After a four-and-a-half-hour marathon of steers mooing, lambs bleating and swines sprinting through the sawdust, the Southwest Washington Junior Livestock Sale came to a close with approximately $579,480 raised for junior producers Friday night.
This total is exclusive to sales made Friday night and does not include extra add-on payments.
The final total will climb much higher.
Bidders purchased 232 animals, up from 211 last year, from students representing 22 local 4-H and Future Farmers of America (FFA) organizations.
Swines were the most popular choice, with 115 sold for approximately $262,003. Twenty-five steers raked in $173,430, 55 lambs sold for a combined $84,456, eight heifer cows brought in $36,846, 13 goats went for a combined $13,854, seven fryers sold for $3,225, three turkeys totaled $2,765, four pens of rabbits sold for $2,025, and two pens of ducks raked in $875.
The event, dedicated to longtime 4-H leader Mark Herren, kicked off with the presentation of colors by Chehalis Boy Scout Troop 373 and the singing of the national anthem by Katelynn Guenther.
Auctioneers Cody Miller and Mark Kuhn provided over four hours of non-stop action, as bidders and families remained in the stands until 10:30 p.m. when Barrett Freeman of Alpha Better Bets was the last to show his 251-pound swine, which sold for $6 per pound.
The junior livestock sale served as an opportunity for FFA and 4-H students to select, raise, train, market and sell an animal. Youth from all over Lewis County spend the week answering questions from fairgoers and participating in different showmanship contests leading up to the sale.
Little Miss Showman
One of the stars from Southwest Washington Fair week was Kimber Serl, a Chehalis 10-year-old who was named the 2025 Little Miss Friendly on Tuesday. The newest hostess of the fair had a busier Friday than most Little Miss Friendlies do.
During the opening ceremony of the junior livestock sale, Kimber greeted the packed crowd. Over three hours later, she traded her signature blue cape and white sash for a show stick as she showed her market hog named Pearl, who sold for $6.50 per pound at 243 pounds. She also raised a breeding hog named Boots.
Kimber showed at the fair last year, but this summer’s experience was a bit different as her duties as Little Miss Friendly caused her to bounce around from the barn to different spots around the fairgrounds.
“In the morning, I get here, I empty out my pig pen and put new stuff in it. I fill up their water, I give them food, and I take out the food, and then I get dressed for Little Miss Friendly,” Kimber said. “That’s how my day always goes.”
The new Little Miss Friendly has enjoyed every part of the fair week, from earning her cape, to judging the Diaper Derby, to spending time with her pigs and her brother and fellow livestock producer Graysen, to just being the living logo of the fair. Many fairgoers have remarked at her resemblance to the fair logo stitched on the front of her cape.
“It’s been so much fun. One of my favorite things was the Diaper Derby,” Kimber said. “I love when little kids run up to you, and I love to hand out stickers and ride passes. I love to smile and wave, and I really like to show pigs.”
All in the family
The Serls weren’t the only siblings who shined during the livestock sale Friday night. Numerous last names popped up repeatedly throughout the name, from Meek to Osborn to Kuykendall.
Alexandria Nederlander, Leon Nederlander and Lucas Gates all showed pigs throughout the week leading up to the sale and have all shown for years together.
Alexandria, 19; Leon, 17; and Lucas, 12; are all members of Wildwood Stockmen 4-H club. Alexandria is a 2024 Onalaska High School graduate, Leon is preparing to be a senior and Lucas is an incoming seventh grader at Onalaska Middle School. Their mother Cassie Nederlander-Gates also showed pigs at Onalaska High School and helped her children learn the ropes.
This year marked the ninth and final year for Alexandria as a 4-H member, and she was the first of the three siblings to take the ring with her swine, followed by Lucas then Leon. Alexandria credited her mother for helping her get involved and for the knowledge she was able to pass down to her younger siblings.
“Everything she knows, she has taught me. She’s taught me the proper care of a market hog, what I should do, how I should clip it, how I should train it, and almost everything that I know about showing,” Alexandria said. “I like helping out my siblings so they know what to do when I’m not here and I’m not able to share with them anymore. It’s passing down your knowledge to someone that you really care about. It’s really sentimental because we kept it in the family.”
Alexandria’s Berkshire hog named “Diva” sold for $9 per pound at 223 pounds. She also raised a Hampshire-Yorkshire cross named “Pepper” that she will show at the Washington Sate Fair next month, her first time showing at the state fair.
Leon has shown pigs for about five years and took home the title of All Other Breeds Champion this year. His 231-pound market pig “Daisy” sold for $8 per pound. He enjoys creating bonds with pigs each year through training.
“I enjoy bonding with them and seeing how they react to certain things. Pigs are pretty smart,” Leon said. “They’ll go out and test things to see if they can do it or not. If they can, they’ll constantly do it. Through 4-H, I’ve learned to have more patience with other people and be more calm around animals because they will feed off your emotions.”
Leon said the siblings will compete with one another in the arena but are back to being family once they return to their family farm. Lucas also sold his 229-pound pig for $6.50 per pound.
Their youngest sibling Andi is just 4 years old but is already involved with 4-H activities. Leon said she won’t start showing animals until she’s older, but he’s excited to pass on his wisdom that has trickled down the limbs of the family tree.
“Since she’s growing up with it, she’ll understand a lot more than I did. She has a lot to learn from us,” Leon said of Andi.
Big winners from Twin Cities FFA chapters
Southwest Washington Fair week was particularly successful for Maddalyn Rothdeutsch, an incoming senior at Centralia High School, and Jonathan Hartwell, a soon-to-be sophomore at W.F. West High School.
Rothdeutsch, in her first year with Centralia FFA, was one of only two livestock producers to choose to raise a pen of market ducks, which sold for $500, and a show duck named “Jackass,” which earned a grand championship in showmanship. She also raised a 94-pound goat named “Billy The Kid,” who went to a new home for $7 per pound.
Rothdeutsch moved to Centralia last year from California and decided to join FFA to learn how to raise her own animals and to become self-sufficient.
“With ducks, you have to clean out their pen and everything a lot more often. Goats are easier to get attached to because you can walk them and get them to practice. That’s how we grow our bond,” she said. “It’s like training a dog. You have to be consistent with it.”
Rothdeutsch said being a part of Centralia FFA has helped create bonds not only with animals but with other students who share similar interests. The organization was one of the most represented at the junior livestock sale with 23 students marketing animals.
“I didn’t know a lot of these kids before this. We’ve learned to have each other’s backs and to support each other,” Rothdeutsch said.
Hartwell is in his second year with Chehalis FFA and showed three dairy animals last week, taking home Best in Show, reserve junior champion, reserve grand champion and best showman honors. His market heifer, weighing just under 1,035 pounds, sold for $2.75 per pound Friday night.
“I love the work leading up to it and being able to win,” Hartwell said of his showmanship skills. “It means a lot. It shows that my work has really panned out.”
Patience pays off
Adna High School incoming sophomore Kaden Hartley waited over four hours for just a couple of minutes in the ring showing his 262-pound Berkshire hog named Eastman. He was the second-to-last producer before the night was complete, and his long wait was worth it as he cashed in with $12 per pound. Only 21 of the 115 swines sold Friday night sold for that much or higher.
“It’s a lot of work. It’s all about trying to practice and teach it how to show in the ring. It’s been really fun raising him,” Hartley said. “He acts like a dog. He likes to sit up, and he has a little mud pit that he likes to sit in and dig a little deeper every day.”
Hartley is in his fourth year with Adna FFA and has always showed swines, taking after his mother who also showed hogs in school. Why pigs over all the other choices?
“I don’t know. I think they taste better than a lot of the others,” he said.
Hartley is also involved in forestry and agricultural sales with the Adna FFA chapter. He hopes to become a game warden after high school and use his experience in FFA to advance toward that goal.
“It gives you a work ethic, and you get experience working toward something that you want,” Hartley said of FFA.
