Local 4-H members present their rabbit projects to judges as part of their 4-H learning and showing experiences. These local youth will be auctioning off their animals at the 2025 Butte County Fair Junior Livestock Auction, Saturday Aug. 23.

GRIDLEY, CA (MPG) – As in years past, quite a number of youths will be exhibiting livestock and other projects at the Butte County Fair.

Blake Earley will represent Las Plumas High School Future Farmers of America (FFA) by showing a steer, a welding project, and competing in the Mardesich Becker team roping event as well.

Earley has been showing at the Butte County Fair since he was five years old in Pee Wee Showmanship, an event for the youngest of exhibitors, that involves showing a steer, goat, lamb and pig. As time went on, Earley showed goats as part of the Wyandotte Grange. Later, Earley’s mother Andree’ was an agriculture teacher at Palermo Middle School and organized an FFA chapter there. Blake began raising market steers in that group.          

Andree’ Earley currently teaches agriculture at Las Plumas High School and attends conferences with her son every year at California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly). Blake fell in love with the campus, and it is his dream to do college rodeo as a Cal Poly student. 

Gracie Yost poses with her market hog “Franklin” at the Shasta Spectacular, where Franklin won Reserve Champion. Photo courtesy of Andrew Abruzzini.

   

Blake Earley’s welding project is a cargo container tack room that he built himself. Earley had seen such a tack room and decided to build one. The process took about a week, and the finished product should fetch a good price at the Fair.          

For the team roping event, Earley will be a “heeler” and will find out at fair time who is team “header” will be, by “Straight Draw.” Earley indicated that this team roping event is a “Jackpot” roping event, meaning it is unassociated with a rodeo, and focuses entirely on roping. There are more Jackpot roping events than rodeos, Earley said, and there are many more participants.  

“I’ve always been in the horse scene, and rodeo,” Earley said.

Another fair competitor is Gracie Yost, a high school senior from Gridley FFA.  Yost will be exhibiting a breeding goat, and a market hog.

This is Yost’s first time bringing a breeding animal. “Birdie,” is a crossbred Boer doe. The Boer breed is used primarily for market animals, and Birdie will be kept for producing more of them. Yost said.     

When asked how she likes raising a breeding animal, Yost replied “I love it.”     

This is “Birdie” a crossbred Boer breeding doe to be shown at Butte County Fair, owned by Gracie Yost. Photo courtesy of Gracie Yost.

Yost’s market hog, “Franklin,” is a “Light Cross,” and was Reserve Champion at the Shasta Spectacular earlier this year. Yost placed third in the Senior Swine Showman category at the same event.    

Beginning in eighth grade, Yost showed market hogs in 4-H and switched to FFA in high school.  

Asked if giving up a market animal at the end of the year is hard Yost answered, “For me it’s not hard. I get used to it. I know I’ve given them a better life than they would have had at a (commercial) farm. It is what it is."            

After high school, Yost plans to attend Oklahoma State University with a double major in Agriculture Business and Animal Science. However, Yost is not sure what direction she will pursue within those fields.

Projects and animals will be auctioned and sold during the fair, which runs from Thursday, Aug. 21 to Sunday, Aug. 24.               

The junior livestock auction will be held Saturday, Aug. 23 beginning at 10 a.m. at McClanahan Pavillion, with the Supreme Exhibitor Ceremony held before the Sale of Champions.