No one hogs the spotlight in the Open Class Swine Show
Winner Aubree Schmidt (red) and other contestants showing off their hogs during the Senior Showmanship.
Market Animal Grand Champion Olivia Hammer and her pig Goose taking a well deserved rest.
Emily Hacker posing with her Breeding Gilt Winner Susan.
Emily Hacker with her award winning Breeding Gilt Susan.
Crossbred Breeding Gilt champion Emily Hacker (blue) and others during the Breeding Gilt portion.
Winner Aubree Schmidt (red) and other contestants showing off their hogs during the Senior Showmanship.
Market Animal Grand Champion Olivia Hammer and her pig Goose taking a well deserved rest.
Emily Hacker posing with her Breeding Gilt Winner Susan.
Emily Hacker with her award winning Breeding Gilt Susan.
Crossbred Breeding Gilt champion Emily Hacker (blue) and others during the Breeding Gilt portion.
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Friday morning continued the Brown County Fair events with the Open Class Swine Show.
Dusty Compart, a Nicollet native, was the judge. Compart explained what separates Swine Shows from other animal shows.
"Swine shows are unique because of the categories they are judged on. With market livestock you look for traits that go with the with market, like muscle and balance. With breeding, the structure is more important."
Showmanship was the first category of the show. There are four separate groupings in the Showmanship category: Senior (grades nine and above) Intermediate (grades six through eight) Junior (grades three through five) and Novice (grades two and below).
"Showmanship is about presenting an animal to the best of your ability. They judge how you work with the animal," explained Aubree Schmidt, winner of the Senior Showmanship group with her pig Biggie Smalls.
Schmidt explained the preparation she put into the showmanship category.
"Me and I my sisters walk our pig everyday. The most important thing is to build connection with your pig because if you are fighting with the pig you won't get far."
Following the Showmanship category was the Breeding Gilt section, which split the groups by purebred and crossbred. Once the winner and runner up were determined for the two groups, they were judged to determine the Grand Champion Breeding Gilt. Emily Hacker, winner of the Crossbred category was award the Grand Champion Breeding Gilt with her pig Susan, named after the character from the movie "Monsters vs Aliens." Izabella Lang, winner of the Purebred category was the reserve grand champion.
Breeding Gilt winner Emily Hacker shared the work that goes into A Breeding Gilt event.
"We start training pigs at two months old. They go through light training and walking, and start with smaller shows. When it is time for the show, we make sure that the pigs are hydrated and fed. Pigs are easily stressed so it is important to to be connected with the pig."
The final category of the Swine Show was the Market section. Market Barrows and Market Gilts were judged separately. The Market Barrow judging was split between Purebred and Crossbred, while also separated by the type of pig; Berkshires, Durocs, Hampshires, Hereford, and Spots. Once the winners of each type of pig was determined, the winners and runner ups were judged to determine the Grand Champion of the Market Purebred and the Market Crossbred. The Purebred winner was Stella Schieffert and the Crossbred winner was Olivia Hammer. The two groups were then judged for the Overall Grand Champion Market Barrow, which was awarded to Olivia Hammer.
The Market Gilt category was divided into two classes and was judged similarly to the Market Barrow section. The winner of class one was Olivia Hammer, and the winner of class two was Kiera Lafferty. Kiera Lafferty was determined the Grand Champion Market Gilt.
To wrap up the Swine Show, the winners of the Market Barrow and Market Gilt section were judged to decide the Overall Grand Champion Market Animal. Olivia Hammer and her pig Goose won.
Hammer explanied what went into preparing for a Market Animal event.
"There is daily walking, washing and feeding. The food is changed depending on how the pig reacts to it. It's important because judges look into the structure of the pig and how well they will handle the market.
Activities and events will continue throughout Sunday, the final day of the Brown County Fair.