Springfield, Illinois. The state’s greatest juvenile livestock exhibitors were highlighted Tuesday night at the Illinois State Fair’s annual Governor’s Sale of Champions, which featured animals that won the Grand Champion title—the highest honor for livestock displayed in Illinois.
Governor JB Pritzker and First Lady MK Pritzker bought the Grand Champion Steer for the sixth consecutive year. The top prize-winning animal was obtained thanks to their $105,000 donation, which will be given to Feeding Illinois and given to food banks around the state to help underprivileged families.
The Grand Champion is traditionally purchased by an Illinois governor each year.
According to a press release from the Illinois Department of Agriculture’s director, Jerry Costello II, winning the title of Grand Champion is the highest honor in livestock show.It takes numerous hours of sacrifice and hard work to get to this point. It is quite satisfying to see our young agriculturalists honored for the work they do on these animals.
A percentage of the money made from the sale of their animal will go to the Grand Champion and Reserve Grand Champion exhibitors. The exhibitors either put the money back into initiatives for the following year or use it to pay for their college tuition.
In addition to buying the Grand Champion Barrow, CME Group donated $50,000 to the Governor’s Sale of Champions in 2025, which will be used to pay for $5,000 scholarships.
The 2025 Commodity Auction and 2025 Sale of Champions outcomes are shown below.
|
Commodity |
Exhibitor |
Location |
Purchaser |
Price |
| Champion Chihuahua Cheese | V&V Supremo Foods | Chicago, IL | U of I College of ACES | $1,000 |
| Champion 2% Chocolate Milk | Hoffmann Oberweis Dairy | North Aurora, IL | McDonalds Marty & Donna Davis | $650 |
| Champion 40% Heavy Whipping Cream | Prairie Farms | Rockford, IL | McDonalds Marty & Donna Davis | $300 |
| Champion Vanilla Ice Cream | Prairie State Ice Cream | Chicago, IL | Ray Jacobs Family | $300 |
| Champion Vanilla Non-Homogenized Whole Milk Yogurt | Deerland Dairy | Freeport, IL | McDonalds Marty & Donna Davis | $225 |
| Champion Bacon | Jones Meat & Locker | Jacksonville, IL | Turner Farms | $850 |
| Champion Bone-In Ham | Eickman s Processing Co. Inc. | Seward, IL | Illinois Manufacturers Association | $1,600 |
| Champion Beef Jerky | Jones Meat & Locker | Jacksonville, IL | George Obernagel, Obernagel Family Farms & Joe Hampton | $900 |
| Champion Snack Sticks | Main Street Meat Co. | Roscoe, IL | Cory Craig Auctioneer | $1,025 |
| Champion Cooked Bratwurst | Behrmann Meat & Processing | Albers, IL | Brian Engelmann, Weeke Sales and Service | $1,800 |
| Illinois State Fair Wine Show Champion | Blue Sky Vineyard | Makanda, IL | Mollett Auction Services | $925 |
| Grand Champion Honey | Steven Hinrichs | Rochester, IL | Pour Farm Apiary | $600 |
| Grand Champion Dairy Goat Milk | Lillian Lee | Glenarm, IL | Kevin Carey, Assistant Dean & Director, U of I Extension | $900 |
|
Animal |
Exhibitor |
County |
Purchaser |
Price |
| Grand Champion Rabbit Market Pen | Conner Robinson | Morgan County | AgriVest Farm Management; Field Level Agriculture; Edward Teefey & Farmers State Bank of Mt. Sterling; and Prairie Land FS | $5,500 |
| Grand Champion Poultry Meat Pen | Austin Ater | Champaign County | McDonalds Marty & Donna Davis; Illinois Farm Bureau; Champaign County Farm Bureau; Bellflower Seeds | $8,500* |
| Land of Lincoln Supreme Champion Dairy Cow | Owen Halpin | Iroquois County | Friends of Owen Halpin | $18,000* |
| Land of Lincoln Grand Champion Meat Goat | Kadie Hummel | Kankakee County | Springfield Plastics; Illinois State Fair SkyRide; Kiebro Farms; Cardinal Cattle; BL Duke Recycling; Chad McClintock | $6,800 |
| Grand Champion Meat Goat | Maddox Horner | Jasper County | George Obernagel, Obernagel Family Farms | $8,000 |
| Land of Lincoln Grand Champion Market Lamb | Olive Ryan | Christian County | Rich DeSchepper & Eric Faugust; Syngenta; West Central Farm Supply; Channel; J O Harris Equipment; Beck s Hybrids; Cardinal Cattle | $7,500 |
| Grand Champion Market Lamb | Bryce Clayton | Scott County | North American Midway | $8,500 |
| Land of Lincoln Grand Champion Barrow | Ashley Wiegand | Woodford County | Beck s Hybrid Sonny & Scott Beck | $20,000 |
| Grand Champion Barrow | Emma Rhoads | DeKalb County | CME Group | $25,000 |
| Land of Lincoln Grand Champion Steer | John Lukach | LaSalle County | BRANDT; Case IH; Friends of John Lukach | $70,000* |
| Grand Champion Steer | Kadie Hummel | Kankakee County | Governor JB Pritzker and First Lady MK Pritzker |
$105,000 |
*Denotes a new record
