Give an oink for pigs; National Barrow Show returns

Published 11:16 am Friday, September 9, 2016

Austin is ready to go hog wild again.

The 70th annual National Barrow Show is returning to the Mower County Fairgrounds Saturday through Wednesday, and the show is open to the public and free of charge.

NBS organizers anticipate more than 900 animals will take part in this year’s show, and many of the nation’s top breeding boars and foundation females, as well as hogs from the eight major purebred breeds, will be entered in the show, held at the Mower County Fairgrounds.

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The five-day show begins Saturday with the second annual NBS Collegiate Meats Judging Contest hosted by Hormel Foods Corp. On Sunday, events get underway at the fairgrounds at 9 a.m. with the NBS Junior Classic showmanship event, followed by the NBS Junior Classic Market and Breeding hog shows. Also on Sunday, the community Windsor pork chop dinner starts at 11:30 a.m. in the Plager Building.

On Monday, the college judging contest gets underway at 8 a.m. Then at 2 p.m., the individual market hog event starts, followed by the truckload show and Hog College Home Run Drive.

The NBS breeding stock shows for the eight purebred breeds begin at 9 a.m. on Tuesday. Breeds represented are Berkshire, Chester White, Duroc, Hampshire, Landrace, Poland China, Spotted and Yorkshire. The sale of the eight purebred breeds and crossbred boars and gilts start at 9 a.m. on Wednesday.

The NBS Junior Classic, which has about 498 entries, is a junior competition featuring exhibitors under the age of 21 and sometimes as young as four. Junior competitors come from mostly the Midwest but also from Texas and Oklahoma.

The World Series of Swine Shows will attract many of the top college judging teams. About 400 college, 4-H and FFA students from throughout the United States, including California, Texas, Georgia, Ohio and West Virginia, will compete for top honors in the judging contests.

The college judging contest is a contest in which teams of students from colleges from all across the Midwest and nation will be competing in a hog judging contest.

There will be two divisions in this competition, a university division as well as a community college division. The students will be scored based on the accuracy of their judgment in comparison to that of professional judges. These students have a range in majors of animal science, agricultural economics and pre-veterinary studies.

Hog college row is a competition in which the most formidable boar and gilt from each of the eight breeds is judged by an audience consisting of college judges.

The Breeding sale will be held on Wednesday and will be an Auction of the hogs in which are meant to be bred.

The Annual Windsor Chop dinner will be held in the Plager Building on Sept. 11 from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m

The barrow show had 598 entries as of last week, but organizers expect more entries by the beginning of the show.

For more information about the show schedule and exhibiting, contact the specific breed office at the following websites: National Swine Registry at www.nationalswine.com; American Berkshire Association at www.americanberkshire.com; and Certified Pedigreed Swine at www.cpsswine.com.

National Barrow Show schedule

Saturday

8 a.m.: Earliest entries can arrive

8 a.m.: NBS International Meats Judging Contest

– AMSA Sanctioned (Hormel R&D Facility)

3-5 p.m.: Junior check-in/weigh-in

5 p.m.: All junior market hogs and junior breeding gilts must be on the grounds, checked in and market hogs must be weighed

5:30 p.m.: Junior exhibitor pizza party

Sunday

8 a.m.: Awards Ceremony for Meats Judging Contest

(Crane Pavilion)

– followed by: NBS Junior Showmanship Contest

– followed by Junior Classic market hogs, followed by Junior Classic breeding gilts

11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.: Windsor Chop Dinner (Plager Building)

Noon: All open show breeding stock, truckloads and open market hog show entries must be on the grounds

1-2:30 p.m.: Truckloads checked in and weighed

2:30-3:30 p.m.: Individual open market hogs checked in and weighed

6:30-8 p.m.: NBS Hospitality Night at Holiday Inn

Monday

8 a.m.: Junior college and senior college judging contest (Crane Pavilion)

FFA and 4-H judging contest registration, followed by contest

8 a.m.: Check-in of open show breeding stock entries (scanning to follow)

2 p.m.: Individual Open Market Hog Show

– Truckload Show to immediately follow

– Following Truckloads, Hog College Home Run Drive approximately 6:30 p.m.

Tuesday

8:30 a.m.: Presentation of special awards and judging contest results (Crane Pavilion)

9 a.m.: Breeding Stock Show begins

– North Ring: Poland China, followed by Chester White, Spotted, Berkshire and Crossbred Gilts

– South Ring: Hampshire, followed by Duroc, Landrace, Yorkshire and Crossbred Boars

Wednesday

Breeding Sale Begins

9 a.m.: South Ring: Hampshire, followed by Duroc, Landrace, Yorkshire and Crossbred Boars

9:30 a.m.: North Ring: Poland China, followed by Chester White, Spotted, Berkshire, and Crossbred Gilts