To participate at the auction, you first need to register as a Buyer.  After registering you will be provided with a buyer number.  That buyer’s number is used to identify you throughout the auction whether you are doing online bidding or at a live auction when you hold up your number.

Do not think you can be at the auction but still want to participate. Sign up to have a proxy bidder to place bids on your behalf.  Simply fill out the proxy bidder form which authorizes someone else to bid on your behalf.

The cost of a 4-H or FFA animal is higher than a commercially raised animal because of the individual attention given to the animal’s development. The youth exhibitors spend countless hours feeding, cleaning, exercising, and raising these animals. This special attention delivers an exceptional product and deserves a premium price above the market price.  While many factors can affect this, the “Break Even Price” noted below is the cost that should allow the exhibitor to break even.  We like to suggest this “Break Even Price” as the minimum auction bid amount.  Often this is the price the Auctioneer will start the bidding at for each animal as it comes across the auction block. 

Please remember exhibitors are looking to earn a profit, which can then be reinvested into next year’s project, college, or future investments. So please consider bidding more to help them achieve this goal. Remember – your auction purchase is tax-deductible to the extent permissible by law. 

The Santa Clara County fair is a registered 501c3 charitable organization. For further information contact your tax professional.

The Lonnie Tosenfeldt Memorial Junior Livestock Auction is typically held in a live setting with youth showing off their animals while the auctioneer is calling off the bids. Prior to the auction all the animals are judged to confirm they are market ready. What market ready you might ask?  Just as it sounds – it means each animal has been evaluated by a veterinary to ensure it is healthy, certified it is free of any drug residues and it has also been judged for adequate fat to safely enter into the food chain or go to market.  The animals are then grouped together by specie and auctioned. Those animals that have “won” their classes are placed at the top of the list for their respective species. As the auction begins typically the exhibitor brings the animal into the auction ring and the Auctioneer begins to take bids. 

Live auctions tend to be a dance of sorts lead by the Auctioneer calling bids. The bidding can go back on forth between bidders and sometime the Auctioneer tries to get individual buyers to up their bids or compete against each other.  The Auctioneer is the life of the party- it is his/her job to get everyone excited, and they set the pace of the whole dance. All of this is in an effort to get the best possible price for each animal. When the gavel finally drops on the animal, the highest bidder (or bidders) wins.