Skip to main content

Our County Fair

          Nothing ever quite says summer like 4-H projects, jumbo corn dogs, and a Tuesday night hog show. Well, at least that’s the case for the Van Gilst family. Every year the Southern Iowa County Fair rolls around with much anticipation and excitement. This year is like many of the ones that have preceded it: hot, busy, and fun.


          The journey for this year’s fair began back in March when the pigs were weighed in. On a chilly Saturday morning, the swine superintendents (all volunteers) took the weight and registered all the pigs that were raised by local 4-H and FFA members. A few months (and 200+ pounds) later, the same pigs have returned to the fair to be shown and judged. This fair is a little different for us, for the first in a very long time, only one Van Gilst kid showed in last night’s hog show. With Trent on a camping trip in South Dakota, Ryan was alone in his second to last year of showing. Meanwhile, his two older siblings worked the ring alongside their father, a superintendent for the show, as mom cheered from the stands with grandparents.

                                         
          At the end of the day, that is what makes the fair so special to our family. It is not about what projects get sent to the state fair or how well the pigs grow. Yes, we always try to do our best in both of those categories, but the fair is a delight regardless of result. All over the fair there are families just like ours with three and even four generations gathering together to exhibit something they are passionate about. For some its sheep and goats, others its a prize steer, while for another it could be vegetables in the horticulture class. We place our passion in our pigs and the swine contest – for obvious reasons. Grandpa Van Gilst showed pigs; now he comes to watch his grandchildren do the same.




          The fair isn’t just a place for great food, hot weather, and a Ferris wheel ride. It is a place for young kids to show what they have learned through their projects. It is a place where volunteers come together to create an opportunity for that learning. It is a place where a senior FFA member will stop what he is doing with his own animal to help a novice 4-Her with theirs. We love the county fair, without it the summer wouldn’t feel complete. 

- VG Farms
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Priorities

Much like fall, spring is a very busy time on a livestock/crop farm. Sometimes the most difficult thing to do is to decide what to do first. When the weather warms and the fields dry it is time to put the crop in the ground. Time is of the essence when it comes to planting. There are weeks were you may only get a few hours in the fields due to weather. An dry, early spring is no indication of a dry later spring. Despite the pressures of planting, the crops are not the first priority of the day.                                                                                                                    The pigs always get top billing. Chores, weaning, breeding, load for market, all get don...
Post a Comment
Read more

Employee Feature: Jon Phelps

          “This will take only 10 minutes, I promise”, I reassure the head of farrowing as he takes a rare break from his work. A familiar, bashful smile appears while we make our way to the office space of the building. “You’re the first employee we’re doing a feature on, so you should definitely feel special about this one.” He laughs and we begin.           This is Jon Phelps, the recently promoted head of farrowing here at VG Farms. For the past six years he has spent his time helping nearly a quarter of a million piglets into the world. It all started when he decided he wanted to return to hog farming since leaving an operation in Alexandria, South Dakota. “I saw the opening online and had previous experience in farrowing that I really enjoyed”, he explains, “I filled out the application and here I am.” Jon has come along quite a ways since first beginning with the VG Farms family; from doing chores at on...
Post a Comment
Read more

Backing Away from Basics

How many times have you said to yourself or to others that there is a need to get back to basics? A return to the basics can help us realign with the fundamental principles of the task at hand. It’s generally very helpful. When I was struggling in a sport, I often backtracked to the fundamentals to discovered my point of error. Other’s use it in work, family life, and in cooking. Unfortunately, I believe that we have remained a bit too basic in our approach to pork. Go to a retail store and you will see the same cuts that have been available for the past 30 years. You will see chops, shoulder and loin roasts, tenderloins, ham steaks, etc. Now there is nothing wrong with those cuts as they present a myriad of cooking opportunities. But the wonderful pig produces so much more! Take for example some of the dishes we served this week at a pork education event. We made street tacos out of pork steaks (it’s the Spinalis muscle if you want to get technical). We made Chulet...
1 comment
Read more