Can’t quickly compute in your head how much a 1,100-pound steer will cost at 90 cents per pound?
You’re not alone, although buyers without calculators at the Clark County Fair’s livestock sales had tried their best for years.
Now they don’t have to be master mathematicians. Instead, all animals this year will be sold by the head, not by the pound, fair spokeswoman Andrea Maurer said.
That means if buyers have budgeted $200 to buy a hog, they’ll simply bid $200.
The fair tested this premium bidding system last year with the steers. Junior Fair participants received more per animal than they did under the old system, Maurer said. She hopes the higher numbers will translate to each of the animal species this year.
“Buyers seem to like it because they know what they’re bidding,” she said.
If the buyer chooses the re-sale option, the fair participant will be paid the bid and the re-sale market value posted at the auction or in the program. Buyers pay only their bid, and their accounts aren’t credited with the re-sale value.
Custom processing and back-to-the-farm options are also available at some of the sales.

Posted: 08|25|05 at 10:19 am. Filed under: US News.