Broadbent’s 19th Grand Champion Country Ham Auctions For $2.8M

“My, My, My, what a great day!” says Mark Haney, president of Kentucky Farm Bureau when speaking of yesterday morning’s Country Ham Breakfast at the Kentucky State Fair.  “I can’t think of any better way to describe yesterday's Ham Auction, this was my 20th year to enter a ham in the competition as Broadbent’s owner”, says Ronny Drennan, producer of the Grand Champion Ham that auctioned for a record $2.8 Million dollars.  “Amazing things have happened in the last 20 years and the Kentucky Farm Bureau Country Ham Breakfast is definitely at the top of the list. Yesterday was no exception.   When you do the math, the ham sold for a mere $149,000 per pound or $9,300 per ounce.  That ham you might say experienced a bit of inflation.  It would have only sold for about $70 last week.  Seriously, we’ve been truly blessed to be a small part in this charity auction.”

It all began last week when the Broadbent entry in the Country Ham competition was named Grand Champion.  “Her smoothness was her crown”, says Dr. Dana Hanson, last week judge of the Country Ham Competition and Meat Scientist from the University Of North Carolina State.  “I called it big boy as we were trying to choose a ham to take to the fair.  It weighed 18.77 pounds and stood out above all the other hams on the table due to its nicely rounded shape,” says Beth Drennan.  Yesterday Dr. Mark and Cindy Lynn and Central Bank ended the charity auction with a partnership each paying the price of $1,400,000. When the auction hit the $200,000 point the auctioneer, Leon Shirk, paused jokingly saying he couldn’t believe he waived his commission on this auction. As the auction continued the price kept climbing until Dr. Lynn offered the partnership and Luther Deaton of Central Bank agreed under the conditions he would walk away with the ham.  Fortunately for Dr. Lynn we had another 1st place ham, so he will still have an award winning ham.”

“God has truly blessed us, the companies legacy begin in 1967 when Smith Broadbent, III won his first Grand Champion ham and we have been blessed to carry on.”, says Beth, “My husband cures country hams and God has allowed 12 of the hams we have entered over the past 20 years at the fair, to be found favorable in the eyes of the judge.”  Broadbent Grand Champion hams have sold at the auction in the past from $825 to Two Million Dollars before yesterday.  The auction has raised over $13 Million Dollars for charity and the sale of Broadbent Hams was a little over $9 Million of that total.  A customer in our Kuttawa Market read a sign about the “Two Million Dollar Ham” and asks if we had a poverty level ham he could buy.  Great news for our customers-they can experience the delicious flavor of a $2.8 Million Dollar ham for a much more reasonable price. 

Source: Broadbent's