One of the most popular events to be held at Bolado Park each
year is the Junior Livestock Auction.
One of the most popular events to be held at Bolado Park each year is the Junior Livestock Auction.
The San Benito County Fair Junior Livestock Auction gives young participants a change to build a college fund and learn some responsibility.
Every year, about 200 4-H and Future Farmers of America members bring more than 300 head of livestock to show at the county fair. Participants trot in everything from steers to pigs to sheep, hoping to sell them to some kind county resident .
But the junior livestock auction isn’t all about money. The auction teaches participants aged 19 and younger about agriculture, responsibility and marketing, said Rodney Bianchi, the fair’s livestock superintendent.
Robert Durst, a 17-year-old junior at San Benito High School, has been showing pigs at the auction for three years.
Durst began participating in auction through the Future Farmers of America at the encouragement of his stepfather, Brandon Cabotage, who had been in the FFA as a young man.
His freshman year, Durst showed one pig at the San Benito County Fair. His sophomore and junior years, he showed two, Durst said.
The auction teaches responsibility, both fiscal and in the caring for another living creature, Durst said.
Despite spending every day with the animals for two months, Durst said watching his pigs go isn’t as hard as some would expect.
“For some people it is,” Durst said. “I don’t get too attached because I know they’re going to leave.”
