Showing Livestock-The Industry & The Truth

This blog post is in response to the article by Daily Commercial entitled: 

"Animals Pay a High Price in 4-H "

Countless nights spent in the barn working with our show pigs, are some of the best memories that I've had growing up involved in 4-H and FFA. 

From start to finish, just like in our commercial hog buildings our show pigs are important to my sister and I and are given the proper care. We are sure to give them the proper care by having years of experience in the industry, consulting veterinarians, and swine nutritionists. 

We also care for our pigs individually by having different feed mixes for each pig, making sure they have clean bedding, and by spending the time working with our pigs, taking them on walks (Yes we walk our pigs around the yard!)

Nina Khan, author of this article talks about the disconnect that 4-H and FFA members are forced to develop when showing livestock. I would instead say that there is often a large disconnect with the livestock industry as a whole, and would invite Nina out to our farm to see how much time, money and effort is put into caring for our livestock! 

There is simply no room for error in livestock production or agriculture as a whole. The markets have continued to become tighter year after year, which is why caring for our animals will ALWAYS remain so important! 

Selfies are essential in the barn! The top picture is Lula, and the bottom is Durc, our purebred Duroc pig. 

As any 4-H and FFA member who is involved in the livestock industry will tell you the hardest time of the entire show career is when the season is finished. When my sister and I are spending every night in the barn, as crazy as it sounds, pigs each have their own personalities and connections with our animals are made. Each day walking into the barn we know that one of our pigs Lula is going to be up and excited to see us, as soon as she hears someone in the barn! 

My sister and I have been blessed to be a part of such an amazing industry that has taught us so much. We have learned confidence, responsibility, time management and many other important life skills. We have also met incredible people along the way. (Read more about the people in the industry here.)

We have met incredible people, and have learned more about the swine industry by showing

I encourage consumers with questions about the livestock industry such as Nina Khan to visit our farm and learn about the livestock show industry. Often times, seeing how we care for our pigs verses reading about how others think pigs are cared for can be a large difference!