Orange County 4-H calf sale returns May 9 in Otisville

At the Education Center and 4-H Park in Otisville, Orange County 4-H is preparing to turn a barnyard lineup of dairy heifers, beef calves, sheep, goats, rabbits, pigs and chickens into the money that keeps its youth programs moving. The 28th annual Calf & Livestock Sale returns May 9 at 5 p.m. at 300 Finchville Turnpike, and the proceeds will help pay for contests, workshops, project meetings, trips, animal care, leadership development and community service for local members.

The sale is Orange County 4-H’s largest annual fundraiser for its dairy and livestock programs, but it functions as more than an auction. The evening will also include a silent auction with country décor, livestock-related items and gift certificates, along with off-the-block items such as flowers, farm supplies, equipment and homemade projects made by 4-H members. A chicken barbecue is also returning, giving the night the feel of a community gathering built around agriculture, not just a sale ring.

Last year’s auction drew livestock consignments from farms including Reyncrest Holsteins, Willow-Terrace, Gold-Bar Holsteins and Spring Run Dairy, underscoring how closely the event is tied to Orange County’s farm families. The 2025 catalog also thanked donors and supporters including Dave’s Devil Dogs, Bellvale Farms Creamery, Stap Dairy, Valley Brook Veterinary, Narrowsburg Feed, Rubin Livestock Services, Hoeffner Farms and Aden Brook Tractor Supply, a reminder that the fundraiser depends on a network that reaches from barns and feed stores to veterinarians and local businesses.

That local network matters in a county where agriculture still carries real economic weight. Orange County had 613 farms in the 2022 Census of Agriculture, covering 65,706 acres, with an average farm size of 107 acres. Agricultural sales totaled $95.62 million, and livestock, poultry and products made up 23% of those sales. The species featured at the sale mirror the broader county picture, where cattle and calves, milk from cows, hogs and pigs, sheep and goats and poultry all remain part of the agricultural base.

The Otisville site that hosts the sale has become part of that story. Cornell Cooperative Extension Orange County says the Education Center and 4-H Park began as a concept for a safe and welcoming place to hold 4-H events and activities before growing into a broader community development initiative. The county secured 54 acres there in 2013 and purchased the property in 2016.

Orange County 4-H marked its 100th year in 2023, tracing its roots to a one-room schoolhouse in Coldenham in 1923. The sale now stands as a public sign of that century-long pipeline, connecting young people, farm families, buyers and the next generation of agricultural leaders in Orange County.