After months of caring for their animals, hundreds of Valley Future Farmers of America and 4H Club members lined up for their grand finale - a day at the junior livestock auction.
"They all look forward to the fair. A lot of them are just kids that have been coming back for several times," fair livestock superintendent Joe Camarillo said.
One by one, the members displayed their animals. Many hoped to pull in top dollar and an award-winning honor. Livestock supervisors say the students take away lifelong lessons from the experience.
"Make sure to provide a healthy edible product for the consumer, that's life skills," Camarillo said.
Besides the skills, participants had a little fun dressing up their livestock.
"Especially the girls, they like to kind of dress up and name their pets. Most of the boys don't get that much involved, but everyone cares about their animals," Camarillo said.
From the auction floor to the show ring, local FFA and 4H students they're happy to see their hard work paying off in a big way.
Taylor Collins of Clovis says she has happy to end her time at the fair on a high note. She won Supreme Champion for her dairy market goat.
"It's mainly about having fun and learning something new everyday," Collins said.
FFA member Maision Rickerd of Fresno says it's rewarding to see the outcome of his hard work. Rickerd spent months training his goat for the fair.
"I worked with him everyday, twice a day actually putting him on a treadmill to actually working him out in a pasture," Rickerd said.
In the end, he earned a Supreme Champion title and a big payoff from the auction of his goat.
"Making that money is truly feels has that sense of entitlement that you worked hard and you've earned that dollar," he said.
Next Saturday, the final junior livestock auction will take place and more than 800 animals have been entered.
