(Radio Iowa) – This year’s “Big Boar” at the Iowa State Fair is the biggest — ever. The crowd at the “Big Boar” competition roared as this year’s winner weighed in and Swine Barn Superintendent Ernie Barnes announced the result. “1420 pounds,” Barnes said. “Congratulations!” That’s 120 pounds above the previous record. Bryan Britt of Monticello raised the big pig.
“I won in ’19 and then in ’21 as well and we were close the record, but I really had my goal set for the record…Back home, I’m know as the big boar guy,” Britt said, with a laugh. Britt, who is Irish, called the boar Finnegan, for good luck.”I’m a pork producer and I’ve been raising pigs all my life. I’ve raised this guy since birth,” Britt said. “For me to break that record…it’s really nice. I couldn’t believe that he was that much heavier.”
While some of the bulked up boars in these types of competitions eat things like donuts and drink milk in addition to about 20 pounds of feed a day, Britt says Finnegan is a finicky eater. Britt is keeping the ingredients in Finnegan’s standard ratios a bit of a trade secret. “I picked him out at birth, thinking he had a big skeleton. You’ve got to feed them right to get them to this size,” Britt says. “It just doesn’t happen overnight.” Finnegan is three and has a taste for what’s sometimes called the Irish champagne.
Bryan Britt of Monticello with Finnegan, the Iowa State Fair’s ‘Big Boar’ (RI photo)
“I’ve given him a Guinness and he seems to like that,” Britt says, with a laugh. Britt likes a pint on occasion as well. There were six other contestants in this year’s “big boar” competition at the State Fair. Britt’s boar weighed nearly 400 pounds more than his closest competitor. “This pig, when he was born, had a big frame and you have to feed them to get the skeletal muscle on them early and you have to let them get a frame before you start really letting them eat all they want to eat,” Britt says. “It’s really hard to get a pig to this size.”
Finnegan will spend the next 10 days in the Swine Barn at the Iowa State Fair, then due to biosecurity measures to prevent the spread of disease, Finnegan won’t return to Britt’s operation, but will spent the rest of his days on another farm nearby.
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