Pa. Gilt Show, Sale Pushed Up a Week

Aim is to Protect Hogs from H1N1

Dave Lefever
Editor

Bred gilt exhibitors from across Pennsylvania will be heading to Harrisburg a week earlier than usual for their upcoming show.

That’s because state officials have decided to move the dates of the bred gilt and sale, normally held at the opening of the Pennsylvania Farm Show, to one week before the Farm Show. The reason for the change is to minimize the chance of any hogs getting the H1N1 flu virus from the public, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA).

The eight-breed purebred gilt show will take place Jan. 1 at 10 a.m., said Larry Weaver, Farm Show assistant director. The supreme champion gilt will be named the following morning, Jan. 2, at 8:15 a.m., with the gilt sale starting at 9 a.m.

Bred gilt exhibitors will move their animals into the complex on Dec. 31 to get ready for the Jan. 1 show.

Youth 4-H exhibitors showing market hogs will continue to participate during the Farm Show itself since the animals will be going to slaughter rather than back to the farm, Weaver said. Market animals will be weighed in on Jan. 10, with shows taking place on Jan. 11.

Weaver, Farm Show Manager Jim Sharp, and acting Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding held a meeting with gilt producers, 4-H advisers and the PDA veterinary team prior to making the decision to move the gilt show but keep the youth market hog shows scheduled during Farm Show.

A concern raised by 4-H’ers was that youth showing hogs and one or more other species of animals would have to make two trips to the Farm Show Complex if the market hog show dates were changed.

“I think we made the right decision,” Weaver said of keeping the youth shows part of the larger event.

A letter was sent out to bred gilt and youth exhibitors in late November notifying them of the schedule change.

Conrad Neutzel, a long-time Yorkshire bred gilt exhibitor from Seven Valleys, York County, agreed with the decision to make the gilt show a week earlier.

“It’s just the way it’s gotta be,” Neutzel said, of the need to cut down the risk of hogs getting H1N1 from people.

Neutzel said there may be some other advantages to having the show a week earlier, including the public not being in the way while hogs are unloaded and moved around the Farm Show Complex.

However, he wonders how the date change might affect the buyer turnout at the sale, falling as it does so close to New Year’s Day.

As to how well the sale goes, “Ask me on January 2nd,” Neutzel said.

The Pennsylvania Farm Show runs from Jan. 9-16, 2010.