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Oklahoma teen sells prizewinning hog for $17,500

By Kelli Dugan, Cox Media Group National Content Desk

Some Pig An exhibitor shows a Yorkshire Gilt hog during the 2010 World Pork Expo Breed Show at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S., on Friday, June 11, 2010. Caroline Gay, Gaye, a 16-year-old resident of the Tipton Children’s Home, drove Penny the Duroc to a third-place overall finish in the 2022 Oklahoma Youth Expo's Duroc Show. (Bloomberg/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

By Kelli Dugan, Cox Media Group National Content Desk

TIPTON, Okla. — Caroline Gaye’s hard work paid off, but her prizewinning showing in the recent 2022 Oklahoma Youth Expo Purebred Gilt Show means she’ll have to part ways with her beloved Penny.

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Gaye, a 16-year-old resident of the Tipton Children’s Home, drove Penny the Duroc to a third-place overall finish in the expo’s Duroc Show, earning her the 46th slot in the sale where the top 2% of gilts exhibited are sold to swine breeders across the country, Farm Journal’s “PORK” magazine reported.

Gilts are female pigs that have not had piglets yet, and they are judged on looks, muscles and overall breeding qualities, KOKI reported.

“Gaye has been drawn to the pig barn. She used her own money to purchase a $500 breeding hog in 2021, and she worked through the year to prepare her animal for showing last week at the 2022 the Oklahoma Youth Expo,” JD Rosman, the expo’s vice president of communications told the TV station, noting that the expo is the “world’s largest junior livestock show, involving more than 7,500 4-H and FFA members and more than 13,000 head of cattle, sheep, pigs, goats and agricultural mechanics projects.”

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According to PORK, the Tipton Children’s Home not only provides residents with the opportunity to have a safe and secure home but encourages participation in its animal program, which typically starts kids off with chickens before the more engaged participants move on to caring for pigs and dairy heifers.

“I mean, you’re up two or three times a day feeding animals, watering, walking and all the responsibilities that go along with that. It’s just a natural tool to raising children,” Tim White, Tipton’s agriculture teacher through Future Farmers of America, told the magazine.

Meanwhile, a swine breeder purchased Penny from Gaye following the competition for $17,500, which she plans to put toward her education to become a registered nurse, KOKI reported.

“I’m just hoping she goes to a good place and gets to breed and have little Pennies like her,” Gaye told PORK.

Read the complete KOKI report to see more photos of Gaye and Penny.

©2022 Cox Media Group

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