Herkimer County 4-H Youth Not Letting COVID-19 Stop Livestock Auction

Like most other County and State Fair-related experiences, COVID-19 nixed the annual livestock auction for Oneida and Herkimer County 4-H youth. But that didn't stop three Herkimer County 4-H'ers who took showing their steers and auction to the virtual world.

Working with Jennifer Collins at Cornell Cooperative Extension's office in Herkimer County; Anna Hawkes, Laken Dyn, and Seth Donahoe made a video of what they would usually do at the auction, showing their steers and sharing the story of how they were raised, their breed, and bloodline. You can check out their video presentations below. Anna and Laken used the traditional route of walking their steers in a video and writing a short paragraph about their animal. Seth who is known as a showman, used the video to share his story, including a tongue-in-cheek explanation of how he kept his steer corona free.

Anna & Apollo:

Laken & Flash:

Seth & Fester:

4-H Youth spend more than a year grooming, nurturing, and training their animals to show at county and state fairs then rely on bidders at the annual auction to purchase their animals. Most will uses the money to further their education or to invest in more animals.

This year, the bidding will be done via e-mail or regular mail with buyers pledging a price per pound for the animals. Bids can be sent to Jennifer Collins vie email: jlr34@cornell.edu or postal mail 5657 State Route 5 Herkimer, NY 13350. Bids must be received by September 17, with the winning bids announced on September 19. Each steer's final weight will be announced on September 12.

More information is available at Cornell Cooperative Extensions website. Or here are the auction's Sale Program and Buyer's Guide.