General

Ak-Sar-Ben 4-H Stock Show joins the affiliate youth Swine Show line-up. This year, Ak-Sar-Ben will collaborate with the National Junior Swine Association (NJSA), the nation’s largest youth livestock association and the youth membership branch of the National Swine Registry (NSR), and Team Purebred, the fastest growing youth livestock organization in the nation, to offer purebred classes for market gilts and barrows.

To support these purebred classes, NSR will offer premiums for purebred Duroc, Hampshire, Landrace and Yorkshire entries. Representatives from the organization will be on hand at the show to assist the Ak-Sar-Ben Swine Show staff.

This collaboration between the Ak-Sar-Ben 4-H Stock Show, NJSA and Team Purebred will provide new opportunities for youth to not only exhibit purebred swine, but also develop life skills through industry involvement.

Ak-Sar-Ben is a regional 4-H-only Livestock Show that is open to 4-H members from Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, [ … ]

At the Arkansas Razorbacks’ 2014 spring game, the team roster included an extra name. Canaan Sandy of Cave City, Arkansas, was invited by Razorbacks head coach Bret Bielema to participate in the game held on April 26. Sandy, a top-10 finalist in ESPN’s Fans Hall of Fame contest, met the coach at a Razorbacks Club event. Bielema originally planned to have Sandy score a two-point conversion, but during halftime, he decided he wanted Sandy to score a 50-yard touchdown instead. Read the full story here.

Aside from cheering on the Razorbacks, Sandy was highly involved in 4-H and a member of the NJSA. He and his friend Aaron Cobb of Lake City, Arkansas, were featured on the  first Youth Issue of the Seedstock EDGE in June 2001.

The National Pork Board recently awarded 18 scholarships to college students around the United States. The winners were selected from a group of 21 applicants based on scholastic merit, leadership activities, pork production industry involvement and future pork production career plans.

Of those 18 recipients, nine were current or former members of the National Junior Swine Association (NJSA), listed below:
Dustin Compart, Nicollet, Minn.
Jake Erceg, Talent, Ore.
Jared Mumm, Kimberly, Idaho
Haley Gilleland, Fitzgerald, Ga.
Kiah Gourley, Philomath, Ore.
Jordan Bjustrom, Clarksville, Iowa
Ashalynn Bilton-Smith, Centralia, Wash.
Lauren Honegger, Forrest, Ill.
Austin Bailey, Curryville, Mo.

Dustin Compart was among the top three candidates and will receive a $5,000 scholarship. Compart is a junior at South Dakota State University and is studying animal science. He plans to eventually return to the family farm where he will work to sell seedstock and their branded Compart Family Farms Premium Duroc®. The
other recipients will be awarded $2,000.

Congratulations to Compart and all of the current [ … ]