Salute to Idaho Agriculture: County Fair competitions

JEROME, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) — The Jerome County Fair began on August 7, but the 4-H and FFA animal shows and judging started August 8 with the dairy show and continued into the next day’s events of sheep, poultry and beef cattle.

Events on August 10 included an early morning swine show and three different versions of goat shows: Pygmy, dairy and meat.

The pygmy goats were up first and are judged based off of how stout they are and bone structure.

One pygmy goat farmer talked about his love for being involved in clubs like 4-H and FFA.

“I’ve been doing this for 10 years and I’ve done it since I was five years old...It’s a really cool experience you get to bond with animals and it’s great,” Reese Balls, a pygmy goat farmer said.

This human and animal bond is something all these young club members seek to have no matter what kind of animal they’re raising.

The swine competition winner has this connection with his pigs that he named after his wrestling coach and offers tips for those also looking to go home with a blue ribbon.

“Work your pigs. Work any animal that you have, work them out, have them become your friends, be nice to them just work on them and you’ll get there,” Gus Dugan, the swine grand champion said. “I wasn’t this good when I first started, I’ve leveled up you could say.”

In addition to winning grand champion in market and showmanship with one of his two pigs, Gus also raised dairy cows and you can stop into the Jerome County Fair through Saturday afternoon if you would like to check out all the4-H and FFA winner for yourself.

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