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More than 340 young members of the 4-H and Future Farmers of America will participate in the 2025 San Benito County Fair Junior Livestock Auction, which serves as a direct investment in their dreams of pursuing agricultural careers, attending college and starting their own businesses.
Auction Chair Kevin Wilkinson, who showed hogs at the fair in his youth, said that the responsibility of raising animals for the auctions provided him with meaningful opportunities and laid the core foundation for the person he is today.
“Supporting the auction,” he said, “is an excellent way to reward the hard work and dreams of these children. The community needs to understand what we have here and that they need to get involved.”
With participants as young as nine and projects lasting anywhere from six to nine months to produce a market-ready animal, Wilkinson said the only path to success for these children is through “consistent hard work, sweat and tears.”
“It’s a lot of responsibility for these kids,” he said. “You have to show up every day and do your project. You’ve got to feed them twice a day, bathe them and walk them. You’ve got to do all of those things, and there’s no easy way to get there.”
One 15-year-old girl who will be in the current auction—BenitoLink has been asked not to use her name to maintain fairness—has been showing animals since she first entered at age 10 with a market goat. She moved on to a heifer the following year and will be showing a steer this year.
She said that as she has progressed through these auctions, she has learned a great deal about managing her money and using her time to care for her animals responsibly—enough to consider a career in agriculture.
“I feel like this has really helped me think about my future,” she said, “and I’d like to keep growing my herd of commercial cattle. The experience has taught me a lot, and I feel I am getting ready for that kind of work.”
The participants are also encouraged to actively campaign for support by writing letters describing their animals and interest in agriculture; the letters are distributed to businesses and to known buyers in an effort to attract bids.
“These kids do a lot to educate people about their projects,” said Wilkinson. “A lot of businesses get the letters and don’t show up to the auction, possibly because they don’t understand the process or what they are being asked for.”
One of the goals of the auction is to maximize the amount that any given animal sells for, which is typically above market value and is tax-deductible. While higher-level patrons may bid up and purchase particular animals on their own, which can be costly, buyers may pool their money to place a bid or can submit “add-ons,” a smaller fixed amount that is added to the final bid.
“It is a way of making an individual contribution on top of what their animal sells for,” he said. “It is good for people on fixed incomes who want to help. A lot of $50 donations can add up to a significant amount for a child.”
Add-ons are also an easy way for people who have a bit more to spend to spread their generosity to multiple participants. Rather than add on $1,000 to a single animal, he said, 10 children could benefit from add-ons of $100 each. Patrons such as the Cattlemen’s and Cattlewomen’s associations, and businesses such as McKinnon’s Lumber have automatic add-ons of, say, an extra $100 for every steer being auctioned.
The process of placing an add-on is easy to do, Wilkinson said, and can be done at any point before the fair, during the auction process or up to a week afterward by asking for an add-on slip and filing in the child’s name and the amount.
Wilkinson said that bidding on animals or placing add-ons is an easy way for businesses to reward the members of the agricultural community. Estimating that only 3% of the business community supports the auction, he said he hoped more people would consider joining in as a way of reciprocating those who regularly patronize them or use their services.
“These kids and their families are going into their restaurants to eat lunch or dinner,” he said. “Their parents are buying their cars and their houses and using the banks and accountants. Those people need to be here. This is where they need to be.”
Regular bidder Ralph Brigantino said his business, Brigantino Irrigation, supports not only the San Benito County auction but livestock auctions in surrounding counties as a gesture of appreciation for the valuable lessons he learned through 4-H, including basic economics, finances and work ethic.
“You need to save money from one auction to buy another animal for the next one,” he said. “You need to feed and care for your animal. And the better you do, the more money you can make at the auction. It can be a lucrative deal.”
Brigantino said that, like many business owners in the county, he receives a good number of the letters that kids send to potential buyers. However, he said, the entries he pays particular attention to are those that the young participants deliver in person.
“I absolutely love it,” he said. “They literally walk into my office, shake my hand and say, ‘Mr. Brigantino, I have a pig or a goat or a lamb, and I’d like you to come and support me.’ They’ll tell me about raising their animal, and it’s just amazing.”
Brigantino said there are two choices available for the buyer after purchasing an animal. It can be delivered to a butcher shop for processing, with various options as to how the meat will be prepared, such as pork chops or sausages. It can also be sent back for resale at market price, selling at a loss but maintaining the tax-deductible benefit.
“If we get the meat,” he said, “my family and I will eat it, or I’ll give it away to my employees, customers or friends. It’s really all really good, and the pigs are phenomenal. A pork chop from a fair pig is one of the best pork chops you’ll ever eat.”
While Wilkinson said the auction has a “really good core group of buyers who’ve been supporting the auction forever,” he added that he is hoping more businesses and individuals will come forward to help out so they do not have to “hang our hat on the same people every year.”
“People need to understand what we have here,” he said, “and why they should get involved. There’s multiple ways to acknowledge what these kids are about, what they’re doing, and what they do for the community. And what they need from that community is for them to show up.”
The San Benito County Junior Livestock Auction starts on Oct. 4 at 9:30 a.m. at Bolado Park. Add-on contributions on animals will be accepted for one week after the end of the fair.
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