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  • Matt Tillson

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November 19, 2009

Swine Registry underway

Annual event has financial attraction

Matt Tillson

DUNCAN — With the sounds of pigs squealing, human chatter and the aroma of a barnyard in the air, the annual National Fall Classic Swine Registry was underway at the Stephens County Fair & Expo Center.

People began registering their animals early Wednesday morning and will stay until the show ends Saturday evening. Several people are attending this year’s show, each having a different reason for attending the event.

Tyler Lee is just one of the many who traveled across the country for the show. Lee traveled from Cheyenne, Wyo. with his hogs, on what he described as a long, tiring trip.

With the difficult economy and the cost for fuel, Lee said that he almost did not want to make the trip. However he reconsidered to provide for his family.

“Showing this livestock is what a lot of us do for a living,” Lee said. “We go out and tend to our animals every morning and every evening, just like anyone going to a regular nine to five job.”

Some people are here this year because they just want to showcase their pigs. Some are here to sell their livestock and make an honest living. Others are here because they want to spend some quality time with their family.

The event is the biggest hog show in the United States.

The show is a business venture. From the selling and purchasing of the pigs, to the revenue it produces for local businesses, the transactions began earlier this week. Some of these pigs will go from as low as in the high hundreds to as high as thousands of dollars. Some pigs are already being sold or at least had offers made on them, but the actual selling of the hogs will begin later today.

“I myself have already made an offer and deal for a female gilt for a low price of $850,” Lee said. “This was a business decision that I could not pass up so I took it.”

Most of the men and women that are attending this year’s event have shown livestock with a lot of the same people in other shows in the past. Chris Harris from Ringwood has been coming out to the Stephens County fairgrounds the past three years for this show.

“This is one of the shows that I look forward to the most every year,” Harris said. “Coming out here to Duncan and seeing so many familiar faces is like being at a family reunion almost.”

Harris said that of the greatest things about attending the show is that it grows every year, so his extended family grows every year.

With those that get the family-like atmosphere feeling, it is no wonder that some people, like retired farmer Rick Davis of Jet, just come out to spend time with family while they are here.

“My granddaughter just loves coming out to my old farm and seeing all the animals,” Davis said. “We were passing through the area this week and thought what better way than to share this experience with her than this.”

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