Partnering with passion: OSU Swine Unit assists with annual Oklahoma Pork Partners Derby
Wednesday, May 21, 2025
Media Contact: Sophia Fahleson | Digital Communications Specialist | 405-744-7063 | sophia.fahleson@okstate.edu
The responsibility of caring for an animal, anticipation before hitting the show ring, and bittersweet feeling of saying goodbye are all things students experience when exhibiting livestock.
The annual Oklahoma Pork Partners Derby allows Oklahoma youth the opportunity to exhibit swine, obtain experience with animal care, and explore career opportunities in the pork industry, said Kylee Deniz, executive director of the Oklahoma Pork Council.
For two years, the Pork Partners Derby has provided swine projects for sixth to 12th-grade students who have never exhibited livestock. The Pork Partners Derby is supported by the Oklahoma Youth Expo, the Oklahoma State University Swine Unit, the Oklahoma Pork Council and the Oklahoma FFA Association.
“The goal of the Pork Partners Derby is to help bridge the gap between the show pig and the commercial pork industry to support pork production in a positive and correct manner,” said Jim Coakley, OSU swine herd manager. “The OSU Swine Unit produces and provides all of the pigs supplied to exhibitors participating in the program.”
The Pork Partners Derby consists of two events: the orientation draft and the Derby Show, said Justin Crosswhite, OSU Extension youth livestock specialist. The orientation draft is where students receive their barrows; this year, around 50 barrows were provided to students.
“The OSU Swine Unit breeds and farrows the sows, performs castrations, gives vaccinations, cares for the pigs through weaning, and then sorts them for the draft day,” Coakley said. “The draft supplies students with purebred Hampshires, Yorkshires and crossbred barrows.
“I would like to provide mainly purebred hogs in the future because it symbolizes the OSU Swine Unit,” he added. “It also allows exhibitors the opportunity to exhibit in the purebred show, which coincides with OYE.”
The orientation draft occurs during the last week of October at the Totusek Arena in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
The morning of the draft includes multiple educational sessions about a variety of topics pertaining to the students’ projects. This helps teach the exhibitors how to take care of their animals properly, Crosswhite said.
“During the draft, students learn basic livestock evaluation skills from the OSU livestock judging coach, Parker Henley,” Coakley said. “Additionally, a veterinarian comes to explain biosecurity and animal health. Scott Carter, animal and food sciences professor, provides a swine nutrition workshop, and I explain how to perform daily care and showmanship skills.”
Students also build communications skills by networking with others at the draft, Coakley added.
The Oklahoma Pork Council provides a session on draft day about careers in the pork industry.
“During this, the students take an online career quiz to match them with pork industry roles that align with their strengths and interests,” Deniz said. “This interactive and eye-opening exercise introduces students to potential career paths they may have never considered.
“These students are now a part of the pork industry, and we hope they will consider seeking pork industry career opportunities to stay within it,” Deniz said.
Throughout the draft, exhibitors receive instructions on how to participate in the Derby Show, Deniz said.
After the educational sessions, the students have time to view their pigs and receive instructions on how to access registration papers.
Before being sent home with the youth, the barrows receive vaccinations. The students receive a bucket, a brush and a bag of show feed supplied by several sponsors, Crosswhite added.
“To sign up for the draft, students must pay a $250 fee and email an application to Oklahoma FFA with a parent’s and an educator’s signature,” Crosswhite said. “In 2025, the Oklahoma Pork Council paid this fee for exhibitors.”
The draft system is randomized, and a selection order is established. Students receive their draft number when they register the morning of draft day.
“Following the draft, students are free to exhibit their animals throughout the show season and do what they want with their projects,” Crosswhite said. “Barrows in the Pork Partners Derby are also eligible for the selection of county or district premium sales if they are not terminal.
“Exhibitors are then allowed to compete in the Derby Show at OYE in mid-March,” he said.
The Pork Partners Derby Show takes place during the market show week at OYE.
“These pigs will show in the Pork Partners Derby Show, and they are also allowed to show in OYE and in the purebred shows if they are a registered breed,” Crosswhite said. “The classes in the Pork Partners Derby Show are divided by weight. However, there are no overall restrictions.”
Students also exhibit their projects in the weight-per-day-of-age and average-daily-gain contests that make up the performance competition, Crosswhite said.
The Pork Partners Derby consists of the show, showmanship, performance, carcass data, recordkeeping and a knowledge test, Deniz said. Exhibitors in the Pork Partners Derby have a specific check-in process, Deniz added.
“The knowledge test is also conducted during the Pork Partners Derby,” Deniz said. “This test includes production information and facts around the pork industry.”
Prior to the Derby Show, the students must bring their pig to the ring for an ultrasound scan to collect, the live placing and showmanship, Deniz said. Showmanship will be scored individually in each class, Deniz added.
“During the ultrasound scans used to collect carcass data, students can actually see the ultrasound image on the screen,” said Scott Nemecek, Oklahoma FFA adviser.
Crosswhite does a great job explaining to the students where specific carcass parts are and how they are measured, Nemecek added. Even the adults were intrigued because they do not often see the carcass side of things, he said.
“The results from the categories are then tabulated together, and the top 10 exhibitors go through an interview process,” Deniz said. “We try to give out as many of the awards as possible in the ring as the show is ending. During the market grand drive night, we notify the overall winners. Some of the awards include banners, specialty items, money and additional premiums managed by OYE.”
Barrows exhibited in the Pork Partners Derby can receive premiums but are not put in the sale order, Deniz said. After the Derby Show, students can take their animal home with them, Crosswhite said.
“These events are meant to engage students past the show ring and allow students to gain all of the benefits they can from taking care of an animal,” Crosswhite said. “Simply being around other exhibitors and gaining the satisfaction of caring for a pig can help lead a student to become interested in this industry. Being exposed to the various tasks and contests can also lead a student to being interested in an area.”
When the Oklahoma Pork Partners Derby was started, the idea was to provide a way for students who were unable to show livestock to do something beyond a livestock show, Nemecek said.
“This is a great way for students to get experience with animal agriculture and a project that requires them to have responsibility,” Nemecek said. “Students can gain a lot of employability skills from having a livestock project, particularly this one, because there is opportunity to see things beyond just exhibiting the animal.”
Sponsors plan to continue the Oklahoma Pork Partners Derby for years to come, Nemecek said.
“We are continuing to learn as we go, but we will continue to support and fundraise to make the program approachable for first-time students,” Deniz said. “To make sure the students are deeply connected to the industry, we have also talked about doing an industry trip to take students to a large commercial farm in the future.”
The partners of the Oklahoma Pork Partners Derby hope to spread awareness and interest to eventually have a pig per county exhibited in the event, Deniz said. Having strong interest and support can help develop further opportunities within this program and help students become more exposed to the pork industry, Deniz added.
“We have to promote these students, and the program has to be all about them,” Coakley said. “If we give them a pig, we can incorporate production into their experiences.
“We hope this results as a benefit to the commercial side as well as the show side while also fostering the importance of growing good kids with good values,” Coakley said. Participants must not have shown any species previously and must be a 4-H or FFA member from sixth to 12th grade.
Oklahoma Pork Partners Derby
Eligibility and Rules
- Participants must not have shown any species previously and must be a 4-H or FFA member from sixth to 12th grade.
- Participants will be selected through an application process. Priority will be placed on one participant per county.
- Selected participants must attend the orientation and pick up their pig with a parent and an agricultural education teacher or 4-H educator.
- A project record report must be kept and submitted by March 1.
- Pigs are tagged and nominated at draft day. Participants must enter their pigs through the OYE entry procedure. Premiums will be awarded in each class.
- Participants must follow all rules applying to OYE swine entries and shows. Entries must be submitted by the OYE entry deadline.
- Each pig will be weighed at OYE for the weight-per-day-of-age and average-daily-gain contests.
- There will be no maximum weight for the Derby Show. Derby pigs may be shown in the regular OYE swine classes; however, the pigs must meet the weight requirements of the barrow divisions to be shown in OYE.
- Exhibitors will be scored on showmanship during their class in the Derby Show. Awards and premiums will be given to the top five exhibitors in Derby Show placings, performance, project recordkeeping, showmanship, a knowledge test and carcass data.
- The top 10 exhibitors from combining the above areas will then go through an interview
process to establish the top five overall winners.
Story by Mckenzie Layton | Cowboy Journal