Stock Show grand champion steer fetches $140,000

By PUNCH SHAW

Special to the Star-Telegram

FORT WORTH -- The sagging economy was reflected in the sale price of the grand champion steer in the Stock Show's Sale of Champions on Saturday, where Blackjack sold for $140,000, far below the record-setting price of $185,000 each of the last two years.

Blackjack, a 1,298-pound European crossbred steer shown by Callie Stedje, 13, of Gruver, was purchased by the Happy Davis Foundation.

Once the bidding stopped for the grand champion steer, however, the sale prices rebounded.

The reserve grand champion steer, shown by Meagan Boxwell of Perryton, sold to the Coors Distributing Company of Fort Worth for $100,000, the same as the 2008 reserve grand champion.

And the prices paid for the grand champion barrow, lamb and wether goat all were higher than in 2008.

Overall, the 278 animals sold during the sale brought in about $2.01 million. In 2008, 290 animals went for about $1.97 million.

"With the economy we're in right now, we are extremely happy," said Bill Poteet III, chairman of the Stock Show Syndicate, the group of businesses and civic organizations that works together to buy the winners of the livestock classes at the show.

"The challenge we had this year was that some of the bidders we have had in the past were not able to return. But we have more buyers than we did last year," Poteet said.

'I really love this steer'

If the lower price paid for the grand champion disappointed the seller, it did not show in Stedje's smile after her steer had sold. Both she and her father, Brent, just laughed when asked whether the $140,000 was a letdown.

And it was easier than usual for Stedje to chuckle in this special moment, when many winning youngsters alternate between tears of joy and tears of regret about having to say goodbye to their steers. But both Blackjack and the reserve champion, Boxwell's shorthorn, L.D., are headed for the Fort Worth Zoo -- not the slaughterhouse -- after the sale.

"I really love this steer," Stedje said about her coal black beauty, a mix of the Maine-Anjou, Chianina and Angus breeds. "I plan to go see him at the zoo."

Like most of the beneficiaries of the sale, she plans to sock the money away for college, with TCU being high on the list of universities she would like to attend.

'I just about fell over'

Though the grand champion sold for the lowest price since the 2004 winner went for $132,500, the buyer of the steer was somewhat surprising.

"I just about fell over," Poteet said of Happy Davis, represented by Jill Davis. "She has never been a buyer. We try to get our buyers signed up weeks in advance. But she was a walk-up this morning."

Typically, high-profile businesses buy the champions. Recent purchasers have included XTO Energy, Hillwood and Del Frisco's Steak House, for example. And the bidding often seems carefully choreographed.

"Everybody thinks we know who is going to buy the grand champion, but we really never know," Poteet said. "It's exciting to see new bidders and organizations come and support this sale. We are very happily surprised."

Happy Davis is a Weatherford-based philanthropic organization that supports college scholarships and charities including Susan G. Komen for the Cure and Habitat for Humanity. Davis is the granddaughter of the foundation's late namesake.

"We try to help people who want to help themselves and give back to the community," said Davis, a Fort Worth lawyer. "So this [the sale] was a good fit for us."

Davis, who said the foundation was built from her family's cattle and "diversified business interests," seemed a bit surprised by her success as well.

"My sister [foundation Executive Director Kris Davis Leitzman] was supposed to be here," Davis said. "She called me and told me I would have to be up at 6 a.m. for this. I told her that I wouldn't get up at 6 a.m. for Brad Pitt."

But Leitzman was out of town, so Davis did rise. And at the sale, she shined.

"We do this to encourage others to help people," she said.

Source: Fort Worth Stock Show

Looking for comments?