Fine swine

MOSES LAKE — It wasn’t incredibly hot in the Ardell Pavilion at the Grant County Fair Wednesday morning. Every fan in the place was running, along with a portable behemoth more than six feet tall. For anybody wearing a light shirt, maybe shorts, taking a seat and not moving around a lot, it was - bearable.

Unfortunately, the competitors in market class livestock don’t have any of those options.

There’s a way competitors are supposed to dress, and the rules don’t make many exceptions for temperatures in a building that’s open to the outside, on a day when it’s 100 degrees or hotter. The rules are not quite as strict for market class 4-H; competitors are allowed to wear a short-sleeved shirt or a t-shirt with the club name. But FFA competitors wear their full gear, which for participants in the swine show means the long-sleeved corduroy jacket and white shirt, jeans and, for most participants, a tie. And button up that jacket.

Competitors spend their time in the show ring on the move, following the pig, trying to keep it interested in the job at hand. This wasn’t always successful Wednesday morning - more than one pig complained vociferously at being removed from its pen and prodded into the ring. A couple of them showed their displeasure by trying to make a run for it but were quickly corralled.

If it’s hot, well, it’s hot. Suck it up, competitors.

And that, according to those Future Farmers of America competitors, is how it works.

“There’s nothing you can do in there,” said Lexi Cox, who finished second in her market class.

Pigs don’t sweat like humans do, so their owners must keep a close eye on them in very hot weather. There are always spray bottles handy and Kaleb Weaver of Soap Lake said the spray bottle is good for the owners too.

“When you’re misting your pig you also mist yourself a little bit,” he said.

For Royal High School sophomore Nohemi Gomez, it was all new, from choosing and raising the pig to competing in the show ring.

“I’ve never done this before,” she said.

She rose to the occasion, taking home the reserve champion in FFA swine market class. There were some nerves, she said, but she had the support of her more experienced sister Marlen Gomez.

“She was telling me what to expect, and that helped a lot,” Gomez said.

There’s a key to picking an award-winning pig, she said. It’s better if a pig is broad through the shoulders and hindquarters with a narrow waist.

“Kind of like an hourglass, if you think about it,” Gomez said.

While it’s hot out there in the ring on a day like Wednesday, it’s a lesson in self-discipline, too, she said.

The FFA jacket says Royal on the back, and that brings with it a level of expectation, she said.

“You’re representing where you’re from, and what you do,” Gomez said.

Fair officials do what they can to keep the arena, competitors and animals cool - all those fans - and try to finish competition by early afternoon at the latest. The show ring that got its first use in 2021 helps with that, said Rod Cool, co-superintendent of the swine competition.

The new ring includes a row of separate pens where competitors can wait while the previous class clears the arena. Previously owners and pigs had to wait to line up until the pigs leaving the ring were back in the pen.

“We shaved six hours off our pig show last year,” he said.

Market competition for all classes wrapped up shortly after noon in 2023.

“That’s the best hog show ring on the West Coast,” Cool said.

But when the competition is done, competitors are free to go find something more summery to wear. Gomez was ready, carrying her t-shirt and shorts with her.

“I’m going to go change,” she said.

Cheryl Schweizer may be reached via email at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.