State Fair Auction fosters future farmers

RALEIGH - Frank Scott was nervous. Buddy, his 1,258-pound steer, wasn't.

Frank wore a red tie and a big Western belt buckle. Buddy was spritzed and fluffed until his black coat shone.

When the auctioneer started the bidding Saturday morning at the N.C. State Fairgrounds, the standing-room only crowd strained to gaze at this year's N.C. Born and Bred grand championship winner.

Frank, 13, tugged Buddy around the small ring as the numbers climbed. $10,000. $12,500. $15,000.

The Wilson County boy's eyes grew wider as the numbers got higher.

A few minutes later, Buddy sold for $22,000, much higher than the $1,200 he would have fetched at market prices.

But the Sale of Champions auction isn't about getting a good deal; it's about nurturing a future generation of farmers, said Jeffrey Martin of Martin's Meats, a Sampson County meat processor that joined with two other buyers to pay for Buddy.

Martin's Meats used to buy only North Carolina steers for their plants, but the price of the land and the hardships of farming have shut many of North Carolina's family farms, Martin said. His company has been forced to look elsewhere. They now buy from 27 different states to supply their slaughterhouse, which processes 600 head of cattle each day.