Livestock Auction

Bob Hooper chants without ceasing, as if in prayer in an exotic tongue, as animals skitter before his auctioneer's booth for sale to new owners who will fatten them, breed them or slaughter them.Behind him, hundreds of animals moving among wooden pens, waiting their turn in the limelight of the auctioneer's pit, answer in bellows, bleats and squeals.Hooper presides each Tuesday night over the sale of 500 to 700 animals -- cattle, sheep, pigs and goats -- at the Westminster Livestock Auction.

The fairground lights went out briefly one night during the Carroll County 4-H FFA Fair. The air-conditioning failed occasionally in a few buildings at the Ag Center in Westminster. And the last evening of the weeklong fair tested the resolve of anyone searching for a parking space - even the overflow lots were full. "But, hey, it's the fair and everybody loves it," said Denise Ziegler, fair spokeswoman. The 108th annual county fair drew record crowds, posted record food sales and raised more money than ever, organizers said.

In some editions yesterday, two photograph captions accompanying the Westminster Livestock Auction article were incorrect. The horns of the Watusi steer stretched about 5 feet from tip to tip. Attendance at the auction was 200 to 300 people.+ The Sun regrets the errors.The long tractor-trailer trucks, the flatbeds and pickups chug past the new developments at the edge of Westminster, carrying what may be your next T-bone steak.The trucks converge at the Westminster Livestock Auction where hundreds of pigs, goats, sheep and cattle are bought and sold every Tuesday, many to be slaughtered.

Frank Kopen, former owner of a Denton livestock auction and farmers' market, died of complications from cancer and heart disease Wednesday at the Annapolitan, an assisted-living facility in Annapolis. He was 86. Mr. Kopen was born and raised in New York City, where he graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School and attended City College of New York. He was drafted into the Army in 1944 and was discharged at war's end with the rank of private. In 1943, he married Phyllis Sneider, whose father owned and operated several businesses including the Caroline Sales Co., a livestock auction and farmers' market in Denton.

WESTMINSTER -- The younger group of 4-H'ers screeched "higher, higher," as the auctioneer called out the latest bids on the animals at Friday night's livestock auction at the Carroll County 4-H Fair.The children, at least, were audible.But no matter how garbled the auctioneer's words became, no one had trouble understanding that the event was raising money -- big money.The 159 animals sold during this year's installment of the annual event brought in $111,000, $8,400 more than last year.The animals raised by the 4-H'ers are cared for and groomed to near-perfection and then auctioned off, first for donations, later for to be butchered.

Deep in the animal barns and show buildings, Carroll County 4-H'ers were huddled together under sleeping bags and sweat shirts Friday, hiding from the chilly, damp weather.The daylong, soaking rain had turned away many fair visitors and postponed some events. But it had little effect on the participants' merry dispositions."Nobody's here," 16-year-old Melanie Soper jokingly wailed from her cocoon-like sleeping bag."Yeah, you just don't have the same fair atmosphere," teased Ginger Hull in reply.

Frank Kopen, former owner of a Denton livestock auction and farmers' market, died of complications from cancer and heart disease Wednesday at the Annapolitan, an assisted-living facility in Annapolis. He was 86. Mr. Kopen was born and raised in New York City, where he graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School and attended City College of New York. He was drafted into the Army in 1944 and was discharged at war's end with the rank of private. In 1943, he married Phyllis Sneider, whose father owned and operated several businesses including the Caroline Sales Co., a livestock auction and farmers' market in Denton.

They may be strapped to their seats thousands of feet above the Atlantic Ocean, but British Airways passengers will hear the cacophony of sounds and witness the vibrant colors of this year's Carroll County 4-H/FFA Fair livestock auction.The annual auction, which benefits individual 4-H'ers, was filmed by Kevan Pegley of the Spafax Airline Network Inc. in Britain for a documentary announcing British Airways' merger with USAir.The merger will allow British Airways to begin flying out of Baltimore-Washington International Airport in September.

A Millers woman says she lost time and money trying to save farm animals purchased at the county's only livestock auction.Two weeks after buying four calves and a lamb at the Westminster Livestock Auction on Aug. 1, Jane Kelley lost all the animals. One of the calves, a newborn that still had its umbilical cord attached, died within a few days of the purchase. The experience has left her critical of the practice of selling young, even newborn, calves.But the owners of the auction say they stand by a longtime "buyer beware" policy and do not compensate bidders for lost animals.

Cows and kids, ice cream and iced tea, competition and camaraderie -- all are part of the 95th annual Carroll County 4-H/FFA Fair that opens today.Admission to the fair, which runs through Friday at the Agriculture Center in Westminster, is free.New on the fairgrounds this year is a yellow building made of cinder blocks that will house an information booth, restrooms and offices."It is a very much needed expansion," said Calvin Brothers, past Fair Board chairman. "We were in desperate need of bathrooms."

The search lasted more than an hour, the pickup rumbling up and over the barren, rocky hills. Then, one appeared, a small black form peeking over the ridge at its audience. Another joined it, and another. Within minutes yesterday morning, all 18 had emerged - some black, some white, some diminutive, some bulging with muscles, a few even sporting great, curling horns. The feral goats were on the move. "Hah, hah, hah, them little suckers," said a grinning Gene Larrick, manager of the LaFarge Quarry a few miles outside of Westminster, where the wild billies and nannies make their home.

A scholarship fund to memorialize Eddie Harrison Jr., a young Woodbine farmer and 4-H member who died in an auto accident in July, has drawn an unprecedented show of support from young people and bidders, who raised $32,322 through the auction of animals last month at the Carroll County 4-H/FFA Fair."

Every Tuesday afternoon, the calves begin arriving for the weekly sale at the Westminster Livestock Auction -- six or eight at a time delivered by livestock haulers or a lone calf secured in the back of a pickup.Some of the animals scamper into the receiving pens, kicking and bawling as if to announce their arrival. Others -- just a few days old -- have trouble finding their legs and must be coaxed and prodded from the trucks. Most are black-and-white Holstein bull calves sold for veal because they can't contribute milk.

A Millers woman says she lost time and money trying to save farm animals purchased at the county's only livestock auction.Two weeks after buying four calves and a lamb at the Westminster Livestock Auction on Aug. 1, Jane Kelley lost all the animals. One of the calves, a newborn that still had its umbilical cord attached, died within a few days of the purchase. The experience has left her critical of the practice of selling young, even newborn, calves.But the owners of the auction say they stand by a longtime "buyer beware" policy and do not compensate bidders for lost animals.

A Millers woman says she lost time and money trying to save farm animals purchased at the county's only livestock auction.Two weeks after buying four calves and a lamb at the Westminster Livestock Auction on Aug. 1, Jane Kelley lost all the animals. One of the calves, a newborn that still had its umbilical cord attached, died within a few days of the purchase. The experience has left her critical of the practice of selling young, even newborn, calves.But the owners of the auction say they stand by a longtime "buyer beware" policy and do not compensate bidders for lost animals.

When the bidding on steers slowed at the 4-H Livestock Auction Friday night, auctioneer Jack Downing was always ready with a sales pitch."This is just a baby," he told the crowd at the 4-H/FFA Fair Friday night, referring to Gabe Zepp's grand champion 1,250-pound red Angus steer."

The state Department of Agriculture has banned sales of birds at Maryland livestock auctions, and Carroll County egg producers are tightening "biological security" measures on their farms to prevent the spread of avian influenza in the wake of a recent outbreak in Pennsylvania.The virus is not dangerous to humans, but it is nearly always fatal to chickens and other birds.The current outbreak was detected during routine testing at a livestock auction in Philadelphia and at the Pennsylvania Farm Show in Harrisburg last month.

Allan C. DriverBegan livestock marketAllan Cornelius Driver, a third-generation cattle dealer who founded the Baltimore Livestock Auction Market, died Thursday of a stroke at St. Agnes Hospital. He was 80.Mr. Driver, who lived in Ellicott City, built the livestock market in West Friendship and managed it for more than 30 years. Also known as the "cow palace," it was the largest of Maryland's livestock markets.Before opening the market in 1954, Mr. Driver ran the Baltimore Union Stockyards, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather.

Allan C. DriverBegan livestock marketAllan Cornelius Driver, a third-generation cattle dealer who founded the Baltimore Livestock Auction Market, died Thursday of a stroke at St. Agnes Hospital. He was 80.Mr. Driver, who lived in Ellicott City, built the livestock market in West Friendship and managed it for more than 30 years. Also known as the "cow palace," it was the largest of Maryland's livestock markets.Before opening the market in 1954, Mr. Driver ran the Baltimore Union Stockyards, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather.

Deep in the animal barns and show buildings, Carroll County 4-H'ers were huddled together under sleeping bags and sweat shirts Friday, hiding from the chilly, damp weather.The daylong, soaking rain had turned away many fair visitors and postponed some events. But it had little effect on the participants' merry dispositions."Nobody's here," 16-year-old Melanie Soper jokingly wailed from her cocoon-like sleeping bag."Yeah, you just don't have the same fair atmosphere," teased Ginger Hull in reply.