08/09/2026
WE NEED TO DO BETTER!!
Yesā¦this is a long postā¦andā¦Yesā¦I know that it may fall on deaf earsā¦But I am doing my partā¦Are You?
You know meā¦I am sometimes outspoken, driven towards things beyond myself, and yes go against things that are considered to be the āpopular thing to do.ā
I have had the chance to judge swine and other species across this country from Pennsylvania to Hawaiiā¦and I have always closed the shows with basically the same words every single time I had the chance to do soā¦.āI thank you for the opportunity to judge and I am thankful for the opportunity to leave a part of me with youā¦as I will take a part of you back with meā¦ā And in this instance and at this momentā¦I want to say itās time for us to do better!!!
I am not always a judge, a boar stud owner or breederā¦sometimes I am there as a friend or as a spectatorā¦And that leads me into this something that I feel that should be brought up and spoken about.
I had the chance to attend a county fair the other day in which I was invited to by a customer of LVS. He is an older gentleman, an older breeder that at one time topped a lot of county fairs, state shows and such. He had gotten out of breeding swine in the early 2000āsā¦But nowā¦Now he has a granddaughter a 2nd year 4-H memberā¦That has talked grandpa into helping her breed her own and too teach her to build her own herd.
I want to first off commend and congratulate this awesome grandpa and his even more his awesome granddaughter for not letting the āBadā that I witnessed that day get to themā¦And remind you allā¦That it takes doing something bold and different to make big changes within in a world full of small minds.
See this project of grandpa and granddaughter is exactly thatā¦a project in which they are doing something differentā¦Something some people would consider not āpopularā and not within the ātrendāā¦A Berkshire sired cross with a Duroc x Chester motherā¦Yes, you read that right and yes it did have an interesting color pattern and yes the ears did break.
As I watched the show from behind the holding pensā¦I rarely like to sit in the standsā¦I watched grandpa and granddaughter getting her market barrow ready for her classā¦Grandpa giving her the words that we have all heard once or twice in our lifeā¦āStay off the gatesā āDrive good linesā āStay out of the crowdā and most importantly āHave Fun & Good Luckā
As they came to the holding pens I watched on as othersā¦Breeders, parents and yes other show youthā¦giggle, point fun and yes make derogatory remarks at the girls project.
āWould you look at thatā¦the circus came to townā
āWhat are they thinkingā¦donāt they know whatā¦a show pig is???ā
āHow long did it take her to break that pigā¦Not worth the effortā
These are just a few of the comments I overheardā¦
Her 270ish pound market barrow that was 6 months old, had kind of a reddish and bluish spotted up pattern on its back, with most of the body white in color. He was fed all the right feeds, supplements and its skin and hair was in great condition. His bone was above average, his shape and dimensions fit his weight, and his skeleton was smooth and fluidā¦.To fix him āin the way of todayā his front 1/3 needed to be a little more showy and elevatedā¦and his ears would need to be not broken.
Her barrow āPete The Catā stood out in a sea of belted swineā¦and that made them even more a bigger target to the āBadā that took presence that day. But they had a good judge that dayā¦a judge that was not influenced by what is deemed ācool.ā She ended up 4th in a class of 12ā¦The judge sounded off on all that I spoke of above about the barrowā¦He also did his part and took a moment and said āGive this one a different color pattern and make those ears erect and all of you guys around ringside wouldnāt think twiceā¦moving this one up to a higher place in the class.ā
But still on their way outā¦there was the āBadā there again to try and knock the smile off a 9 year old girlās faceā¦And then there was grandpaā¦waiting at the gate to give her a big hug and the best words we all love to hearā¦āYou done good my girl.ā They didnāt let the āBadā inā¦They just went back to their penā¦and enjoyed the moment together.
I watched the rest of the show and talked to some other customers and friendsā¦Yes, I was approached by some of the āBad.ā Heck even one of the bad guys wanted to sell me a boarā¦when I asked him what he thought of that girls barrowā¦He said and I quote āYeah what a joke rightā as if I was in agreement with him and the āBad Crowdā ā¦Guess whatā¦I didnāt buy that boarā¦And I donāt care if he knows or notā¦he doesnāt buy from me any howā¦But I do hope that he does reads thisā¦as I hope that it makes him become a better person in the long run.
Then here came grandpa and granddaughterā¦still smiling and her holding her 4th place ribbonā¦She came up and said, āMr. Rusty I want to thank you for the semenā¦That āMines Biggerā Berkshire boar improved my gilts for next years breedingā¦I am keeping 4 gilts out of him that are littermates to āPete The Catā my barrow that placed 4th today.ā I asked her if she had fun showing him? She said āOh yes, itās been fun watching him growā¦I was there when he was bornā¦there where 12 in that litter and grandpa and I stayed the night in barnā¦she had the last one at 3amā¦I was a sleep but grandpa was there.ā
I spent about another 45min or so with themā¦She filled me in on their game plan for this years breedings and how she was going to use some of her money from selling āPete The Catā to buy herself some new show clothes for next yearā¦and help chip in for semen so grandpa didnāt have to pay for it all.
Grandpa stood there just grinning as any proud grandpa would doā¦She then asked if she could go play with some friendsā¦but before she left she said āGrandpa we need to buy all our semen for the girls from Mr. Rusty.ā As she walked away grandpa said āThere goes my whole world.ā
Me and grandpa continued to talkā¦We go way back you seeā¦as I bought pigs from him when I showedā¦As we continued to talk I asked himā¦In the best way I knowā¦āHow did you shut them all out?ā ā You guys could have easily bought āpopularā females and āhigh dollar semenā and did it that routeā¦He looked at me and said āRusty you know better than thatā¦I am the HD/F1 generationā¦we have to be different to make a differenceā¦we are making ours from scratch and they are buying theirs premade.ā
We said our goodbyes shortly after that and he booked a 10 dose contract to rebreed the sow and the new 4 gilts.
Thats what LVS isā¦That is what I amā¦That is what I want to pass on to my children as they can pass it on to their children to as wellā¦Be the differenceā¦Be the the Good and screw the Bad!!!
Soā¦back to the moral of this whole storyā¦WE NEED TO DO BETTER!!!
I see it at every showā¦what have we becomeā¦what are we teaching the youthā¦Are we not the mentors, breeders, and the youth of tomorrowā¦or are we just self righteousā¦small mindedā¦and bullies?
So back to what I always sayā¦.When you leave a part of you somewhere is it the better part? Or is the part that you become ashamed of?
Encourage each other, promote difference, be the reason there is a future within our industry!!!
And Most Importantly Donāt Let The Bad Ruin The Good!!!
All My Best,
Rusty Bingham
Please fell free to share this post with others if you likeā¦And if you doā¦Youāre Alright In My Book!!!
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