Many FFA students work diligently with their projects throughout the year to have the opportunity to sell their product in the Audrain County Youth Fair Premium Auction.
“Essentially, to mimic what a typical auction would look like, we think about livestock markets, we have students sell their project as well,” Grant Norfleet said.
Norfleet, the auction’s emcee, is a Mexico High School FFA alum who held numerous titles throughout his high school and college career.
“I served as the Area Four FFA president, served as the state vice president in 2021 and 2022, (and) I ultimately was elected to serve as the 2023-2024 national FFA secretary and served over 1 million members across all 50 states, Puerto Rico (and the) Virgin Islands for an entire year as well,” Norfleet said.
In May, Norfleet graduated from the University of Missouri with a degree in agricultural education and leadership. He will be continuing his education in the fall at Pennsylvania State University where he will pursue a master’s degree in education development and community engagement.
Emcee at the auction is a relatively new role that was first implemented a couple years ago at the urging of buyers, business owners, community members and leaders who thought they weren’t getting enough recognition for their purchases.
“After some feedback, we wanted to make sure that not only students were getting their names heard and recognized by the public but also making sure our buyers were getting recognized and thanked as well for their generous contribution,” Norfleet said.
Back when Norfleet first started exhibiting, buyers could keep the animal they won in the auction and take it home with them.
Now, they have transitioned to a premium only sale. Not only do students keep their animals, but they also keep the money bidders paid for their project.
“It’s like a sponsorship to students supporting their projects because a lot of students typically will take the money they earned from the sale and they will reinvest it back into their projects for future years,” Norfleet said.
The only exception is for those who bid on the cured hams and bacon.
“Agrigulture is by no means a cheap industry to be in in this current economic climate and so this also helps boost the local economy as well,” Norfleet said. “Students are not only purchasing animals or raising animals from local producers but they’re also working with our insurance agents, working with our banks, working with our feed stores and all of these different companies within the county.”
The auction kicked off with the grand champion and reserve champion exhibitors and 13 of the 14 title-holders auctioned off their projects.
First in the ring was Jack Norfleet, Grant’s younger brother, with his grand champion market beef steer named Larry.
Jack is also a MHS FFA alum with a rich agricultural background. He and Grant grew up on the family farm where they raised cattle and grew corn, soybeans and hay.
In FFA, Jack held multiple officer positions serving as treasurer his sophomore year, secretary his junior year and president his senior year.
He has been exhibiting cattle at the Audrain County Youth Fair for the past 10 years showing a variety of breeds of both steers and heifers.
Larry was born a bull calf but from the moment he was born, Jack just knew he was going to be a winner. His bone structure and wide stance from a top view told Jack all he needed to know.
“As a little calf, you can’t always tell, sometimes they look kind of like wet noodles when they’re born, but he just looked stout and strong,” Jack said.
And his intuition proved correct. Larry sold for an initial price of $2,500 before all the add-on bids.
Rumors have been circulating throughout the community that this will be Jack’s last year showing but he was there to put them to rest.
“Those rumors may not be true because I might be still in the running for the next couple of years; we’ll see,” Jack said.
Grand Champions
Market Beef: Jack Norfleet (Kent and Alison Norfleet)
Meat Pen: Adrinna Craven (Steven and Jenna Craven)
Market Sheep: Bethany Rhodes (Dan and Nichole Rhoades)
Market Goat: Adam Rhodes (Dan and Nichole Rhodes)
Ham: Annamarie Stone (Scott and Jeanette Stone)
Bacon: Grayson Hahn (Drew and Morgan Hahn)
Market Hog: Brant Cope (Aaron and Mandy Cope)
Reserve Champions
Market Beef: Stetson Stone (Scott and Jeannette Stone)
Meat Pen: Harper Rouse (Matt and Veronica Rouse)
Market Sheep: Mesa Tiemann (Wes and Shawna Tiemann)
Market Goat: Bryson Regot (Jamey Creed)
Ham: Brody Oberlag Jones (Stacia Oberlag Jones)
Bacon: Garon Stowers (Greg and Kara Stowers)
Market Hog: Greenley Curtis (Michelle and Emily Curtis)
