Old-Fashioned Values and Old-Fashioned Fun Can Be Found at Wakulla Area Swine Show

by Mary Katherine Westmark

The 42nd Annual Wakulla Area Swine Show will be held on Saturday, February 23, 2007 at the Wakulla County Livestock Pavilion in Crawfordville.  If you’ve never attended the event, you don’t know what you’ve beem missing!  I’ve attended the past three years, and I learn something new each time.

Each exhibitor must purchase his or her own pig, and then must raise it from the time it’s about 2 months old until it’s about 5 months old.  The kids purchase their pigs in early December.  The kids are to raise the pig on their own, which includes feeding the pig, monitoring its weight, and keeping it healthy.  Contestants must be at least 8 years old and can’t be any older than one year out of high school.

Prior to the Swine Show, each contestant must find a sponsor for their pig.  This can be a business or an individual.  The sponsor agrees to purchase the pig at the end of the Swine Show for $1.25 per pound.

The show begins at 10:00 a.m.  In the first contest of the day, the pigs are judged to determine which is the best in show, and which pigs are the best “market hogs”.  The kids are not judged at this time, only the pigs.  The pigs must weigh at least 220 pounds and not more than 270 pounds. 

The pigs are grouped by weight class, and the top pig from each class is chosen.  Then, the top pigs compete with each other to see which pig will be the Grand Champion, and the Grand Reserve Champion.  During this portion of the show, the judge is determining which pigs have the best “muscle to fat ratio”.  The judge looks at several things, including the muscle pattern, the width between the hind legs (a wider width means bigger hams!), the width through the center of the ham, and the correctness of the rear feet and legs.

What many people don’t know about the Swine Show is that the kids are given the opportunity to judge the pigs on the Friday night before the Saturday event.  The kids are divided up into teams of four, and then act as the judges, observing four pigs at once, and ranking them in market value from highest to lowest.  The team members are not allowed to talk during the judging.  Winning teams are chosen, and the individual with the highest score overall is also chosen.  This competition gives the kids a chance to put their knowledge about what a good market pig should look like to the test.  Wakulla County 4H members compete against each other, as well as 4H members from Gulf County.  FFA members from Sneads also compete, but only against each other.

The next Saturday event is the Showmanship competition.  This is the portion where the kids, grouped by age, are judged on how well they handle their pig in the ring.  The judge looks for several things during this part of the competition.  The contestants are expected to keep eye contact with the judge at all times, smiling all the while.  They are not to get in between their pig and the judge; the judge must be able to see the pig at all times.  The judge will also ask each contestant several questions pertaining to the process of raising a pig, such as “What is the average market price of raising a hog?”

After the Showmanship competition, a delicious barbecue lunch is always served up by local public officials.  The dinners are $6 a plate, and they include pulled pork, baked beans, cole slaw, bread and tea.

After all the stress of the competition, the swine show exhibitors are able to let it all go at the annual Pig Scramble.  This is my favorite part of the day.  Kids of all ages are given a chance to race around the ring, chasing after a greased pig, and we’re talking Crisco!  Boys and girls alike try their hand at catching the pig, and some of their techniques are pretty amazing!  Only the Swine Show exhibitors are allowed to participate in the scramble.

According to 4H Agent Angie Bradshaw, the most important thing the kids learn from the competition is life skills.  “This show makes a connection for the kids between agriculture and what they see in the meat case at the grocery store,” says Bradshaw.  “It opens their eyes to careers in agriculture.  By raising their own pig, they are actually a producer of a commodity on a small scale.”

Bradshaw also notes that the kids learn the difference between having a pet, and actually raising a market animal.  “The goal is to raise a pig that will sell at market,” says Bradshaw.  “It’s a lot of responsibility for the kids to know that their pig is depending on them to feed it, monitor its’ weight, and keep it healthy.  And it can be hard for some of the kids to give their pigs up at the end; they really get attached to them.”

For a detailed list of the 2007 winners, and several great photo galleries from the 2007 show, click here!

This article originally published on February 8, 2008.

Written by :

mkwestmark

 

Comments (0)

You must be logged in to post a comment.