Summer spent raising pigs is filled with lessons

Eight-year-old Laina Johnson of Monessen got Honey and Bear ready for the Fayette County Fair.

By 6:30 most summer mornings, 8-year-old Laina Johnson was already awake and getting ready to work.

Sometimes, she slept in the car on the way to the farm. But once she arrived, her father, Russell Johnson, said she knew exactly what came next.

“It was time to go work,” Laina said.

Eight-year-old Laina Johnson of Monessen got Honey and Bear ready for the Fayette County Fair.

For five months, that work meant cleaning pens, feeding, brushing, bathing and walking two market pigs, Honey and Bear, as Laina took on her first 4-H livestock project.

What began with two roughly 20-pound pigs in March eventually took her into the show ring at the Fayette County Fair, where months of early mornings and hours in the barn came down to just a few minutes in front of a judge.

For Laina, of Monessen, the experience was about much more than earning a ribbon.

She learned how to care for an animal, keep records, monitor weight and get up early even when she would rather sleep. She also learned that caring deeply about something can make saying goodbye hurt.

Her father learned a few things, too.

“I did it for my daughter to learn a lesson, but then the lesson I learned was completely different than what I ever thought that I would learn,” Russell said.

Eight-year-old Laina Johnson of Monessen got Honey and Bear ready for the Fayette County Fair.

For him, that lesson was about time and the importance of spending it with his daughter.

Her choice

Laina’s interest in 4-H started at the Fayette County Fair the year before.

Russell and his wife, Nikki, own The Steel Plate, and the family operates a food concession at the fair. That gave Laina plenty of time around the barns and family friends who have spent much of their lives raising and showing livestock.

One of them was Maci Fedor, 14, who had experience with 4-H and farm animals.

After spending time with Maci, Laina told her dad she wanted to raise a pig.

“I didn’t choose to do this,” Russell said. “Laina chose to do this.”

Honey and Bear were kept at D’Isidoro Farms on Curfew Road in Perryopolis, meaning plenty of early morning drives from Monessen before Russell returned home to get

Eight-year-old Laina Johnson of Monessen got Honey and Bear ready for the Fayette County Fair.

ready for work.

What impressed him was that he never had to force Laina to go.

“I never had to fight with her to do the job that she chose,” he said.

Laina began the project March 8. Honey and Bear were market pigs, meaning Laina knew from the beginning they were being raised for food rather than as pets.

At D’Isidoro Farms, Maci became something of a big sister throughout the project. Her parents, Logan Price and Brandi Kurutz, also helped, along with farm owner Debi D’Isidoro.

For Russell, having someone other than Dad doing much of the teaching worked well.

“It wasn’t like she was being taught,” he said. “It was more of she wanted to learn.”

As part of her 4-H project, Laina kept a data book recording the pigs’ weights, feed, shots and worming records.

Eight-year-old Laina Johnson of Monessen got Honey and Bear ready for the Fayette County Fair.

By August, Honey weighed 254 pounds and Bear, the larger male, weighed 272.

Russell estimated they spent at least two hours a day at the farm cleaning pens, feeding and watering the pigs, keeping them cool and teaching them to walk for the show ring.

There were lighter moments mixed into the work.

Honey and Bear learned who was coming through the barn door with belly rubs and baths. If Laina had a doughnut or Pop-Tart for breakfast, she might save some to split between them.

Even while away on vacation, she regularly checked in with her father, who stayed behind to care for the pigs.

“How’s Honey and Bear?” Russell remembered her asking.

To him, it was another sign of how seriously she took the responsibility.

Five minutes in the ring

At the Fayette County Fair, Laina entered the ring with Bear.

She had to guide the pig without a leash and position him so the judge could evaluate the animal from different angles, all while keeping track of the judge and everything happening around her.

Laina was nervous. Months of work had suddenly been condensed into about five minutes.

As the fair continued, though, Russell watched her confidence grow.

In showmanship, Laina finished fifth in her class.

“I did better than I thought that I would do,” she said.

She also helped show cattle from D’Isidoro Farms and earned a reserve grand champion ribbon with a yearling bull.

And cattle are already becoming part of her next chapter.

While Laina was raising Honey and Bear, she spotted a newborn calf in the pasture one day as she and her father were preparing to leave the farm.

She was allowed to name the female calf, which is expected to become part of her next year in the show ring.

Unlike Honey and Bear, the calf won’t be raised as a market animal. Laina will spend the coming months getting it accustomed to a halter and teaching it to walk so she can eventually show it.

For a girl who had never raised livestock before this spring, her first project is already leading directly into another.

She also wants to raise pigs again and is looking forward to returning with more experience.

The hardest lesson

Before there could be a next year, Laina had to finish this one.

Russell had been clear from the beginning about what a market project meant. Honey and Bear weren’t going to become 300-pound pets at the Johnson home.

They were being raised for market.

Laina understood that in March.

By August, it was harder. “It was just a lot of work and a lot of time that you had to put in,” Laina said. “Auction was a little bit, not scary, but sad for me because I put the hard work into the pig.”

Bear was sold through the auction. Honey was later purchased by a buyer and headed to market as well.

For Russell, watching his daughter experience that loss became perhaps the hardest part of the project.

“I could not help her with her pain,” he said.

Then he watched older 4-H members gather around Laina. They had raised animals, become attached and gone through their own auctions. They knew what she was feeling.

“It just created like a little farm family bond,” Russell said.

He had been open with Laina from the beginning about where pork comes from and what raising a market animal meant. But knowing the outcome didn’t prevent either of them from becoming attached.

It was another lesson: Honey and Bear were market animals, but Laina could still love caring for them.

Growing up together

Russell had spent plenty of time around farms before the project, but had never raised livestock himself.

Watching his daughter work gave him a new appreciation for farming and a close-up view of her growing up.

There was math in calculating weight gain, reading and writing in keeping project records and the simple lesson that some jobs have to be done whether a person feels like doing them or not.

Russell said he has seen some of that responsibility carry over at home, including Laina doing a better job of keeping her room clean and putting things away.

“My pigs have taught me that being responsible and working hard are important,” she said.

Russell noticed something else during their hours at the farm: His daughter wasn’t asking for a phone or tablet.

“It was a beautiful thing to watch because she was just completely engaged in something natural,” he said.

For all the lessons about animals, agriculture and responsibility, one of the most important changes happened between Laina and her dad.

They spent hours together that they otherwise wouldn’t have had, from early drives to long mornings in the barn.

He learned to listen to what his daughter was struggling with and how she was feeling. She learned to listen to him, too.

Russell expected the project to teach his daughter about commitment and hard work. What he hadn’t expected was how much he would learn alongside her.

What makes him proudest isn’t the ribbon.

It’s that the project belonged to Laina from beginning to end.

“It just wasn’t something that she had to do because mom and dad or brother or sister or family member was doing it,” Russell said. “It’s something she truly wanted. She put pride into it and I am so proud of her. ”