BROWNSTOWN

While helping clean the swine barn the Monday before the Jackson County Fair starts each year, girls ages 11 to 15 are asked about entering the pork princess contest.

That involves taking a 10-question written test all about pigs.

Each contestant then stands before four members of the Jackson County Pork Producers for a short interview, again testing their knowledge of and experience with pigs and also learning why they want to be pork princess and what they would do to positively impact the swine community.

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Five days later, the girls introduce themselves during the open swine show, and the previous year’s pork princess gives a short speech before announcing the winner.

This year, Kourtney “Kori” Otte, 14, of Seymour took the title.

“I kept second-guessing her. I’m like, ‘Are you sure that’s me?'” the Seymour High School freshman said. “It meant a lot. My cousin tried to do it, and my other cousin, she’s going to start doing it next year along with my sister, so it was like, ‘I’m finally where I am. I’ve always wanted to be here, and I’m finally there.'”

For the remainder of the show that night, she helped hand out ribbons. Then Tuesday, she and the 4-H royalty passed out trophies during the 4-H swine show. The next day, she worked in the FFA building, and Friday, she worked at the pork producers food stand.

“I really like watching the rookies or the kids that are only 3 years old,” she said. “I like watching their faces light up whenever you hand them the ribbons because it’s like they put all of that hard work into that project, so it’s like they are finally being recognized for it.”

Swine Superintendent Terry Melloncamp said the Jackson County Fair has had the pork princess contest since the mid-1990s. He said the Indiana State Fair does it for each of the 10 swine breeds, but the county contest takes all of them into account.

“It’s a good way to find out which girl really knows everything about hogs,” he said.

Mark Spieker, first assistant to the swine department and one of the nine directors of the pork producers, said it allows the girls to display their knowledge of swine and get comfortable doing an interview.

Outside of fair week, Otte said she will attend a pork expo and participate in a couple of parades in the county.

At this year’s fair, she showed six pigs and displayed her photography, aerospace, electricity, gift wrapping and drawing 4-H projects.

This is her sixth year of 4-H, but she started showing pigs in mini 4-H when she was 3.

“My family has always been involved in it,” Otte said. “My aunt and uncle helped me on it a lot. My mom showed them, and I believe my grandma and grandpa showed, too. My two little sisters do 4-H, too.”

At first, she said showing pigs was a little nerve-racking, but she was fortunate to have her aunt and uncle by her side.

“Whenever I was younger, they would let you bring an adult out to show with you so you would get the hang of it,” Otte said. “Eventually, I just lost my nerves, and I’m like, ‘This is a lot of fun.'”

In picking out pigs for the fair, Otte said she looks for characteristics that make them stand out.

“At our fair, they have to be born after Jan. 1, so about around February, they’ll be at least 50 pounds,” she said. “Then we’ll go over to my aunt and uncle’s house, and they’ll have them set up in pens, and we’ll look at them, and he’ll take us in one by one and tell us about what he likes about a certain one. Then we’ll look at them, come up with a decision, check with everybody else and then we’ll finalize it.”

Then comes one-on-one time with the pigs so they are ready for showtime.

“At my aunt and uncle’s, they have a caged-in backyard, so we’ll take them out there and let them run around, see how they interact with the other pigs, and then we’ll try and focus how we’re going to train them on that,” Otte said. “If they are super-easy going, then we know it’s going to an easier one. But my cousin’s Hereford, that thing is so chaotic, so we really had to focus on her to get her to where she is now.”

Taking care of pigs includes feeding them in the morning and at night, working with them a couple of times of day when it’s not hot, cleaning out their pens and watering them.

When it comes time to show off the work she has put into her pigs, Otte said it’s rewarding.

“It’s really, really cool because it’s like you start out with something that has no idea what you’re doing, and you end up with something that could be like the most amazing animal you’ve ever dealt with,” she said. “It’s like whenever you start out with a baby, and then you watch it grow into an adult. It’s kind of the same process.”

Otte said the toughest part is having to say goodbye to her pigs if she chooses to sell them at the fair’s livestock auction.

“I was really close to one of my barrows a couple of years ago and ended up auctioning him off,” she said. “I got a little teary-eyed, but then I was like, ‘I get to start over next year. I get to get close with another animal, and it’s just another relationship that I know I can keep building on even though he’s gone.'”

Otte said she encourages all youth to get involved in 4-H because it has a lot to offer.

“You get to discover yourself. You get to find out what you like,” she said. “4-H teaches you self-love or how to love other people, and it just pushes you to do stuff out of your comfort zone. It’s a lot of fun because you get to meet new people, and you get to find out new skills that you didn’t know you had before.”

When she has children of her own someday, she said she wants them to carry on the family’s 4-H tradition.

“It has taught me money management, organization, perseverance,” Otte said. “It has taught me so many things that have shaped me into the person I am today, and I’m really hoping that my kids or even my sisters get to see what it’s like and get to experience all of the same things that I did.”

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Name: Kourtney “Kori” Otte

Age: 14

Hometown: Seymour

Residence: Seymour

Education: Freshman at Seymour High School

Organizations and activities: Hamilton Hammerheads 4-H Club, FFA, 4-H Junior Leaders, volunteer at Reins to Recovery Inc. Therapeutic Riding Center

Family: Parents, Angela Mousa and Jeff Otte; siblings, Katherine Otte, 11, and Emerson Otte, 7; aunts and uncles, Rachel and Tim Hoevener and Brittany and Mike Hoevener

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