'An amazing opportunity'

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SANDPOINT — It may be hard work, require daily dedication and end with saying goodbye, but for 4-H'ers who take part in the market animal program, there's nothing they would rather do.

"I would say definitely, you should at least try it," said Aurla Palmer, a member of the Sagle Saddle Tramps. "If you don't like it, there's nothing else I can do for you. But you should try it because it's an amazing opportunity."

Raising a steer from a couple hundred pound calf to a steer weighing well over a 1,000 pounds is a lot of work, Tytus Barnhart of the Careywood Eager Beavers said.

"You got to teach him to lead, you got a halter break 'em, teach 'em to set up, and then you got to feed them and know what you're feeding so that you can fatten them up to cover the 13th rib with them half an inch of fat, so that they're perfect marbled for the public, for sale," he said.

While it is hard work, friend Devon Hansen agreed that it's rewarding to see the end results.

"It's a lot of fun. It's a lot of work. But it's really gratifying at the end. And I just love doing it," he said.

For his first few years in 4-H, Hansen said he showed pigs but moved to the market steer program after seeing how much fun his cousin had.

While some of the steer have been trained on a halter by the rancher who first owned them, sometimes you have to halter break them on your own and teach them how to walk on a lead, Barnhart said.

The steer are purchased at about 6 months old and are about 18 months when they're sold at the sale. In between, they need to be feed in the morning, and a night; they need to be feed the right grains and hay and kept watered. And you have to teach them how to be good show steers, he said.

Many people might be surprised by the amount of work it takes to raise an animal, whether it's a steer, pig, goat or sheep — or any of the other market animals.

"I think most people would be surprised by how much work it can take to actually settle them down and get 'em halter broke," Barnhart said. "Because you can get them to lead like a dog and you can get them to set up walk right into positions as long as you put a lot of work into 'em."

The same is true at the swine barn, where folks who stop by the pens to talk are often surprised by the amount of work that goes into raising a quality market animal.

"We have to work with them every day. And they have quite a strict diet," said Rachel Aylward, a member of the Sagle Saddle Tramps. "They can't eat any, like human food, no meat. You can give them eggs if they're falling behind on weight. But like, you could get disqualified if someone finds out if you like, fed them human food like cake, or ice cream. Because I don't think anyone wants their, their pig feasting on bacon every other night. So they have to keep on a diet of like, grain and hay, and water and stuff."

Like steer, swine also require daily care and work to make sure they're a good show pig as well as an animal that has good meat, 4-H'ers in the pig barn said. You want to feed them the right food so that the animal is healthy and has good meat and you want to work with them or the pig won't respond in the ring.

"You got to work with them every day to make sure they like you," Aylward said. "Because if you bring a pig to fair that doesn't like you gonna, that's not going to go over well. And you got to make sure you're not too attached to them because in the end, they're going to go away, likely get eaten by somebody, so you can't get too upset when they're sold."

And that can sometimes be harder than other times, the 4-H'ers said.

"My first year, it was super easy, because I hated that pig," Palmer said. "He was mean."

After that she started raising female pigs, which were more mellow. That made it harder to sell because she'd get more attached, she said.

"Usually when I get in [the sale ring], it's like, oh, this is like my last time with the pig," she said. "It's not going to be mine anymore after this so I try to really cherish it."

Now in his ninth year, Barnhart was inspired to join 4-H because of his dad and aunt as well as his five older siblings, all of whom have been a part of the organization.

"It's fun," he said. "It's a good work ethic and teaches good life skills. There's some hard work to it. But you know, in the end, you get some work done and have fun."

He enjoys raising steer and has done a steer project every year since he joined 4-H at 8 years old. His favorite parts, he said, are fair week and showing them.

Selling them at the Market Animal Sale is the reward for all of the hard work, said Barnhart, who earned reserve grand champion honors for his steer as well as grand champion showmanship honor.

"Well, that's why you sell 'em," said Barnhart, adding that local businesses really come together to really support 4-H'ers during the sale.

"You're able to sell them for a little bit more than you would if you were selling them, you know, privately to somebody and so I guess in the end it's paycheck," he added.

Palmer got into 4-H after her mom expressed an interest in raising pigs and asked her kids if they wanted to raise them through 4-H. She's been hooked ever since.

"They have such a playful and kind personality," she said. "They really like hanging out with people. They're super calm and fun. They think they're a dog sometimes and they get really happy, they will go and run around and bark. And whenever I went and walked to her, she would, she would start to get moody and I would just walk off and she would just follow me. And they're so fun. I love their personality."

Raising an animal for market can have its ups and downs, Palmer said, but added that in the long run, it's worth it.

"You get to learn new stuff almost every day," she said. "You start with this little piglet and you raise it into this quality market hog that goes to butcher and you really get to watch it grow from like 20, 15, 10 pounds to be this 230- to 300-pound pig."

While getting awards is nice and it's fun to place, the 4-H'ers said that isn't why they joined or stay with it. Instead it is the camaraderie, hanging out with their friends, and learning about the animals and showmanship. They understand the commitment that raising a market animal takes but recognize that with that work, comes the rewards.

"I think every year's fun," Barnhart said. "I wouldn't say one year's more fun than the other. It's fun to win but it's also a lot of fun to, you know, compete and help others out and have fun. That's what 4-H is about."

The 4-H program is a community, with everyone supporting each other and rooting for each other, celebrating the successes and sympathizing if it's been a tough day.

"It's really cool community," Hansen said. "A lot of the kids have been doing it for a long time and everybody knows everybody so it's a lot of fun.

That helpfulness can be found throughout the market animal world, the 4-H'ers said. If you want to raise a certain breed, someone will either have it or point you in the right direction.

The fair is the culmination of their year of hard work, and they have fun teaching those who stop about market animals and sharing what they know.

"I like meeting a lot of new people," Aylward said of taking part in the fair, from competing in the different categories or walking around visiting friends in other barns. "Every year, I get to meet someone new in our club or just like new judges."And just spending time with the animals and walking around. Fair's a lot of fun, seeing friends and the other animals is a lot of fun, too."

Like the others, Palmer said she loves talking to people doing fair week and enjoys meeting people to share what she knows.

"I love meeting with people," she said. "It's a good opportunity to learn stuff and get to know your community. And it helps give everyone else like an insight in like a farmer's world because not everybody realizes that this is where their food comes from. So it just helps people get an insight of where their food comes from. It helps educate the kids because that's where you really got to start."

All of the 4-H'ers encouraged anyone interested to join the organization, whether they want to raise market animals, other animals or do whatever project seems interesting.

"I would encourage any kid that is able to do 4-H or FFA if they have in their county," Palmer said. "And I think it's a really great opportunity. And if they can't, just come out to their local fair and look at it and experience the opportunity to look at all the animals and talk to the local kids that are raising the animals and get to know them. I have met some of the greatest people through 4-H."