UNIVERSITY PARK – On Nov. 8, the Penn State Dairy Science Club and the Pennsylvania Holstein Association will co-host the Nittany Lion Fall Classic, drawing bidders from all over the country to the Snider Agricultural Arena for an auction of the finest-grade dairy cattle.
Though the theme of this year’s auction is “Reliving the Classics,” and the event is steeped in tradition, Nathan Heim, the Penn State Dairy Science Club’s student chair for the Fall Classic, wants to set a new standard. “It’s the 25th year of the sale,” he said. “We’re aiming for record-breaking numbers in both highest sale price per animal and also highest gross.”
As the third-longest-running collegiate dairy cattle sale, the Fall Classic has grossed more than $3 million over its 24-year history. Last year’s event raised more than $235,000, with an average sale price of $3,312. A small margin of the total profit goes to support the student club’s spring trip.
Preparations for this year’s sale began in the summer months, when members scoured the region for consignment cows and started compiling a catalog for the auction. One week prior to the event, the cows will be taken to the Snider Agricultural Arena, where they will be “fitted” for sale. The process includes feeding, clipping and milking, along with other treatments to get them ready for auction.
This year the event will have 105 lots up for auction. Ninety-three of the lots will be live animals on the premises, while the remaining lots will be either packages of embryos or choices of unborn calves.
“Most buyers are dairy farmers or individuals involved in the dairy field from all over Pennsylvania and surrounding states,” Heim said. “There is a sales staff that takes phone bids for those in distant states.
“It’s probably the best week of the school year for the kids involved — it is for me at least,” Heim said of the sale process. “You’re out there for the whole week and you get to see all your hard work pay off. You can always retake a class but you can never relive a Fall Classic,” he said.
