The Wasatch County fairgrounds bustled Thursday morning with teenagers in blue Future Farmers of America jackets and children in starched white 4H shirts guiding their pigs through the arena for judging.
It was the third day of the Junior Livestock Sale, dedicated entirely to swine. Tuesday was for beef, Wednesday saw a parade of lambs and goats, and by Saturday, the animals would be sold to the highest bidder.
Eighteen-year-old Braydee Lloyd was getting ready to show off her pig.
“I just went and washed her, made sure she was clean,” she said. “We get purple shampoo to get the white spots really clean, and then after, we just bring them in here, we put lotion on them to make them look really shiny… and they look really good.”
Lloyd said once her animals are coiffed, she keeps them calm before presenting them to the judges.
She also showed a goat and a steer this year.
“I started when I was in third grade, and then I did pigs, and then I started doing steers my eighth-grade year,” she said.
Recent high school graduate Jenna Jepperson is a longtime exhibitor, too – she started entering animals when she was 8 or 9 years old.
“Lots of hard work, patience, dedication, early mornings, late nights, washing, feeding – there’s a lot that goes into it,” she said.
Standing beside two pigs he raised, Westin Simpson said every animal has its own personality. He adjusts each one’s diet and exercise accordingly.
Selling the animals after months of hard work can be tough, he said.
“I try not to get too attached, because it does kind of suck,” he said. “You’re with them for six months for quite a while.”
Participants must follow a strict set of guidelines for the animals’ weight and care.
Parks and Recreation spokesperson Jen Bowman said the auction brings in over $1 million in sales. Last year’s winning steer fetched $13,000.
“They’ve been working with their animals all summer long, feeding them premium foods and really just immersing themselves in that lifestyle,” she said on KPCW’s “Local News Hour” July 23.
Over 350 Wasatch County youth, ages 8 to 19, participated in this year’s livestock sale.
