking historical records.

"I don't have the words to properly express how grateful I am for this fairtastic, record-breaking Sale of Champions," said Ohio State Fair General Manager Virgil Strickler in the release. "I am so proud of the junior fair livestock exhibitors and their hard work and dedication they show the livestock, and will be eternally grateful for the support of our buyers."