Photo submitted

Cassidy Shea, a member of the New Pride of the Valley 4-H Club, with her 976-lb. steer, “Porky,” was among the 46 kids to participate in the market beef weigh-in on Feb. 4.

All but nine of the animals weighed in qualify for the Delta County Bred & Fed program, which certifies to buyers that the animals they are purchasing were bred and raised in Delta County. Initial weights ranged from 357 to 1,025 pounds.

With the market beef weigh-in over, these 4-H and FFA kids will now concentrate on raising the best beef possible to offer to buyers over the auction block this summer. Last year, at the 2011 Delta County Fair, 48 local kids sold their beef to the generous buyers listed below for total sales of $108,425.

The sale committee thanks these buyers for their support of local 4-H and FFA kids last year, and invite them to attend the 2012 junior market livestock sale, which will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 11.

For more information on how you can support Delta County kids through the Delta County Fair's junior market livestock sale, please call the Delta County Extension Office at 874-2195.

Thank you to our 2011 beef buyers:

Black Mesa Lodge; Callaway Meats; Campbell and Sons Ranches; Crawford Country Bank; Delta County Memorial Hospital; Delta Hardware; Delta Montrose Electric Association; Delta Sales Yard, Inc.; Escalante Ranch; First Colorado National Bank; First State Bank of Colorado; Grand Junction Pipe & Supply; Hellman Chevrolet; Hellman Motor Company; Hotchkiss Elks Lodge #1807; IMC Company; J Cotter J Ranch; JC Propane; Kwiki Tire I; Kwiki Tire II; Master & Doyle Petroleum Company; Mountain Coal Company; Oxbow Mining, LLC; Paonia State Bank; Phillips Machine; Pro-Electrical Contractors, Inc.; Roberts Enterprises; Rocky Mountain Steel; Shaffer Real Estate; Sissons North Fork; Sissons Feed & Ranch; Tracy's Camp Stool Ranch; Turnbull Land & Livestock; Varner Equipment; Wendale; Western Implement; and Whiteside Companies.