Girl's Steer Sells for $100K

Not a bad payday for a 12-year-old: Shaelye Varner showed off her grand champion steer at the Illinois State Fair this week, then sold it at auction for a whopping $100,000—shattering last year's fair record of $62,000. AT&T, Monsanto, and DeKalb Asgrow combined to bid for Varner's crossbred steer. Fair officials say $100,000 would have bought almost every animal in the sale of champions just four years ago. This year, the auction netted more than $260,000 for the kids who raised the animals, as well as the 4-H and Future Farmers of America programs, which each receive 10% of the proceeds. Shaelye says she's been showing since she was 5 years old. She plans to save her money and use it for a future career in livestock. (More steer stories.)