By Maddie Fugate
“They were raised right. They were raised in a hog barn. They were raised in a cattle barn. They were raised in a sheep barn. But I don’t know any other place we can raise them like this.” Willie Kirkpatrick once made these remarks, and I can’t think of a better way to sum up “why” we show livestock. You see, for the past 20 years, I have been given the incredible opportunity to have a childhood filled not with roots but rather with wings. I have been given the opportunity to live out my wildest dreams while traveling from coast to coast, showing livestock.
It is true what they say about how you are only one decision away from a totally different life. For me, that decision was showing livestock. Those four-legged animals were the best thing that ever happened to me. This lifestyle has not come without sacrifices, but the result is something to be envied. The results can’t be measured in banners or buckles but rather the role livestock has played in developing my work ethic, passion and most notably shaped the direction of the rest of my life.
Maddie showing a pig at the North American International Livestock Exposition.
Novice exhibitors may think that they are just showing pigs, but in reality, the National Junior Swine Association (NJSA) is setting them up for a lifetime of success and victories outside the show ring. There is no better place to be raised than in a barn. It is there where I learned if you want it, you have to work for it. I learned that you will fail, but when that happens, you have to get back up and try again. I was always told it is hard to beat the person who never gives up. So, don’t give up. It was in the barn I learned the true value of responsibility, integrity, and ethics. While I may not have been born in a barn, I was raised in one, and I will never be able to say that with enough pride and conviction to make people understand that I would not trade this experience for anything.
Now that I’m at the end of my junior career, I fully understand the value my parents saw of raising their kid in the livestock industry. They saw the difference that it made in their life and paid that forward to me. They knew that what happens here in this barn is so much more than just a pig show. It’s decision-making, problem-solving, leadership, and networking. I now have a network that spans across the entire U.S. and beyond. The skillset I have acquired from the NJSA helped me to pay for my college education, generated life-changing internships and ultimately a career opportunity in agriculture. I look at many of my friends who are now entering the real world, I realize that we all became friends through the NJSA and a shared love for pigs, but none of us are going into the world to solely raise pigs. We are starting careers in nursing, marketing, owning a grain elevator, veterinary medicine, accounting, and several are pursing advanced degrees. The NJSA gave us the skills to be successful in our chosen careers and yet all of us will still be involved as mentors in the swine industry.
Maddie joins Ryan Giertz (left) and Miles Toenyes (center) on stage at the NJSS to share her experience showing pigs at regional NJSA shows.
So, to the next exhibitor, I will tell you that you have got to love the lifestyle. If you don’t love livestock, the preparation and ultimately showing then why do it? This same principle can be applied to many aspects of life. Life is too short to do something you don’t love. In the livestock world, it’s your love and passion and that keep you going during those long nights and early mornings. It’s that passion that makes the hard decisions look easy. It’s that passion that whispers, just a little longer, or one more pass. It’s your passion that will continuously push you to be a better exhibitor than you were yesterday.
To the next exhibitor, I was once in your shoes, counting the years I had left, feeling like it was lifetime away. That time goes faster than you could ever imagine. One day you’re at your first show in a new division, and the next you’re a senior, and the light at the end of the tunnel is as bright as it can be. It all seems to happen in the blink of an eye. When you look back, you may reminisce on the victories, but most of all, you are going to remember the people who were by your side. It’s those people who make the difference. Those people are the ones who put meaning to the saying “family isn’t always blood.” Through the NJSA, I gained an entire family that gets my passion and obsession with livestock. They are the people who have made a tremendous impact on my life. I can credit those people to helping me become a more productive member of society.
Maddie and her parents, Julie and Eric, at the conclusion of the 2021 NJSS where Maddie was named Champion Senior Sweepstakes winner. Photo by Legacy Livestock Imaging.
So, to the next exhibitor: I hope you love it. I hope you realize that what we do here today in this barn is so much more than it seems. But most importantly, I hope that you take advantage of every opportunity and that you leave it all on the table. I hope that at the end of your career you look back without an ounce of regret and see that all the late nights, early mornings, hard work, successes, failures and friendships forged along the way made you into the person you are today and will be tomorrow.
Editor’s Note: Maddie Fugate wrapped up her youth livestock exhibitor experience at the National Junior Summer Spectacular (NJSS) in Louisville, Ky., on July 9. Farm Journal’s PORK editor Jennifer Shike had the pleasure of listening to Maddie give this winning speech during the NJSS Speech Contest. She admits she may have shed a few tears listening. Maddie is the daughter of Eric and Julie Fugate of Mahomet, Ill. She is now serving as a a commodity trading associate for Cargill Starches, Sweeteners and Texturizers. All photos provided by Maddie Fugate.
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The Stock Show “Prize” We Need to Talk More About
Nashville Singer and Pig Farmer Release Anthem for Ag
Grandma’s Still Got It: 92-Year-Old Pig Showman Gets Back in the Ring
