4-H Swine Update
Otoe County 4-H Swine Update 2021
Otoe County Fair July 21 - 25, 2021
Swine Superintendents
Brent Johnson - Assistant Superintendent
Quality Assurance Requirements
In person courses will be:
- May 25 6:00 p.m. at the Fair Center
- June 7 9:00 - 10:00 a.m. at the Fair Center
- June 7 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. at the Fair Center
Ownership and Identification
Proof of ownership (by completing the appropriate ID sheet and turning it into the Extension Office) in the 4-H & FFA division must be established by the following methods and dates:
- Swine - EID Ear Tag with photo of tag in ear (June 15) ID Sheet
Entries/Number of Entries
Premises ID
Ear Tags Available at the Extension Office
Fair Entry Sheets Due July 12
*NEW* Purebred Classes
With the recent changes made to the 2021 Nebraska State Fair 4-H Livestock shows, we have made changes to the Otoe County 4-H Swine show. Listed below are the changes we will be incorporating going forward.
Hogs
Division 41 - Purebred Berkshire
Division 42 - Purebred Chester
Division 43 - Purebred Duroc
Division 44 – Purebred Hampshire
Division 45 – Purebred Hereford
Division 46 – Purebred Spot
Division 47 – Purebred Yorkshire
Division 48 – Purebred All Other Breeds (AOB)
Division 49 – Crossbred
CLASS NUMBER:
G10. Purebred Breeding Gilt
G20. Purebred Market Gilt
G30. Crossbred Breeding Gilt
G40. Crossbred Market Gilt
G50. Purebred Market Barrow
G60. Crossbred Barrow
Number of entries has been changed from to (2) Breeding Hogs & (3) Market Hogs.
Fair Schedule for Swine
- 8:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. 4-H & FFA Hog entry & weigh-in
Saturday, July 24
- 8:00 a.m. 4-H & FFA Hog Show – Kimmel Event Center Arena
Sunday, July 25
- 3:30 p.m. (following Wood Carving Auction) 4-H & FFA Livestock Sale – Kimmel Event Center Arena
- 4:00 p.m. Release of all Livestock NOT in Sale – Horses (Stalls must be cleaned), Beef, Hogs, Sheep, & Goats
Swine Rules
3. Breeding gilts are to be born after November 1 of the previous year.
4. Purebred breed with 3 or more purebred hog entries will show in their own class. Purebred breed classes with less than 3 purebred entries will be eligible to show in the “All Other Breeds” class.
5. Purebred hots must have up to date registration papers in the name of the exhibitor, family or farm name, and meet industry standards for breed type, color, and confirmation.
6. Purebred gilts may not be shown in both breeding and market classes.
7. The purebred market classes will have both gilts and barrows in the same class, they will not be separated.
2021 Otoe County 4-H Fair Book
Ractopamine and Show Pigs
There have been and will continue to be several changes regarding the marketing options for show pigs this year following fairs. All three of our major pork packers in the state will NOT be accepting show pigs this year. In 2019 Tyson and WholeStone both took pigs following fairs and for multiple reasons will not be doing so tanymore. The biggest change is being driven for the desire to be ractopamine free so they can ship pork products to China to fill their massive void in pork due to African Swine Fever. For political purposes, China has had a ban on pork (and beef) that has been feed ractopamine (Paylean, Optaflexx, etc).
Ractopamine is a legal feed additive and has been used in both the commercial and show pig industries. However instead of simply testing at the FDA levels which deems meat safe in the parts per million category, China/packers have tests that can detect ractopamine in the parts per trillion level. If it was simply has the animal ever been fed a ractopamine product, this would be easy to accomplish. However, at these testing levels, animals have tested positive from environmental contamination of feed productions (dust in feed mill, feed lines in barns not completely cleaned out, picking up ractopamine in manure of cattle that had been hauled in the same trailer, etc). Ractopamine tends to stick around in environments long after the product has been discontinued from use. Mills and facilities (anything that comes in contact with pig feed or the pigs themselves) needs to be thoroughly washed with soap and water to “decontaminate” them.
Some shows are going “ractopamine free” and will require youth to sign affidavits that they have never fed ractopamine to their projects. Again, if it was simply requiring youth to not feed it to their projects, this would be a moot point as it could be done. However, because of how sensitive the tests are for ractopamine, how hard ractopamine is completely eliminated from the environment (youth barns, show pens, feed pans, trailers, feed mills), the fact that quite a bit of show pig feed has already been mixed that isn’t processed in ractopamine free facilities, youth hasn't controlled the pig from birth to market, and pigs could still become contaminated through contact with cattle manure at the fair (if any of cattle have been fed a ractopamine product), they have strongly advise against fairs going ractopamine free and making youth sign affidavits. Due to the reasons listed above (there are more but those are the highlights), there can easily be pigs test positive for ractopamine and youth honestly never knowing let the pig come in contact with a ractopamine product.
Additionally, many packers have been going away from purchasing show pigs from youth for a many reasons. First, the color of many pigs and how hard the hair comes off (both color and fact that so many pigs are routinely bushed by youth at home, making hair harder to come off post scald) really slows down the line. The meat quality due to the stress gene is a major concern. Animal welfare is another big concern as show pigs fight and they have more deads and downers at the plant.
Many packers want all locations where pigs have ever been raised to not only have Premise IDs, but also wanting them to have PQA site assessments. Even if shows go “ractopamine free” there are several other major issues that are keeping youth show pigs from being purchased by major packers.
Showmanship Rules
Dress Code
Grooming of Livestock
Preparation and grooming of an animal should be the primary responsibility of the Otoe County Fair exhibitor, however, assistance may be provided by other Otoe County Fair 4-H or FFA exhibitors and/or family members, legal guardian of the exhibitor, and leaders.
Hogs must be shown without hairdressing compounds. This includes oil, powder or any other coat dressing compound. Water is permitted.
Clover Kids
Clover Kid hogs will be weighed in and stalled on July 22. Entry forms must be filled out for all Clover Kid animals. Clover Kids are required to follow the same stalling rules as a regular 4-H animal exhibitor (cost, entry time, release time, herdsmanship, etc.).
Clover Kids must be accompanied in the show ring by an older 4-H member or adult over the age of 14.
Stalling & Release
All 4-H and FFA livestock must be stalled in their assigned area according to their 4-H Club or FFA Chapter or they will not be allowed to show. 4-H member showing livestock must keep their livestock in the pens as provided by the Otoe County Agricultural Society. Only ordinary fans are allowed as cooling devices.
Bedding
Herdsmanship
Fair Clean-Up Day
ATV's & Golf Carts at the Fair
Swine Showmanship Workshop
Pawnee County Swine Showmanship Clinic
Project Books Available at the Extension Office
Did you know 4-H project books are available for purchase at the Extension Office? Stop by to check out what books are available!
State Fair Nominations due by June 15
Swine nominations for the 2021 State Fair must be submitted online via Show Stock Manager at https://showstockmgr.com by June 15. A step by step instruction guide is available on the 4-H Live Animal Exhibitor Resources page at https://4h.unl.edu/state-fair/live-animal-exhibitor under Livestock Identification.
2021 State Fair Animal Nomination/Identification Requirements
State Fair Entries due by August 10
Nebraska Extension in Otoe County
Deb Weitzenkamp, Unit Leader, Extension Educator, deb.weitzenkamp@unl.edu
Erin Steinhoff, Extension Assistant, erin.steinhoff@unl.edu
Cheryl Goff, Office Manager, cheryl.goff@unl.edu
Email: Otoe-County@unl.edu
Website: www.otoe.unl.edu
Location: 620 1st Street, Syracuse, Neb, USA
Phone: (402)269-2301
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Nebraska-Extension-in-Otoe-County