Hadlie Gabel, who hails from Eaton in Weld County, is just 11 years old and in the fifth grade. But she’s in her third year of showing steers – and for someone so young, she’s already a champion.

Gabel’s crossbred steer, Baxter, who weighs in at 1,347 pounds and is 18 months old, was the big winner on Tuesday at the Junior Livestock Auction at the Colorado State Fair. 

Baxter was awarded Grand Champion Market Steer and was sold at the auction for $50,000 to the Sam Brown family of Pueblo, philanthropists who have for many years entered the winning bid for the grand champion steer.

The auction features the work of 4-H and Future Farmers of America exhibitors, who spend the year raising their livestock in preparation for county and state fair. 

Gabel told Colorado Politics that raising cattle is a lot of hard work.

“But you can never give up. If you give up, you can’t accomplish your dreams,” Gabel said.

The grand champion award is the biggest thing she’s ever won, she said. 

Baxter was among 108 livestock animals auctioned on Tuesday to groups, such as the Denver Rustlers, the Pikes Peak Posse of El Paso County, and the Pueblo-based Fair Ladies and the newest coalition, the Bidder Critters.

The auction raised $470,000, slightly below previous years’ records due to a change in the rules around the auction.

State Fair General Manager Scott Stoller told Colorado Politics that in previous years, all livestock animals that won awards were auctioned, but for animals in the final placings, it meant the price was often well below what it cost to raise the animal. 

So, for 2023, only the top five in each category was required to be auctioned, and the exhibitor that showed an animal that placed below the top five could choose whether to auction the animal or not. That led to about 50 fewer livestock animals available for auction on Tuesday.

Stoller said they hoped the rules change might drive up the prices for the livestock animals that did go to auction on Tuesday. That wasn’t quite the case.

Last year’s total for 138 animals auctioned was $491,000.

Bidder Critters, which was at the auction for the ninth year, hoped to come home with two steers. Their mission is to process the animals they buy and then give the meat to various charities, such as the local YMCA, soup kitchens or others who just need some good meat.

They started with $5,000 nine years ago. On Tuesday, they were ready with $12,000.

An elated Kallene Faris, who founded the group, bounced over to where they would meet their exhibitor and animal after meeting their goal of winning bids on two steers.

The largest groups that attended the auction, and which engage in a good-natured rivalry, were the Denver Rustlers and the Pikes Peak Posse, although the Rustlers have demonstrated much larger purses over the years.

“I’ve got to be meaner,” joked Posse buyer and co-founder Scott Smith.

Tuesday, the Rustlers’ wins included the Reserve Grand Champion Market steer, for which they paid $17,500. They also won the Grand Champion Market goat, shown by Karsyn Fetzer of Weld County ($5,000) and the Reserve Grand Champion Market Lamb, shown by Cal Sidwell of Weld County ($7,000).

The Posse had winning bids on the Reserve Grand Champion Market turkey shown by Dakota Potton of Douglas County ($1,000) and Reserve Grand Champion chickens shown by Mason Massey of Yuma, who also had the Grand Champion chickens. Both were sold at $2,000 each.

Joining the Rustlers this year on the trip to Pueblo were Republican Reps. Mike Lynch, Ryan Armagost, Lisa Frizell, Anthony Hartsook; lobbyists RD Sewald and Josh Hanfling, who manage the Rustlers event each year; former ag commissioner and Rustlers co-founder Tim Schultz; lobbyist Ted Trimpa; CU Regent and former House Speaker Frank McNulty; and, Adam Frisch, a Democratic candidate in the 3rd Congressional District. The group held a send-off prior to hitting the road to Pueblo at Shanahan’s in the Tech Center, where Denver Mayor Mike Johnston joined them. 

Then it was off to Pueblo and a meet-up with the Posse at a rest stop on the El Paso-Pueblo county line, where six officers from the Pueblo County Sheriff’s office, including Sheriff David Lucero, gave the entourage an escort to the fairgrounds. The trip took a little longer than one might expect as the sheriff’s vehicles took a circuitous route around Pueblo, showing off the downtown, before heading out to the fairgrounds.

Among the dignitaries with the Posse were county commissioners Cari Bremer and Longinos Gonzalez, Jr.; former city councilman Wayne Williams; Colorado Springs real estate legend Steve Schuck; and, Republican Sen. Bob Gardner.

Colorado Springs Mayor Yemi Mobolade later joined them at the auction.

Annabelle Moore of Colorado Springs – the 4-H liaison to the Posse and who is a first-year student at CU-Colorado Springs, where she studies biology, and in her ninth and final year of 4-H – has raised companion and livestock animals, including dogs, llamas (considered a companion animal), cashmere fiber and market goats and rabbits. 

She told the Posse at Tuesday’s kick-off that she’s proud to be a 4-H member.

“There’s a lot of pride in what we do,” from raising livestock to leading and public speaking, she said. “4-H is putting in the work” to produce good quality animals.