Youth fair swine show is something to squeal about

This week the Vernon County fairgrounds have been awash with fleshy jowls and constant squealing. That's right -- it's the Vernon County Youth Fair Swine Show. In preparation for showing the animals, participants wash and shave the hogs. Then, the truly daunting task is to keep the animal from getting dirty again before they went into the ring. Hogs are very independent and given to the habit of rooting and wallowing around in the mud, even when they just had a bath. Showing a hog is quite a bit different from showing a lamb or a steer. The hogs are loose, so it is up to the handler to keep the animals from laying down, rooting or fighting. Another consideration is the weight of the swine. A hog needs to be within certain weight confines to compete in the youth fair. Rumor has it that a diet of increased ice cream can lead to a gain of two pounds a day, but that's not recommended. During the hot days of the youth fair special care must be taken to make sure that the hogs stay cool. Hogs are unable to sweat, so the overheating can be fatal. To combat this handlers hang fans over the hog pens to keep a breeze blowing across them. The hog helps by rooting up the damp dirt in the bottom of their stall. Competing hogs are divided by breed, sex, weight class, and age of the handler. The on-foot champion of the Carcass Class was Weston Shrewsberry and the reserve was Jason Wilson. The winner of the Class 1, Duroc breed division of January gilt was Maranda Taylor and the reserve was Ashley Slates. Jenna Chadd took the top honor in Class 2 January gilt Hampshire breed. In class 3, the Yorkshire January gilt the champion was Jenna Chadd. Class 4 February gilt Yorkshire honors went to Jessica Watkins. A Landrace gilt shown by J.T. Kitsmiller won Class 5, the Other class. Thad Gordon won in Class 6, the January gilt Crossbreed class and the top crossbreed February gilt was shown by Jeremy Watkins. Gordon was also named the Crossbreed Champion and Watkins Crossbreed reserve champion. The honors for Champion Gilt Overall went to Jenna Chadd and the Overall Reserve Gilt went to Thad Gordon. In the Swine Showmanship Class the champion for the 16 and over category was Maranda Taylor and Mandy Stark was reserve. For the 13 to 15 age group Jeremy Watkins was champion and Whitney Hinkle was reserve. Dominic Habjan was the champion in the 10 to 12 age group and Spencer Scotten was reserve. In the 8 and 9 age category Jenna Chadd was the champion showman and Klay Beisly was reserve.