Gettysburg FFA Pig Project

By Lura Roti for South Dakota Farmers Union

Standing in the Potter County Fair showring, Anestasia Penrod had a decision to make. The 4-H member could either get frustrated or remain calm.

Her pig Bubbles was misbehaving. Surrounded by family, friends and community members, Penrod was trying to show Bubbles, but instead of cooperating and walking calmly around the judge, the market pig was running around and digging in the sawdust covering the showring floor.

The sixth-grader decided to smile and remain calm.

“This taught me that you cannot predict or control what is going to happen, and you need to work with what is happening and make the best of the situation,” Penrod explained.

And although she and Bubbles did not receive the ribbon she had hoped for, the 13-year-old said she ended up using the life skills she learned from participating in the Gettysburg FFA Pig Project at school when working on group projects.

Understanding that she is only in control of how she responds to tough situations is just one of many life skills the Gettysburg FFA Pig Project helps youth develop, explained parent Chandra Chase.

“It gives kids the opportunity to learn about the needs of animals and all the responsibility that comes from caring for animals because the kids are the ones who clean the pig pen, make sure their food is full, they have plenty of water and turn on the water at the mud hole on hot days,” Chase said. “And because we live in town, this is the only way Cerissa would have an opportunity to work with livestock.”

Cerissa is Chase’s 12-year-old daughter. And like Penrod, she has participated in the Gettysburg FFA Pig Project since the fourth grade. The students are among nearly 40 this year in fourth through eighth grade to participate in the program started 20 years ago by then FFA Adviser Bill Lehman.

“Lehman saw that the 4-H pig program at the Potter County Fair was dying. There were only two families still showing pigs, and he knew there were a lot of town kids who could benefit from learning about animal agriculture and where their food comes from. Lehman made it fun by building a program around how to raise and show a pig,” explained Bobbi Eide. “This is a unique experience. I haven’t heard any other FFA chapter that does a program like the Pig Project.”

Eide is a high school junior and for the last three years, for her Supervised Agriculture Experience, she has served as the supervisor of the Gettysburg FFA Pig Project. Also serving as FFA Chapter President, in her role as Pig Project supervisor, she promotes the opportunity to elementary students, organizes the daily chore schedule – each day about five students help Eide feed and water the pigs, check fence and make sure the 50 pigs are healthy.

“Working with all the parents’ and kids’ schedules can get pretty stressful, but it has taught me a lot about communication with kids younger than me as well as their parents and community supporters along with organizational skills,” Eide said.

Eide’s brother, Hunter, was the first student supervisor for the Pig Project, when she started participating as a fourth-grader. Eide was excited to take on the leadership role as she joined high school. “I got my love of pigs from Hunter,” Eide said. “I love raising pigs and showing pigs and even though I almost never got a purple ribbon at the state fair, I learned that there is a lot more to raising a pig than winning. Our parents taught us that no matter what we do, we need to try to do our best – we won’t be the best at everything, but as long as we give our personal best, that is what matters.”

10-year-old Kyley Saltsman agrees.

“Just because you win doesn’t mean you have a good experience, you can have a good experience even if you don’t win because you are learning all about the pigs,” Saltsman explained.

Eide prepares short lessons that she teaches for Saltsman and the other youth each morning when they do chores. The lessons focus on all aspects of pigs – their nutritional needs, reproduction, handling, marketing and how to show them at the fair.

“This is hands-on, so I remember what I learn more than if I am in a classroom with a pen and paper writing things down,” Penrod said. “It seems that when I just read about it in class it goes in one ear and out the other. But when I am out here and learning by doing, I process what I am learning, and it stays in my head.”

The Pig Project provides hands-on learning opportunities well into the school year explained agriculture education teacher and Gettysburg FFA Adviser Sarah McClure.

“Because the pigs are harvested locally, the meat locker gave me a pig heart and lung as well as half of a head so the students could learn about a pig’s anatomy,” said McClure, who assists Eide in supervising the Pig Project. “At the beginning of the school year I have my students take a learning styles test, and a lot of kids learn best by doing.”

After the fair, the Gettysburg FFA Chapter will host a pig roast for all youth and families who participated in the Pig Project.

All 50 pigs the youth raise are purchased by the Gettysburg FFA Chapter from profits earned from harvesting corn and soybeans on the FFA chapter crop plot. Community members and businesses donate all the feed, supplies and transportation equipment to make the Pig Project possible.

After the pig premium sale at the county fair, the premiums are divided equally among all the youth who participated in the Pig Project. In 2023, the youth received $250 each. Cerissa said the money was a nice reward, but it is not the reason she participates in the Pig Project each year.

“It’s a great learning experience. You get to bond and learn a lot about pigs and gain social skills,” Cerissa said. “Because when we do pig chores, we do them with kids from all different grades, so you may not know them, but by working with the pigs together we have become good friends.”