The Montgomery County Junior Livestock Auction enjoyed another successful year as it broke another record in gross receipts.

The 2026 auction, held on July 23 at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds, made $722,000, almost $8,000 more than last year’s total of $714,121. It’s the second year in a row the auction broke the $700,000 mark.

The auction, which lasted for about five hours, had 255 exhibitors this year, up from 215 last year. Hogs were the most sold at the event with 93, followed by rabbits with 71. Last year, 85 hogs and 68 rabbits were sold.

“We are truly blessed to live in a community that believes in supporting its youth,” Fair Secretary Chasity Lichtenberg said. “Once again, we had an incredible turnout for the livestock sale and welcomed many new buyers alongside our longtime supporters. Seeing businesses, families, and individuals invest in our exhibitors year after year is what makes this event so special. That support gives our youth confidence that their hard work throughout the year is recognized and appreciated.”

The auction also made $199,000 in buyer add-ons. Lichtenberg said the add-on program has been growing, increasing to nearly six times what it was in 2025.

“While the average price per animal was slightly lower due to a larger number of animals selling this year, the overall sale itself was still up a few thousand dollars from last year,” Lichtenberg said. “Overall, we consider it an outstanding sale and are incredibly grateful for the continued support from our buyers and community.”

Lichtenberg said the add-on program gives individuals, families, businesses and organizations an opportunity to support exhibitors without buying their animals. Any amount they donate goes to exhibitors in addition to the sale price of their animals.

“We have offered an add-on option for several years, but over the past two years we’ve placed a much greater emphasis on promoting the program,” Lichtenberg said. “Our new auction software has made it much more manageable, allowing us to expand the program and encourage more community participation.This year’s response far exceeded our expectations. While we experienced some challenges processing add-ons as quickly as we would have liked due to the unprecedented volume, it was a good problem to have. We’ve already met to evaluate this year’s process and have developed a new plan to ensure add-ons are processed more efficiently and in a timelier manner next year as the program continues to grow.”

The Grand Champions were Kenley Wessel (goat), Waylon Deeker (chicken), Elaina Uthlaut (steer), Chase McCurdy (hog), Emery Rodgers (lamb) and Cohen Beattie (rabbit).

The Reserve Champions were Matthew Oliver (goat), Chase McCurdy (chicken), Samuel VanBooven (steer), Tanner Grotewiel (hog), Chase Ebker (lamb) and Maggie Causey (rabbit).