WAYNE COUNTY, PA — Members of 4-H clubs and the Future Farmers of America chapters of Wayne County enroll in Market Animal programs which, along with the club leaders, parents and the personnel of the Wayne County Penn State Extension Office, guide and educate the young participants on how to carefully raise their market steers, hogs, sheep, goats and rabbits. 

The projects are complete only when they turn in all required paperwork and the students exhibit their animals in various competitions at the Wayne County Fair.

Before there was a livestock auction, members took their animals home and added them to breeding stock, slaughtered them or, in an attempt to recoup the money spent raising the animals, found private buyers. In 1998, a few long-time supporters of the program created an auction. 

The Wayne County sale has become highly successful, and frequently ranks as the second- or third-highest grossing sale in Pennsylvania, next to the Harrisburg sale. 

The first auction began with about 10 animals; this year, on August 12, 450 animals will be auctioned. 

In 1998, the sale committee began a scholarship program to assist graduating senior 4-H and FFA members with the costs of higher education and careers. The fund’s name, the Nebzydoski-White Memorial Jr. Livestock Scholarship Fund, honors two of the program’s ardent supporters: Dr. David J. Nebzydoski and James D. White. 

Scholarship funds are raised by direct donation, often in memory of a loved one, and by the “buy back” feature of the livestock sale. Those who purchase an animal at the auction can donate it back to be sold again. The proceeds from the resale go to the scholarship fund or any other charity of the second purchaser’s choice. The “buy back” method benefits 4-H or FFA twice: once when the initial sale proceeds are paid to the individual who raised the animal, and again in the future to a senior member to assist them in their future plans.

At the close of the 2026 sale, the committee will have donated 4,430 scholarships, totaling $618,933.00. This year, eight senior FFA or 4-H members will each receive $2,500. A list of the deserving young men and women can be found at www.riverreporter.com/stories/scholarship-profiles,271720.