All bids for both individual and group sales in all species at the Fairfield County Junior Fair Livestock Sale will be done by Premium Bid. The following information will further clarify the terms KEEP and TURN.
If during the sale you are the winning bidder and tell the auctioneer you choose to TURN the animal or group, you will pay only the amount you bid which is called a Premium Bid. After the sale the packer takes possession of the animal and pays the exhibitor the packer bid that has been offered prior to the sale.
If during the sale you are the winning bidder and tell the auctioneer you choose to KEEP the animal for yourself (most often to have harvested for your freezer), you will pay your Premium bid PLUS the packer bid (or “market value”).
For example, if you choose to KEEP your purchase of an exhibitor’s steer that weighs 1200 pounds:
If that animal’s packer bid is $1.20/pound, his total packer bid value is $1440 (1200 pounds X $1.20/pound) and . . .
If you are the winning bidder on that steer at $1000 and choose to TURN it to the packer (you do NOT want the meat), you will be invoiced only the $1000 premium bid.
HOWEVER, if you “KEEP” the animal (you want the meat after slaughter) you will be invoiced the Packer Bid ($1440) PLUS your premium bid of $1000 for a total of $2440.00
GROUPS will sell by “premium bid” also. The pounds indicated on the sale order is the total number of pounds included in the group/pen. You will be bidding one price for the entire group/pen and if you TURN the group/pen you will be invoiced for only the amount of your bid. However, If you KEEP the group/pen, you will be invoiced the total pounds times the packer bid, PLUS your premium bid just as in the example above.
If you are planning to KEEP any or all the sale animals you purchase, prior to the sale you must make the arrangements for hauling and harvesting the animal(s). Due to the current demand for freezer meat and a limited amount of local livestock harvest and processing capacity available, at the sale we can no longer guarantee processing of freezer meat at local butcher shops in a timely fashion.
Buyers must now make arrangements for butchering and transporting any animals they purchase as KEEPS prior to the sale.
As an aid in that process, listed under this link in PDF is a listing of some butcher shops and harvest facilities local to Fairfield County. This list is not intended to be an endorsement but is offered as a convenience to buyers who may wish to purchase animals for their home freezer.