Swine that shine, goats galore: New Mexico's ag youth put the (live)stock in the State Fair

Sep. 10—Pigs squealed like a discordant church choir as young New Mexico 4-H Club members and Future Farmers of America kids worked to put a last-minute shine on their swine.

It was Sunday morning in the Swine Barn at Expo New Mexico, minutes before the State Fair's 8 a.m. New Mexico Bred Swine Show.

Dylan Croy, 10, of Broadview, in Curry County, had to chase his hog as it made a break from a wash rack and went and rolled in the mud.

You know what they say about pigs and mud. Back to the wash rack.

"I think honestly the hardest thing is keeping their heads up so they don't run away," Dylan said.

Gracen Kuykendall, 14, of Artesia, a member of the Cottonwood 4-H Club, was there with her pig, Wee.

A look at the stout gilt (young female) made one wonder how she got a name like Wee.

"She's a little crazy, so she ran off when I was walking her," Gracen said. "It was like 'weeeeee!'"

On Sunday morning, however, both Dylan and Gracen kept their pigs in place when it counted and came away with awards.

Dylan earned his first-ever championship belt buckle for Reserve Grand Champion/Black Other Pure Breeds.

Gracen's hog won Champion-Cross and Grand Champion New Mexico Bred.

Weeeeee!

A lot of bacon

About 500 young people from throughout the state and 1,500 steers, heifers, swine, goats and sheep participate in the State Fair's Junior Livestock Show each year.

The young exhibitors strive to place well in the livestock show. Those who do will get to take their animals to the Junior Livestock Sale, which this year is at 1 p.m. Friday at Expo New Mexico's Horse Arena.

About 100 animals are sold during the sale.

Dylan Croy and his older brother Caden, 15, brought six hogs to the fair this year.

"I'm sure hoping to sell some of those pigs here at the fair," Dylan said. "I don't want to have to eat bacon for 29 years."

According to the State Fair, last year's sale took in a record total of $710,000, up from the $610,000 accumulated at the 2022 fair.

Usually, the Grand Champion steer rakes in the most money, between $15,000 and $20,000. Last year's champion steer, shown by Caleb Ramsey of Otero County, did even better than that, earning $25,000.

Diamond in the rough

At the Junior Livestock Pavilion, north of the Swine Barn, goats were on center stage Sunday morning.

Brinley Skelley, 10, of Causey, New Mexico, exhibited her Boer doe, Diamond, during the Wether Doe Show. They were in the heavy division. That's based on Diamond's weight, 89 pounds, not Brinley's, 75 pounds.

Diamond was not in her best presentation mood on Sunday, but Brinley, despite her weight disadvantage, wrestled a championship effort out of her goat. They won the heavy division for does and then took Grand Champion Doe honors by besting the winners of the light and medium divisions.

Brinley, who attends the Dora Consolidated Schools, is a seasoned hand at this goat-showing business despite her young years. Her parents Dallen and Molly Skelley are goat-breeders, the owners of Skelley Show Goats in Causey, which is in Roosevelt County, southeast of Portales.

Brinley has a half dozen championship belt buckles to her credit.

She said the most difficult thing about working with goats is starting them out.

"Because they don't know anything," she said. "It's hard to break them to a choke chain."

During the summer, Brinley works with goats four or five hours a day. It's less during the school year, when she has to divide her time between goats, study, basketball and volleyball.

"We walk them, and we brace them — push against them to see their muscles," she said. And then there's feeding them, washing them, grooming them. Goat chores are a challenge all the time, but Brinley said it's tougher during the summer heat.

"When it gets really hot, they get ornery," she said.

The next chapter

Creed Hughes, 18, of Carlsbad, won the light division of the Wether Doe Show with his Boer doe and also claimed Reserve Grand Champion honors with her. He captured Grand Champion laurels in the wether (castrated male) show.

A student at Clarendon (Texas) College, Creed is in his last year of Junior Livestock competition at the State Fair.

Besides showing goats and steers at the New Mexico State Fair, the lanky young man has exhibited animals at the Eddy County Fair, Eastern New Mexico State Fair, Southern New Mexico State Fair and at livestock shows in Arizona, Colorado, Kansas and Oklahoma.

He admits it's a demanding life, often staying up until 11:30 at night to tend to his animals. But he's enjoyed it, too.

"It's been fun to be with my family in the barns," he said. "I enjoy the environment and the people."

He knows, however, it's time to move on to the next chapter. His family has a cow-calf operation, and he intends to follow in their tracks.

"I want to be a rancher and work in (ranch) real estate," he said.

Even though she's still in grade school, Brinley Skelley has her future mapped out, also, and it doesn't include goats.

Still, she's not going to let all the time she's spent washing and grooming the hair of goats and tending to their skin go to waste.

"I'm going to be a cosmetologist," she said.