Organizers of Hog Days in Brandon in December removed a day and it became Hog Day instead of Hog Days. While I wasn’t able to go, those people who for years have exhibited found coming out and setting up for just one day a little short. The costs are the same for a day and half as for one day and it gives a little more time to do business.
Hog Days for years have alternated between Winnipeg and Brandon with different organizing committees. However, it is a tribute to the staying power of this industry to keep it going through the extreme devastation of the industry over the last five to seven years. I for one kept wondering when the industry would pull the plug on this very worthwhile show, with the hog numbers dropping, but somehow it kept going. Now this year with hog prices better and demand continuing strong, I thought it was too bad for cutting it back by half a day.
Publisher Laurie Brandly adds, “ there was a strong turn out for the one day show. Weather was better then some years in the past, at the Prairie Hog Country booth we had consistant traffic flow throughout the day.”
However, the pork competition remains strong, a highlight of the original Hog Days at both Brandon and Winnipeg. A Brandon area Hutterite Colony has claimed the top award at the 2013 Hog Days Brandon Pork Quality Competition.
This year’s top winners included Spring Valley Colony near Brandon with the Champion carcass, Barickman Colony near Cartier placing second and Rolling Acres Colony near Eden taking third.
The competition had 34 pork carcass entries from 17 Manitoba Hutterite Colonies.
Dr. Bob McKay, one of the judges of this year’s competition, says the quality of entries is going up every year.
“We have the basic measures of fat depth, loin depth and weight that determines the index which determines index points and yield points,” says McKay. “We look at the hog carcass weight itself to see if they’re too heavy or too light. It’s basically like Goldilocks, if you remember the story. This bed is too soft, this bed is too hard, this bed is just right.
We want the carcasses in the just right category for weight.”
The man who judges the competition says they look at the meat quality measures of Minolta color score which is an objective measure color score, texture, marbling which is the degree of intramuscular fat in the meat.
“We look at three scores in the belly, the texture, the ratio and the distribution, we look at the loin eye area and that’s pretty much it for this evaluation,” says McKay. “This is probably the first year where the lowest score was over 50 points out of 100.
In the past we’ve had disqualifications that have taken down the scoring quite a bit but this is the first one that I can recall of all the shows I’ve done, whether it’s Winter Fair or Hog Days, where we’ve had everybody over 50 points.”
Another highlight of the show is the Make and Bake Contest, organized by Helen Waldner. Four judges has some tough choices to make, to select the top option in six categories. Breads, cakes & cupcakes, cheesecakes, cookies, jams & jellies and pies. Four ladies took top honours; Cindy Wurz of Oak River Colony placed first in both pies and cheesecakes, while Maryann Mandel from Fairholm placed first in breads, cookies was won by Melody Waldner of Baker Colony and Barb Waldner from Acadia captured first in both cakes and jams & jellies. Each of these ladies received plaques commemorating their placings. •
— By Harry Siemens