Dozens of students with a passion for pigs took part in Oklahoma Pork's career exposure workshop on Thursday afternoon. Oklahoma Pork's Kate Jackson and Braden Burns educated the 3rd through 12th grade students about commercial pork production, the importance of biosecurity, Oklahoma Pork's role, and more.
Photos by Kate Jackson, Story by Braden Burns
The 2023 “Big 3 Field Days” livestock judging contest hosted 1,587 young people from six different states, which is known to be one of the largest youth livestock contests in the nation. With it came an ideal opportunity for Oklahoma Pork to recruit young FFA and 4-H members to the pork industry. Every summer for the past 35 years Oklahoma State University (OSU) Department of Animal and Food Sciences hosts a multi-species youth livestock judging contest in Stillwater. The rules are simple: three days, four species, the best evaluators at the end of the judging marathon get take home the hardware!
The Oklahoma Pork Council gets the unique opportunity to play a part in the festivities by hosting a “Work in Pork” workshop on day three, affectionately known as “Swine Day.” The hour-long workshop was held in OSU Totusek Arena, immediately before the announcement of the contest results.
Oklahoma Pork’s summer interns Kate and Braden had a fun time preparing an engaging slide show and several hands-on activities for the judgers to enjoy. Kate and Braden’s high-energy workshop consisted of three separate activities to outline key principles of the pork industry, including: supply chains, biosecurity, and communication.
This hour of “Work in Pork” fun brought together over 50 students who had the opportunity to take home some Oklahoma Pork swag like squishy pigs, keychains, stickers, and more so they can continue to be reminded of Oklahoma Pork’s mission throughout the school year. Our team is always excited to recruit the future workforce of swine enthusiasts by interacting with young agriculturalists across the state.