Adam Zavala, age 15 of Fillmore FFA, with his swine Cisco who was named Reserve Grand Champion/4-H Reserve Grand Champion Market Swine.

Jordyn Blankenship, age 15 of Fillmore FFA, with her swine Dallas who was named FFA Champion Market Swine at this year’s Ventura County Fair.

Alexis Van Why, age 16 of Fillmore FFA, with Bubba who was named FFA Reserve Champion/Champion Barrow at this year’s Ventura County Fair.

Many enjoyed this year’s Livestock Show that was held at the Ventura County Fair. Friends and families from all over came out to support and enjoy the show.

Join me at the Judge William P. Clark Pavilion featuring the Junior Livestock Auction at the County Fair. The auction is the culmination of months of time and energy youngsters spent raising an animal for the auction. This year, four kids – three Fillmore FFA students and a Sespe 4-H member raised exceptional animals – three market swine and one market steer - thus were awarded with special merits. In no particular order, the following are the four winners and their comments from my interviews:

Alexis Van Why, 16, Fillmore FFA, raised a FFA Reserve Champion/Champion Barrow. The champion pigs name? “Bubba.” Why I asked? “Just a name,” she said. Bubba was Alexis' eighth pig. Are you about to retire I inquired? “Almost,” she said. “Eligible only two more years.” Aside from winning showmanship several times, this was her first market swine champion.

All the years covering this event, I had not encountered a “barrow” champion. Obviously I asked. “A barrow pig,” explained Alexis, “is a pig that has been castrated before sexual maturity.” Adding, “it's a class of it's own which I won.” Now we know.

The winning bid: $20.00 per pound. If my math is correct, her 265 pound barrow pig awarded her a cool $5,300.00. What do you think about that, I asked? “I think it's amazing,” she said. What did you expect I asked? “About $8.00 a pound”. And what are the plans for the money? “Saving for college, either Cal Poly Pomona or San Luis Obispo where I plan to study psychology and be a forensic psychologist.”

Why this course of study? “I got it from the TV show ‘Criminal Minds’.” Interesting. But it's a scripted show I said. “I know, but it's awesome,” her reply.

What's the easiest part of raising a pig like Bubba? “Probably the maintenance of him... keeping him clean and feeding him.” The hardest part? “Training him to walk good,” adding, “they don't come trained so it takes a while getting him used to the whip and walking around.” How long did it take? “About two months to get him to respond the way I wanted,” she said.

Pigs have a reputation for being hoggish, as in gluttonous, so I asked about Bubba's diet. “What about it?” asked Alexis, grinning. OK, I meant what do you feed Bubba? “Oh. I fed him Morman's feed for pigs, some oats and a couple of supplements,” said Alexis. No donuts, cookies, apple pie? “None, never!” she quickly said. How come no treats, I asked? “I wanted to keep him lean and not get a lot of fat on him.” By design? “Yes,” she answered. “Because of his bone structure I kept him on a high protein diet.” Well, Bubba was obviously deprived of gormandizing but considering his championship status, Alexis knew best. And next year? “Another pig,” said Alexis. Once a pig farmer...

Jordyn Blankenship, 15, of the Fillmore FFA raised the FFA Champion market swine. Her pig, Dallas, weighed in at a robust 273 pounds. Why the name Dallas I asked? “Well, I didn't really know what to name her and after looking at names I chose Dallas and it seemed to fit her pretty well.” Having obtained Dallas from a pig farmer in Bakersfield one would think... nah, Bakersfield would have been a lousy name.

What about the easiest part of raising Dallas? “Just the whole experience. Winning, seeing all my hard work pay off, the whole entire experience was great,” said Jordyn. Did any of that have to do with Dallas' personality I wondered? “Yes, she's sweet. She knows her name and comes when I call her. She loves belly rubs. She's a sweet hog.”

Next, the most difficult part of raising Dallas? “Getting her weight to where we wanted it. And getting her to walk the way I wanted her to walk,” she said. Although, Jordyn added, “I think pigs are smarter than dogs and easy to train.” And that's that.

Speaking of weight, were there any weight issues that concerned you? “Yes,” she said. “She was a little heavy at the beginning so had to get that dialed in. We made weight for the fair. What's the maximum allowed? “Max 285 and Dallas weighed in at 273 pounds.” Dallas' diet? “Feed and special supplements to help her body structure and make her look the best. Feed plays a huge role. The feed can make or break a pig,” Jordyn emphasized.

Last year? “I won first in class but not a championship,” she said. Next year? “A hog”. Why another hog? “I love it,” said Jordy, adding, “I've been showing since I was ten years old. It's one of my favorite things to do.” Remaining eligible for another five years, what's the plan? “Hogs!” came the prompt response. I knew that... once a pig farmer.....

The winning bid for Dallas was $9.00/pound for a total of $2,457.00. The money? “College,” she said. Where? “Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.” To study? “Animal science.” The goal? “Large livestock veterinarian.”

Erin Berrington, 17, and a member of Fillmore FFA, raised a market steer that was awarded Reserve Grand Champion/FFA Reserve Champion. The name of the 1,379 pound behemoth? “Leroy”, said Erin. Hmmm, why Leroy? “Because my dad liked the name,” she said. Did dad select Leroy? “Yes.” You didn't veto the name? “I like the name,” she conceded.

Were did you get Leroy? “Silver Cattle, Kingsburg,” she said. I looked it up on the Net. Silver Cattle has a prestigious record of breeding championship steer. Very interesting. I digress.

What was the best thing about raising Leroy, I asked? He wasn't crazy like all the other steer that I raised. He was very easy,” she said. What was the most difficult about raising Leroy, I asked? After a long pause she said, “Washing him because of his light color. He has white on his legs so when he'd get poop on his legs it was harder to wash off.” Any additional challenges? “Sometimes,” Erin said, “because he's so heavy he was lazy and didn't want to walk.”

Leroy is huge so I wondered how a young girl walks such a large animal. “Basically you have a halter that goes on his head,” Erin explained, adding that you need to be on his left side and keep him close to you so you have control of him. ”However, if you wanted to go to the left but Leroy wanted to go to the right, are you going to be able to stop him? “It depends,” she said. “When he weighed 500 pounds when I got him, yes. I don't know about now. He might be the one in charge.”

The diet? Erin was reluctant to say. Tell me a something about what he ate for supper. After some coaxing, she finally said, “three-way hay.” Three-way hay? Pause. Finally, she said, “It's a secret.” I must respect that.

What's it like attending to Leroy? “During school, I'd be at the (School) Farm at 6 a.m. to feed him and return at 5 p.m. to feed him again and wash him every other day.” Not at all easy raising a large animal.

Next year? “I plan to raise another market steer but it will be my last year,” said Erin. How do you feel about that? “I'm sad,” she said, “but also kind of happy because I'll have a life,” she said giggling.

The winning bid was $8.00 a pound... for a total of $11,032. The plan? “Save it for nursing school,” she said. School selected yet? “Yes. I really want to try to go to Montana State.”

Fillmore FFA Adam Zavala, 15, raised a Reserve Grand Champion/4-H Reserve Grand Champion market swine. The handsome hog's name? “Cisco,” said Adam.

What was the best part of raising Cisco? “Umm... being able to take care of him and make him a better pig,” said Adam. How did you do that? “Feeding him good, walking him every day and making sure he's OK.” Any problems making weight I asked? “Ummm... yes because he got sick for a while and he held back his weight a lot but he made up a lot at the end.”

To help Cisco gain the weight back, Adam said he fed Cisco more than normally. Was a diet change required? “Yes,” he said. In addition to supplements, what did you add to his diet? Perhaps donuts? “Yes, said Adam. “He got donuts, yogurt, and cookies. Loves peach yogurt.” His favorite cookie? “Wafer cookies”, he said. Aha, a pig with discerning taste.

This was Adam's fifth year raising a pig but the first year he won a championship. Surprised? “Yes”, he said. And where did you get your prize pig? “Billy Barnes in Bakersfield,” he said. Seems like a lot of champion pigs come from Bakersfield. What are you going to raise next year? “Another pig.” I knew that. Once a pig farmer....

But why only pigs? “A little easier and less expensive”, said Adam. Alas, the secret is outed. The winning bid for Adam's pig was $13.00 a pound. For 249 pounds of bacon the winner paid $3,237.00. What are your plans for the money? “Save it up for college,” he said. At 15, Adam does not have any particular career plans. In the meantime, he's actively participating in baseball at Fillmore High.

The animals were judged championship quality but the real champions are the kids who raised the magnificent animals. They did their parents, their teachers and the community proud. Kudos to all the parents and teachers who support the children in the 4-H and FFA programs for a job well done. To all the youngsters who raised an animal, congratulations from the Fillmore Gazette staff for your hard-earned achievements. On to next year!