Who won champion livestock honors at the Missouri State Fair?Who won champion livestock honors at the Missouri State Fair?

Cole Murphy's trip to the purple shavings at the Missouri State Fair Sale of Champions was anything but ordinary. "He [Murphy's steer] actually got loose during the show," the Kennedy 4-H Club member told the crowd gathered at the Matheson Arena on the state fairgrounds. "But it all worked out."

Murphy, of Houstonia, Mo., was one of 12 livestock exhibitors who earned their way into the sale by winning either champion or reserve champion in their respective species. He sold his 1,315-pound crossbred steer for $24,000. In all, the Missouri State Fair Sale of Champions raised a record-breaking $171,050.

Proceeds of the sale go to the exhibitors and the Youth in Agriculture scholarship. Wayne Yokley, chairman of the Missouri State Fair Foundation Youth in Agriculture Committee, and superintendent of the Sale of Champions, said the record-breaking Sale of Champions was a result of the enormous support exhibitors received from their hometowns and the many Youth in Agriculture sponsors.

The Youth in Agriculture Scholarship Program celebrated its 25-year anniversary this year, having awarded 570 scholarships amounting to $558,000 since 1992.

Scroll through our photo gallery on this page to see the animals, exhibitors and sale prices from this year's Missouri State Fair Sale of Champions.