Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – Gov. JB Pritzker does not live on a farm, but he knows a winner when he sees one.
“I’m amazed each year at the passion, the dedication, the hard work of these youth exhibitors,” Pritzker said at the end of Wednesday’ Governor’s Sale of Champions, considered by some the keystone event at the Illinois State Fair. “Each year we are reminded that the future of Illinois agriculture is in good hands.”
The hands which raised the grand champion steer belong to McKlay Gensini (pictured, right, orange shirt), 15, of Hennepin. She is about to begin her sophomore year in high school.
She says the judges look for “a lot of different things: their structure, how well they walk, their body, their overall rib size.”
Eighteen-month-old Badger (pictured) weighs about 1,500 pounds and is, says Gensini, “the best boy ever.” Soon enough, he’ll be the best steaks and hamburgers distributed at Illinois food banks.
While the other animals and commodities at the annual event are auctioned off, the custom the last few years has been for Gov. Pritzker and the First Lady to donate $105,000.
