New Bloomfield teen takes pride in pigs

Alyssa Reid poses next to one of her show pigs at her family's farm near New Bloomfield, Mo.
Alyssa Reid poses next to one of her show pigs at her family's farm near New Bloomfield, Mo.

NEW BLOOMFIELD, Mo. - As you walk across well-trimmed grass, you can hear music in the air as you reach Alyssa Reid's livestock barn.

Inside, Dopey, Bashful, Sneezy, Sleepy, Happy, Grumpy and Doc mellow out, listening to tunes.

"We play the radio for them so they get used to noise," Reid said.

These aren't Snow White's seven dwarfs. They are Reid's seven show pigs.

Although Reid, 19, has already graduated from high school, she still shows her own pigs as a member of Fulton's Future Farmers of America. She is still eligible to show pigs until she turns 21.

"I continued after high school because I love doing it," she said. "It's like a sport, and if I could keep playing any sport, I would, so I kept playing pigs."

Reid and her dad feed the pigs twice a day and spend about 20 minutes at a time walking each one. She uses a special stick to guide Happy on his walk.

"I got involved as early as I could," she said. "You can start showing when you're 8, but I was showing before in open classes where anyone can show."

Some of Reid's pigs will show at the Callaway Youth Expo, which takes place from July 5-9. She also takes them to a few jackpot shows throughout the year: the Missouri State Fair in August and the National Barrow Show in Austin, Minnesota, in September.

"The national show is more interested in purebred pigs instead of cross-bred, which is different because most shows are the other way," she said. "But we're usually better with the purebreds, so we like that show."

Reid thinks her pigs have performed well so far this year.

"I showed my most recent one at the Callaway Jackpot show and the Centralia jackpot show," she said. "I think we did pretty well with the pigs being pretty young. We took them there at only 150 pounds and this one (Happy) will get up to 280."

Reid took Happy for a walk to demonstrate how it's done, and he rubbed her leg like a beloved house pet. Happy knows his name, too.

"He's like my dog," Reid said. "If you scratch him, he'll fall over and want you to rub his stomach."

Reid rubbed Happy's head, and he did exactly what she described. Then, Happy got a bath.

"They get a bath almost every time we walk," she said. "If people want to take care of pigs, they need to know that they overheat easily."

Reid said they get their show pigs when they are 2 or 3 months old.

"Happy is the oldest one, and we get new ones every year," she said. "Once this year is over, two will go straight to the butcher after the show because that's part of the show, and then the other ones that we bring to Austin we don't bring back. They're sold to Hormel."

Reid said she often gets questions about giving up her pigs each year.

"A lot of people get attached to them, and obviously they're my pets, but I've been doing this for so long that the whole butchering process doesn't bother me," she said. "If you've grown up on a farm, it's obviously what you do. It's part of the circle of life."

After Happy was done with his bath, Reid led him back to his barn while talking about her first pigs.

"We had two pigs, Pinkie and Blackie. My oldest sister's was Blackie," Reid said. "(That year) she asked my dad which one we were going to eat, because we always keep one to eat. My dad said, 'Well, Pinkie,' because he didn't want to tell her it was Blackie. But then she started crying because she wanted to eat Blackie. So this was never something that bothered us."

Reid said she likes helping out younger contestants at shows.

"There was this little girl last year having trouble with her pig before a show," she said. "So I helped show her how to walk it - what you're supposed to do in the show ring. Older people helped me when I started, so I'm just trying to pay it back."

Reid described what to look for in a quality pig.

"Some good characteristics of a good show pig is that you want them to be wide and walk smooth," she said. "Happy isn't our smoothest walker, but he does an OK job."

Happy has wide shoulders and other good traits, but he's not top pig.

"Doc is our best one," she said. "He keeps his head up like a dog. Judges like that. Pig showing is basically a beauty pageant, but for pigs. So it's which ever one performs the best, looks the best, acts the best."

Reid said raising pigs has been a great way to spend time with family, especially her father.

"Without him, I would not be able to do this," she said. "Mornings, when I want to sleep in, he comes out and feeds for me. It's a great relationship builder because I know kids whose parents don't help them out with too much, and I couldn't imagine not having someone help me. Having seven pigs to walk 20 minutes every night is a lot of work."

Although she is the last of her sisters to show pigs and go through FFA, Reid thinks there are some younger family members who could pick it up.

"My oldest sister has a twin boy and girl, and she wants them to show," Reid said. "She's been out here with the pigs, playing around with them and all kinds of fun stuff."