A member of the Cleveland Clovers 4-H Club is already making her mark showing pigs at the Manitowoc County Fair.
Allison Reichwaldt has been showing pigs for the last three years and, at 11 years old, is already buying the feed and the piglets she will train to show in the future.
Allison reached out to Seehafernews.com to tell us her story about raising her two pigs.
This year she showed Jade and Benson at the fair, with both having very different personalities.
“She (Jade) is very crazy,” she explained. “She loves to run. He’s a little more tame on the other hand.”
Allison also shared how she trains the pigs to move in the show ring.
After preparing them, exhibitors use a small whip.
She described what she does saying, “You tap their sides to get them moving, and then you tap their faces to turn them and tap their chins to get their head up because you want them to look nice and straight.”
Benson the Pig got a couple of awards, including Best in Showmanship.
When we spoke with Allison, she was also getting ready for the annual Manitowoc County Market Animal Sale.
Businesses around the county would purchase some of the animals at the fair from the 4-Hers.
Allison was selling one of her pigs.
“You only sell one and you sell the other one on the side,” she noted.
We asked her how much money she can make at the auction. Allison told us, “Well, usually I make about $3,000.”
The reason both pigs are sold in the end is for safety, since pigs can easily spread diseases.
Allison’s mother tells us one was sold for $23.00 a pound, or more than $5,000.
Both parents say they are very proud of their daughter and the work she puts in.
Today is the last day of the Manitowoc County Fair, which will be open until 6:00 p.m.
