RAY NICOLAI of Hampton exhibits his Duroc gilt during the afternoon show; in the evening the tempo picked up with the ring sale of boars and gilts

Twenty-one boars sold for an average price of $465 and 27 gilts for an average $301 at the fall sale of the Duroc Breeders Association at the Brown County Fairgrounds Wednesday.

Average prices were markedly ahead of the fall sale last year, although the increase is not in the same proportion as the increase in slaughter prices.

Slaughter prices hit a record $62 per hundredweight this week at South St. Paul, nearly twice the price of a year ago.

Bruce Johnson, a Duroc breeder from Odin, said the sale Wednesday brought “about $100 to $150 a head higher than last year for comparable quality hogs.”

“It was a real healthy sale,” he said. “The bidding was as spirited as we’ve ever had.”

Thurston Brothers of Madelia had the champion boar, judged in the afternoon, which sold for $1,450.Reserve champion was owned by Dennis Wead of Preston and sold for $575.

The champion gilt, owned by O. Schmoll of Dodge Center, sold for $700,and the reserve champion, owned by Don Scheid of Delavan, sold for $725.

A total of 35 boars and 30 gilts were consigned for sale. The boars not sold failed to reach the established bottom price of $275.

The top boar price was far below the level of a sale this spring when Ben Bartusek of New Prague sold a Duroc boar to Richard Compart of Nicollet for $4,700.

New Ulm Daily Journal

Sept. 18, 1975