1. 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 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-
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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
