Long days, early mornings and late nights of work will culminate in a single afternoon for local youth at the Junior Livestock Sale.

FFA and 4-H exhibitors will sell their prized lambs, hogs, goats, rabbits and beef at the annual sale, which begins at 1 p.m. Saturday.

They can count on the community’s support, as the barn is always crowded with buyers and family members who recognize and reward the hard work youth put into raising their animals.

“It doesn’t matter how many years I do this … you just have a hard time grasping the year-in, year-out support that people give to the youth,” said Joe Bridges, chairman of the Junior Livestock Sale Committee.

Last year’s sale brought in $378,849 for the 220 youth who sold their livestock.

A lot of the buyers understand how important it is for young people to be involved with a 4-H or FFA project and the life lessons they learn in the process, Bridges said. The support shows youth their hard work is appreciated.

Some kids will top the sale and others may have “some wow-factor things happen,” but “every kid has a success story with it,” Bridges said.

“At the end of the day, every kid — no matter who they are, what their background is or what their project looks like — has had a successful day,” he said. “That’s pretty neat to be a part of.”

More kids may be part of Saturday’s sale than were in 2018.

“I anticipate our numbers being up this year,” Bridges said.

He said they tagged about 20 more kids with hogs, 13 more with lambs and 20 more with goats than last year’s sale.

However, some of those youth may not make it to the sale for various reasons, so “it’s a little bit hard to tell at this point,” Bridges said last week.

“It won’t necessarily be that large of a jump, but that does tell me that we’ll run more through the sale than we did last year,” he said.

Steer numbers are steady, as always, Bridges said.

“It’s everything else that fluctuates,” he said.

Goats are proving to be a popular project.

“When you talk about selling 41 goats last year and tagging 61 kids this year, that’s a huge increase,” Bridges said.

He noted Park County has made some adjustments to the goat barn to accommodate the increasing numbers and get it up to date.

One change to this year’s sale is the addition of a registration desk where buyers will be assigned bidder numbers. The hope is to eliminate some of the confusion that’s occurred at previous sales, Bridges said.

“… We’re starting to get so many buyers,” he said, adding that sale organizers want to make sure names and details are correct.

Bridges said he appreciates everyone who makes the annual sale “such an awesome event and great experience for kids.”

“It’s not something that’s easily or quickly put on — this is a year-long process,” he said.

June Ann Nelson, Jennifer Triplett and Andrea Mehling put in countless hours to make sure the sale is a success, he said.

Bridges said he also appreciates all the behind-the-scenes people and the buyers who support the youth.

“I’m not even sure how I can describe it,” Bridges said. “But watching that Saturday come together and seeing the satisfaction on the kids’ faces … they’re having fun and they love their animals, and it’s fun to be part of that.”

Livestock shows schedule

Wednesday, July 24

9 a.m. — Park County Bred and Fed

4 p.m. — 4-H Beef Showmanship

Youth Breeding Beef Show to follow

5:30 p.m. — 4-H Swine Showmanship

Feeders & Breeding Swine Show to follow

PeeWee Swine Showmanship to follow

Thursday, July 25

7:30 a.m. — Poultry Showmanship

Open & Youth Poultry Show to follow

8 a.m. — Open & Youth Meat Goat Show

8 a.m. — 4-H/FFA Rabbit Showmanship

PeeWee rabbit showmanship to follow

9 a.m. — Youth Market Beef Show

FFA Beef Showmanship to follow

Open Breeding Beef to follow

10 a.m. — Open & Youth Wool Show

1:30 p.m. — 4-H Sheep Showmanship

Best Fitted Sheep to follow

Open & Youth Feeder Lambs, Pen of 3 and Orphan Lambs to follow

5 p.m. — FFA Swine Showmanship

Youth Market Swine Show to follow

Friday, July 26

7:30 a.m. — FFA Sheep Showmanship

Market Sheep Show to follow

Open & Youth Breeding Sheep to follow

8 a.m. — Rabbit Show

8:30 a.m. — Youth Dairy Cattle Show

Open Dairy Cattle Show to follow

8 a.m. — 4-H/FFA Dairy Goat Showmanship

Youth Dairy Goat Show to follow

Open Dairy Goat Show to follow

PeeWee Dairy Goat Showmanship to follow

Dress-A-Goat to follow

1 p.m. — PeeWee Sheep Showmanship

2 p.m. — 4-H Small Animal Round Robin

6 p.m. — Sheep Lead Contest

Saturday, July 27

9 a.m. — 4-H/FFA Large Animal Round Robin

1 p.m. — Park County Junior Livestock Sale