It was a historic night for an event that started back in 2005 at what is called the World’s Largest Junior Livestock Show. On Tuesday evening, the 20th Night of Stars Gilt Sale had 130 gilts sell for a grand total of $1,610,750 and a per gilt average of $12,390. That far surpassed the record set last year of $1.259 million and a per gilt average of $9,612.
All of these gilts were shown by 4-H and FFA youth who sold their animals in the sale- the best of just over 2,000 head that were in the Breeding Gilt show of this past week.
High of the night was the first gilt sold- the Supreme Crossbred Gilt for $175,000- shown by Kashan Young of Rogers County 4-H. The Reserve Supreme Crossbred sold for $75,000 and was shown by Isaiah Gamez of Adair FFA.
In recent years- there are always two or three gilts that see their value pushed up in the competitive bidding process. There was a third crossbred gilt- the 87th pig sold in the sale that brought more than the Reserve Supreme Champ- $91,000- it was the 35th best Dark Crossbred in the show and was owned by Jackson Harper of Madill FFA. A buyer and a competing bidder decided that gilt (and the genetics in her lineage) was worth more than all but one other animal in the entire sale.
Two purebred gilts topped the sale for the 60 purebred gilts sold. The Reserve Supreme Champion Purebred- the Reserve Champion Berkshire sold fourth in the sale and brought $45,000- owned by Ava Gilcrease of Turner. That was matched by the 41st gilt sold overall- the fifth place Spot which also was sold for a bid of $45,000- owned and shown by Summer Prince of Garber FFA. The Supreme Champion Purebred- the Champion Berk sold third for $22,500. She was shown and owned by Madison Walker of Red Oak FFA.
Click here for the full schedule for the 2024 OYE. The Oklahoma Farm Report team will be snapping pictures from start to finish- and you can see them as we add them to our Flickr album for 2024- available here. If you want to look back to the 2023 OYE- click here for our pictures from last year’s event.
Our coverage of the 2024 Oklahoma Youth Expo is sponsored by Hilliary Communications. More than 60 years ago, the Hilliary Family acquired a small telephone company in rural southwest Oklahoma. Now in its third generation, the company has grown from a single exchange with just 100 access lines covering 22 square miles to now serving more than 19,000 customers in 22 counties throughout Oklahoma & Texas. The company also offers IP television service and internet speeds up to 1 Gig. Click here to learn more about Hilliary Communications.
