Anyone around Lakeview Park over the weekend may have heard a “moo” or two.
On Sunday, the Franklin County Fair hosted a dairy sale in the park’s Farm Bureau Pavilion. Dozens of people were at the event to buy, show and sell dairy cows.
The sale is for 4-H kids. It gives 4-H kids who did not grow up on a dairy farm the opportunity to start showing dairy cows. The cows sold at the auction could eventually go on to be in county fairs, the state fair or in districts and expositions put on by the Kentucky Department of Agriculture. Points are acquired during such events, and children showing the cows can go to a banquet at the end of the year and get prizes for acquiring the most points, said Logan Chandler, a dairy farmworker.
Chandler said a lot of the children have grandparents who used to work on a dairy farm but got out of the business. Now, parents or grandparents want to get their children into the business, so they can have the opportunity to show cows and learn about the responsibilities that come with it.
“It teaches them responsibility, even more than having a dog,” Chandler said.
Savanna Bechstein has shown cows for years.
“All we do is we wash them. We clip them, and we walk them around a ring and get bidders to bid for them and then they sell them,” Bechstein said.
She loves the animals and loves to show how pretty they are.
“It’s difficult. It makes you sweat and you stink after a while, but I love it,” Bechstein said.
Sheri Hamlin’s family has been showing cows for four generations.
“It’s the comradery — the people we’ve met over the years. Some of these people I’ve known for over 30 years, and it’s all from the cows,” Hamlin said.
She said most of the people at the auction buying cows don’t use them for milk.
“For me and a lot of people out here, it’s about the kids,” Hamlin said.
Cows of different shapes, colors and sizes were sold Sunday.
The most Chandler has seen a cow sold for at auction is $250,000. The least is $250.
“You’ve got to bid fast and bid last,” Chandler said.
Source: state-journal.com
