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TRANSCRIPT
4-H Club goes hog wild
Contests include rocketry, canoeing, photos, livestock
BY GEORGE WHITE FLORIDA TODAY
CAPE CANAVERAL - Beachside condo dweller and hog caretaker.
Meet 17-year-old Trista Bogard.
She's both.
"It does surprise some people, because there's really no agriculture connection on the beachside, but, with 4-H, you can find someplace to learn farming if you want to," said Bogard, a member of one of 40 4-H Clubs in Brevard County.
The Cocoa Beach Junior/Senior High School student was formerly involved with Future Farmers of America before her family moved to Brevard from Oklahoma. She now works with her father, Don, selling feed and other supplies at Harrell's Ranch in Cocoa.
Bogard will also be competing at the Space Coast Fair, starting Thursday and running through Nov. 12 in Cocoa.
Feeding her livestock kept on farms nearby her dad's work, Bogard hopes to improve on her second place in showmanship she and her hog received at last year's fair.
And these are not small creatures that she is dealing with. Hogs compete at market weight, meaning they weigh about 260-280 pounds.
"If you're the one feeding them, they like you more, but some start fighting with the other hogs, and sometimes it's hard to get them to go where you want," she said.
She also will compete at the fair with yearling Charolais heifers, chickens and turkeys.
"Actually, the pigs are easier to deal with than the others. The hard part is getting them totally clean for the competition," she said.
More than 4,000 youth ages 5-18 in Brevard County are involved in Brevard County's 4-H clubs.
While the livestock and cooking competitions remain popular, many 4-H'ers are now competing at the fair in events such as rocketry, canoeing, technology, and even public speaking, said 4-H program leader Cynthia Minot with the University of Florida extension service.
"We wanted to get other youth involved in other activities," Minot said, adding
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Hogs gone wild. Trista Bogard, 17, picks up one of the pigs she raises. A 250-pound hog will be entered in the upcoming state fair. George White, FLORIDA TODAY
the first year of pre-registration for the competitions at the fair resulted in a flurry of registration forms several inches thick. "There are far more competitors this year."
Call 4-H Program assistant Renee Gore at 952-4536.
Contact White at 242-3787 or [email protected]