News

MO State Fair’s Sale of Champions on Saturday

The superintendent of Missouri State Fair’s Sale of Champions says the event is a must-see.

Chuck Miller says it’s a different kind of livestock sale compared to neighboring state fairs.

“Some of the champions in Iowa and Illinois bring an awful lot of money to the seller, but in Missouri, our focus has been on the scholarship fund. We want to reward the kids with the champion and reserve champion ribbons, but it’s really about using that to touch more families down the road.”

Fourteen youth projects are expected to sell and 25 percent of the total sale goes back into ag education and Youth-in-Agriculture scholarships given by the Missouri State Fair Foundation. Since the early 1990s, the Foundation has awarded more than $1 million to more than 900 students.

Anita Vanderwert with the Youth in Agriculture Committee says “if you’re at the state fair on Saturday, we’d love you to stop by. You can buy animals and also, provide hometown support. If you go to the Missouri State Fair’s website, you can go to Youth in Ag and find an online donation QR code or donate directly on the site.”

It’s also the second year of the Best of Missouri Sale, which happens right before the Sale of Champions.

“We created this second sale with more of a commodity focus, starting with carcasses, hams, bacons and then, we were fortunate to get some wines and baskets of Missouri grown products,” says Miller. “All of that money goes into our scholarship fund.”

The Missouri State Fair’s Best of Missouri Sale happens at 11 a.m. and the Sale of Champions is at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday in Lowell Mohler Assembly Hall in Sedalia, Missouri.

The sale is being broadcast on Brownfield-affiliate KMMO in Marshall and also live-streamed on the Missouri Ag Department’s Facebook page.