Grand champion steer nets record bid

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Landrey Freeman’s grand champion steer garnered a record $105,000 bid in the Governor’s Sale of Champions at the Illinois State Fair Aug. 17.

Freeman, a 17-year-old entering her senior year at Winchester High School, called it “the best experience of her life” after her Simmental steer received the top bid from Illinois First Lady M.K. Pritzker who out-bid Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

The first lady also out-bid Gov. Pritzker at the 2019 fair with a $75,000 purchase of Cole Caldwell’s grand champion steer.

The previous high bid of $104,000 for the grand champion steer was set in 2016 by then-Gov. Bruce Rauner and First Lady Diana Rauner, along with D’Orazio Capital Partners and Friends of the Wisnefski Family.

Freeman, daughter of Nick and Jessica Freeman, gets half of the $105,000, with 10% going to the 4H and FFA, 15% going to the reserve grand champion steer and 25% going to all the other breed champions.

Bob, the show steer, weighed in at nearly 1,400 pounds, is named after his former owner, Bob May, of Wisconsin.

The grand champion steer will be donated to the Central Illinois Foodbank.

Other Sale of Grand Champions results were:

• Rabbit Market Pen — Exhibitor Owen Pree, Iroquois County; purchasers Agrivest Inc. and George Obernagle, $4,000.
• Poultry Market Pen — Exhibitor Brayden Wilson, La Salle County; purchasers McDonald’s owners in central and Taylorville, Illinois, $5,000.
• Land of Lincoln Supreme Champion Dairy Cow Print — Exhibitor Rosalee Zehr, Livingston County; purchaser Midwest Dairy, $3,500.
• Land of Lincoln Meat Goat — Exhibitor Maddox Horner, Jasper County; purchasers Springfield Plastics, Dale and Holly Hummel, AgriGold Hybrids, and The Sky Ride, $5,000.
• Meat Goat — Exhibitor Nolan Hoge, McDonough County; purchasers Keibro LLC, Farmers Bank and Trust Company, Ed Teefey, George Obernagel family, AgriGold Hybrids, and Tomhave family, $6,000.
• Land of Lincoln Market Lamb — Exhibitor Ashtin Guyer, Crawford County; purchasers Lynn Zehr, Eric Faugust, Syngenta and Rich Deschepper, and Beck’s Hybrids, $5,000.
• Market Lamb — Exhibitor E.N. Hanson, Iroquois County; purchaser, Miller’s Spectacular Shows, $8,225.
• Land of Lincoln Barrow — Exhibitor Jess Hawk, DeKalb County; purchaser Bayer Crop Science DeKalb and Asgrow, $18,000.
• Barrow — Exhibitor Ella Bobell, Logan County; purchaser CME Group, $25,000.
• Land of Lincoln Steer — Exhibitor Cole Caldwell, Peoria County; purchaser Evelyn Brandt Thomas, $30,000.