Paul Dehn shows the grand champion from this year's county fair, which brought a high bid of $2,000 at the annual steer sale Tuesday. [Click to enlarge]

Paul Dehn, whose steer won the title of grand champion at this year's Saline County Fair and was first to go up for bids during Tuesday's annual steer sale, said raising a champion steer is a lot harder than most people who show up at the auction might think.

Dehn said he and his brothers, Matt and Scott, have put in an untold number of hours raising and caring for steers.

"You've got to know what you're looking for when you pick out a calf," Dehn said. "It's great to win something like this, but we worked out tails off."

Dehn said he and his brothers spent between two and three hours a day taking care of their steers.

"You have to know how to feed a calf and my brothers taught me everything they know," he said, smiling.

Jeff Sims, a Marshall FFA member who ended his time in the organization with Tuesday evening's showing, agreed with Dehn.

"It takes a lot of hard work beforehand that most people don't see," Sims said. "There's a daily routine that has to be done and I've been doing it since I was 11 years old."

Sims said, in the end, all of the hard work is well worth it.

"It's real fun and I think a lot more youths need to get involved in it," he said. "You get to meet a lot of friends and have a good time too."

Contact Eric Coley at

marshallfaith@socket.net