Published: July 08, 2008 11:49 pm      

Boss hog

Hodupp claims grand champion barrow title

GREENTOWN — After Jordan Hodupp showed the grand champion gilt in the 2007 Howard County 4-H Fair, he set a goal to top that at the 2008 fair.

Tuesday, Hodupp, 17, accomplished his goal, winning the grand champion barrow award with his 264-pound crossbred barrow, in the Howard County 4-H Fair swine show.

Hodupp’s barrow was chosen from a field of nearly 200 barrows by judge Warren Beeler from Caneyville, Ky.

Hodupp said some other competitors had asked him if he would win after seeing his animal. “I told them I’d be competitive. I didn’t want to be cocky.”

He thinks his barrow was a champion because of its unusual color scheme and because he’s sound, walked well and had a big top.

Although he has one more year of 4-H, Hodupp, who will be a senior at Northwestern High School, is not thinking about a championship at the 2009 fair.

“Football is coming up. Now that the fair is out of the way, football will be my focus.”

He plans to sell his grand champion barrow in the auction Thursday.

Krystal Brazel was thrilled to win her first grand championship, taking home grand champion gilt honors from the approximately 65 gilts in the show.

“It’s my 10th year, so I had to go out with a bang,” she said.

Brazel, 18, said the win meant more to her because her gilt was bred and born on her family’s farm, and she’s raised it from birth. Her uncle raises and breeds pigs on the farm.

“She’s like a pet. She’s eat marshmallows from my hand,” she said.

Brazel said her grand champion gilt will go back to her farm to be bred.

“She’s going back to our farm to create more grand champions,” she said.

Baxter Howell won reserve grand champion honors in both the gilt and barrows competition, and said he was pleased with the wins, though he would have liked to have won grand champion.

“I’ve worked really hard. When you do all the work, it’s fun when you win,” Howell said.

He said, though, his family has done well in the last few years, with a grand champion in 2006 and a reserve grand in 2007.

“We’ve been really lucky. We’ve had good people helping us.”

Howell plans to sell his reserve grand champion barrow in the auction, and wants to take the reserve grand champion barrow to the Indiana State Fair.

Beeler, the judge, complimented the 4-H’ers and those attending the show on the quality of the showmen and their animals, and their attendance. He said there were more hogs in the Howard County Fair than he’s seen at the Kentucky State Fair.

“I believe [the show] is much more about the kids than the hogs,” the judge said.

Showmanship winners were Luke Shepherd, beginner; Molly Shepherd, junior; Bethany Neeley, intermediate; and Ryan McCauley, senior. McCauley will represent the swine project in the supreme showmanship competition today.