The 2026 Chenango County 4-H Livestock Auction welcomes the community to attend and bid at 6:30 p.m., August 14, in the Follet Show Ring, on the Chenango County Fairgrounds, located at 168 East Main Street in Norwich. 4-H youth and their auction animals will include pigs, chickens, goats, rabbits, ducks, lambs, beef steer, and processed chickens and turkeys. (Submitted photo)

NORWICH — The 2026 Chenango County Fair and 4-H Livestock Auction welcomes the community to attend and bid at 6:30 p.m., August 14, in the Follet Show Ring, on the fairgrounds, located at 168 East Main Street in Norwich.

4-H youth vested in the auction program have raised and cared for their animals, while preparing them for auction day. The animals include pigs, chickens, goats, rabbits, ducks, lambs, beef steer, and processed chickens and turkeys.

“Chenango County 4-H Livestock program provides much more than just raising animals,” said Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) Association Executive Director Craig Brown.

“The youth are developing profound character through learning science of animal husbandry, the economics of budgeting for feed and supplies, and the heavy responsibility of caring for a life dependent on them,” Brown said.

He cited the support of the livestock auction is a direct reward to the perseverance and work ethic of the next generation of agricultural leaders.

CCE Association Team Lead Whitney Kmetz said the 4-H Market Animal Auction is much more than a livestock sale.

“It serves as the culmination of months of hard work by local youth who have raised and cared for their animals while learning valuable life and agricultural skills,” said Kmetz.

“The auction also connects the community with young people who are investing in the future of agriculture,” she added.

Kmetz explained the auction allows you to earn income from their livestock projects while gaining real-world experience in animal care, business management, marketing, record keeping, and responsibility.

Many of the participants use auction proceeds to support future projects, educational goals, or college expenses.

Participants learn: Animal care and management; Proper nutrition and health practices; Responsibility and time management; Financial record keeping; Marketing and communication skills; Leadership an professionalism; Agricultural knowledge and animal husbandry; Decision-making and teamwork.

“These skills are developed through daily care, feeding, grooming, health management, and preparing animals for the fair and auction,” said Kmetz.

The 4-H Youth

This year’s participants include 4-H youth from varying age ranges and clubs. They are Macie Vincent, Beth Wilcox, Jake Beers, Aubree Beckert, John Beers, Alexis Stemke, EmmaJane Beers, Maranda Schmidt, and Trevor Hess.

Macie Vincent is in her sixth year of 4-H and second year of selling at auction. She will be auctioning off her market lambs Buck Shot Roberts and Billy the Kid.

She said her favorite part of livestock projects has been working with her lambs and learning patience in sheep care, especially in getting their wool ready for the show ring.

This year’s project holds a deep meaning to her heart as the proceeds from the livestock action will help her purchase a new western pleasure horse, replacing the one she recently lost.

Beth Wilcox is in her fourth year of 4-H and second year selling at auction. She will be auctioning off her market lamb, Junior and her Beef Steer, Tom.

Beth enjoys working around their farm and all of the opportunities to work with livestock. She said her favorite part of her market project is spending time with the animals every day. She said she loves every aspect of taking care of her animals and is pleased with the results from her hard work and dedication.

Living on a farm has provided Beth with the opportunity to hand pick her projects. Tom was born right on the family farm and Junior is her third project animal raised from the same ewe.

Her plan is to invest her earnings from the auction for future goals.

Jake Beers is in his eighth year of 4-H and third year selling at auction. He will auction off his market lamb, Fred, as well as Processed Turkeys.

Jake brings a wide range of animal interests and at twelve years old, his goals are to establish his own breeding trio of turkeys to produce poults for future markets.

He is also working to build a registered Southdown sheep flock and hopes to grow it into a production herd and said this year’s auction will continue helping him invest in future goals.

Aubree Beckert has been with 4-H for four years and has two years selling in the auction. She will auction off her market goat, Sponge-bob, market lamb Wooley, and stew-er rabbit, Ralph.

Aubree is a member of the Ribbon Wranglers 4-H Club and loves working with animals. One of her favorite parts of the project has been watching her animals grow and said “Ralph has become really sweet along the way.”

This year, she learned how to sheer sheep, clip goats, and properly care for rabbits.

She said her proceeds from the auction will be put in savings to help her work toward future goals.

John Beers is trying his first year at the auction and has been in 4-H four years. He will auction off his market goat, Gary and two ducks, Curly and Moe.

John is a member of the Jolly Green Giants 4-H Club and has big goals set for this year including learning all about feeding, conditioning, training, clipping and showing. Caring for his goat helped him discover what it takes to raise quality market animals.

Living on a farm has provided many opportunities to care for animals, especially this spring when John helped deliver baby goats.

One of Johns favorite things about 4-H is learning by doing. He said he hopes to save his auction money for a future purchase of a registered Belted Galloway Cow.

Alexis Stemke has enjoyed five years in 4-H and has four years selling at auction. She will auction off her market goats, Rose and Betsy, and lamb, “Ewe” Niece.

Alexis has an extensive background working with animals and said through this project she learned sheep and goats can coexist quite well.

One of her favorite parts about raising livestock is watching the animals interact with one another and become part of the herd.

She looks to one day own her own farm and veterinary service and said proceeds from the auction will go toward savings and reinvesting in future livestock projects.

EmmaJane Beers is counting six years with 4-H and looks forward to her first year selling at auction. She will auction her pigs, Dill and Pickles, as well as Processed Chickens.

Although this is EmmaJane’s first time participating in the auction, she has years of experience with livestock and has dedicated many hours to caring for her animals.

EmmaJane is a member of the Jolly Green Giants 4-H Club and she’s committed to helping her pigs reach full potential. She hope to continue improving her pig herd with proceeds from the auction.

Maranda Schmidt has been in 4-H for nine years and is preparing to sell in her first auction. She will auction off her market lambs, Karen and Bubba.

Maranda has learned some valuable lessons along the way and said one lesson was in shearing sheep and said it is much easier to shear sheep after they’ve had a bath and it’s always important to make sure the gate is latched.

Her favorite moments during the project have been learning her animals’ personalities, especially Karen, who Maranda said is “A very funny sheep.”

Along her journey, Maranda has also shown Brown Swiss dairy cattle and has earned recognition as the second-place Future Farmers of America Extemporaneous Speaker in New York State.

Proceeds from this year’s auction will help fund future livestock projects and savings toward truck or college.

Rinoa Brown is in her fifth year with 4-H and second year selling in the auction. She will be selling her market hog, Erza.

In all of the fun and muddy adventures that come from raising her hog, she said her favorite part of the project has been learning about swine growth and development, plus spending quality time with Erza during training.

Rinoa has plenty of experience raising market hogs and shared her last pig, Inosuke, weighed 263 pounds. She has some long term goals set and hopes to raise and breed pigs of her own, eventually to purchase a dairy calf to expand her livestock experience.

The proceeds from this auction will help her work toward that goal, setting some savings aside for her future calf project.

Trevor Hess has three years under his belt with 4-H and has joined the auction for his first time. He will auction off his market lambs, Tank and Maple.

Through the project, Trevor gained valuable skills in animal care and responsibility, working daily with his lambs. His favorite part has been watching them grow and improve on the halter.

He said he learned how to train them to walk, set up properly for the show ring, and develop into strong market animals.

Trevor hopes to become an APA and ABA poultry judge and someday serve as a DEC officer and said his auction proceeds will be reinvested in the family farm and help him continue his agricultural journey.

Market Animal Auction Program

Kmetz noted youth must be enrolled in the Chenango County 4-H Program and be at least eight years old to participate in the Market Animal Auction Program. Eligible participants are generally eight to 18. She said Cloverbud members ages five to seven are not eligible to auction animals.

She said auction buyers can register for a bidder number before the auction begins. Winning bidders will receive assistance from 4-H leaders once they win a bid. Leaders will help fill out the cut sheet to order desired cuts of meat from the animal.

Kmetz mentioned the processing fee is not included in the bid price for the animal but processing fees are paid separately and directly to the processor.

Processing costs vary depending on the species, carcass weight, cutting instructions, and processor, “so, there is not one standard fee,” she said. “Buyers can obtain current pricing from the processor handling the animal.”

USDA-inspected processing facilities have reserved dates for the auction. The timeline from start to finished packaging varies depending on processor, species, and cutting and packaging requests.

“By participating in the 4-H Market Animal Auction, buyers are not only purchasing high-quality local meat, they are investing in youth development, agricultural education, and the future of our community,” said Kmetz.

For additional agricultural information, visit the Cornell Cooperative Extension website at ccechenango.org.