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Today (July 25) three Rock County 4-H’ers will enter the show ring in a swine experience like no other.
Darwin DeMarrias of Adrian and Jed and Gracie Fagerness, Steen, have eagerly awaited this week since receiving their 100-pound pigs three months ago.
They are the county’s first participants in the New Vision Co-Op Club Swine Program that provides 4-H members with animals to own, raise, exhibit and sell under the supervision of 4-H and New Vision staff.
For the Fagerness Family, signing up for the program in February was an easy decision for parents Chris and Mary Fagerness.
“I thought it would be a great opportunity for them to work with a species we don’t know anything about,” Mary said.
They learned about feed rations, vaccinations and ear notching from a veterinarian and swine nutritionist.
From cousins and other Blue Ribbon 4-H Club members, the Fagernesses are learning how to prepare their hogs for this week’s county fair.
Jed, 10, is a soon-to-be fifth-grader at Hills-Beaver Creek. He already has show ring experience with a calf he brought to the fair last year. Gracie has also shown sheep at the fair.
He’s quick to point out a difference between species.
“It’s easier to show them. You don’t need a halter, you just tap them,” he said. “Their ‘go’ button is on their side,” Jed said.
“There’s no ‘stop’ button — you don’t want them to stop walking.”
The 4-H’ers introduced their hogs to the show stick tapping a month ago. A bag of marshmallows also entices the hogs to walk forward rather than be distracted by other favorite activities.
“They love to dig,” said Gracie, 12, an incoming H-BC seventh-grader. “They do eat a lot.”
Aside from marshmallows, the hogs receive bags of feed provided by New Vision Co-op, where the 4-H’ers have an account.
The 4-H’ers paid $50 for a pig and they charge feed expenses until the hog is sold after the fair.
The youth keep any profits after their accounts are paid in full.
Under the agreement, the 4-H’ers must show the hogs at the county fair with other 4-H’ers in the program.
They are judged in a separate swine class, an aspect DeMarrias’ parents, Jason and Kelsie Jansma of Adrian, like about the club swine program.
“This is not about the perfect pig,” Jason said. “It’s a real-life situation to see what a real-life farmer deals with.”
Instead of focusing on confirmation, the judge makes his ribbon decisions on the hogs’ weight gains since April along with the exhibitors’ knowledge of hog production in addition to how they handle their hogs in the show ring.
DeMarrias, 12, is a member of the Livewires 4-H Club and will be a seventh-grader at Ellsworth Public Schools this fall.
The swine show is at 8 a.m. Thursday, July 25, in the 4-H exhibit arena. The hogs are on display in the swine barn until 9 p.m. Saturday night.