Purple Ribbon pigs at the Iowa State Fair ...

The four Allamakee County 4-H’ers pictured in the surrounding photos with their swine entries represented themselves and their home county well with some Purple ribbon success experienced at the Iowa State Fair 4-H Swine Show held the mornings of Monday, August 14 and Tuesday, August 15 on the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines. Pictured in the surrounding submitted photos, are Wyatt Baxter, Alaina Gebel, Trudy Baxter and Marcus Gebel. All four Allamakee County youth had their entries earn at least one Purple ribbon in either the Monday, August 14 Breeding Swine Show or the Tuesday, August 15 Market Swine Show, with that Purple ribbon designation meaning the entry is eligible for show championship consideration, according to Iowa State Fair rules and regulations.

In the Market Swine Show, Alaina Gebel and Wyatt Baxter each had their entry awarded a Purple ribbon and first place in the Crossbred Market Gilts class, with Wyatt Baxter and Marcus Gebel also each being awarded a Blue ribbon for other entries in that same class. Alaina Gebel, Marcus Gebel and Trudy Baxter were each awarded a Purple ribbon in the Crossbred Market Barrows class, with Alaina Gebel’s entry placing third in that class and Marcus Gebel also having another entry earn a Blue ribbon in that class. Wyatt Baxter also had his Hereford class entry receive a Purple ribbon and place third in that class, with Marcus Gebel’s entry receiving a Purple ribbon and Alaina Gebel’s entry receiving a Blue ribbon in the Yorkshire class of the competition.

In the Breeding Swine Show, Wyatt Baxter’s entry in the Commercial Gilts class was awarded a Purple ribbon and placed third, with entries by Alaina Gebel and Trudy Baxter each receiving a Blue ribbon in that class. Trudy Baxter also had her entry in the Yorkshire class receive a Blue ribbon.
In addition to what their animals were awarded, both brother/sister tandems were entered in the Swine Skillathon competition, where the Baxter pair finished third and the Gebel tandem placed 10th. Wyatt Baxter placed fifth in the Swine Senior Showmanship competition, with Trudy Baxter placing 12th. Marcus Gebel was also selected to be a Mentor in the Bacon Buddies Program, which connects Iowans with intellectual or developmental disabilities with 4-H and FFA youth in a shared experience of showing pigs at the Iowa State Fair. Alaina Gebel also participated in the Agronomy Weed Identification Contest and placed fifth.