DEL MAR: North County ag groups dominate livestock auctions

By JOHN RAIFSNIDER - For the North County Times | Friday, July 4, 2008 5:26 PM PDT ∞

DEL MAR ---- All eight Grand Champion awards from the Junior Livestock Auction held Friday at the San Diego County Fair went to members of the Future Farmers of America, Grange and 4-H clubs in North County.

Fallbrook-area clubs won three Grand Champion titles and six awards overall.

Valley Center groups earned two Grand Champion banners and six more reserve and division titles, and Ramona-area clubs won six awards including two Grand Champions. Kelsey Santamaria of the Olivenhain Valley 4-H club won a Grand Champion banner for Market Lamb, the last category up for bid at Friday's auction.

Overall, club members from the North County took home 26 banners as either a Grand, reserve or division winner from the fair.

Only Blue Ribbon recipients were allowed to have their animals available for the livestock auction, a tough feat to accomplish, said 10-time winner Marissa Tescier, who now works as an agriculture intern at the fair.

"You have to put your whole heart into raising an animal for auction," said Tescier, 19, who now attends Oklahoma State University on an agriculture scholarship.

"Any animal these kids raise takes a lot of care, but some take more than others. But every one of these animals has to be treated like it is a family pet. They all need proper nutrition ---- that's the key ---- if they're not fed right, even pigs, they're not going to be Blue Ribbon animals," Tescier said.

Missy Dunckel of Fallbrook, one of 23 scholarship winners to share $38,000 from the Junior Livestock Scholarship fund this year, said she wasn't nervous about showing her goat at the auction.

"This isn't my first time doing the auction, so I'm fine, but some of these other kids have never shown their animals before," she said.

"A lot of them have been very excited all week, and today they are all a bunch of nervous wrecks ---- especially my little brother, Chris, he's really uptight about showing his animal," Missy said.

For those who don't earn a Blue Ribbon, she said, there's always the Ramona Fair auction in late August.

"It's sad to see their faces when these kids don't get to send their animals to the auction here, but there is another opportunity for the kids whose animals don't make it here," said Missy.

In the livestock barn, minutes before the auction, Ana Gonzalez of Orange Glen High School was cool as a cucumber while grooming "Wilbur," her 235-pound Blue Ribbon-winning Yorkshire swine.

"This pig loves to be groomed," said Ana as she brushed Wilbur's belly.

"It really calms him down, and that's what you want when it's time for the auction. Pigs have to be calm when you are raising them, too. If they are upset, they won't eat, and if they don't eat, they won't gain the weight they need to make it to the auction," she said. "Both you and your animal have to be calm when you are up there on the platform."

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