H i! My name is Hunter Shike. I’m a sophomore at Unity High School and live in Sadorus, Ill. I’ve been showing pigs since I was 4 years old at Team Purebred, National Junior Swine Association and Illinois Club Pig Association events. My parents, Dan and Jennifer, grew up showing livestock and judging livestock. It was an easy decision for them to start us out showing pigs when we were younger. I’m really grateful that they did. I’ve made some great friends around the country showing pigs and it’s been an awesome experience for my sisters, Olivia and Harper, and I to be able to be a part of the junior swine organizations. I was fortunate to exhibit the Grand Champion Market Barrow and Grand Champion Land of Lincoln Market Barrow at the 2023 Illinois State Fair. When Judge Kelton Mason said he was going to do something he’s never done before – name a purebred Spot champion overall – I was in shock. We’ve loved this barrow since the
day we brought him home, but I didn’t expect to beat the crossbreds. Honestly, I was hoping to win Land of Lincoln – that is for purebred livestock born in Illinois. It’s a neat thing our state fair does. Anway, I’ll never forget hearing everyone cheering in the Coliseum and getting bear-hugged by my dad. It was awesome. I think this win is especially meaningful to our family because we have always liked showing purebred livestock. We got our very first pig, a Chester White gilt, from Brandon Yantis, who is the breeder of my Spot barrow. Since that first year, we’ve continued to get purebreds from Brandon and are extremely thankful for all of his mentoring and support over the years. I was really glad when he started getting into the Spots, too. That’s one of the neat things that my dad decided to do early on – try to buy all of our pigs from his former students he coached on the livestock judging team at the University of Illinois. The relationships I’ve developed with some of those breeders like Brandon, Kyle Knauth,
David Ammann, Lee Rincker and Brian Down, have really helped me improve as a showman and stockman. I enjoy livestock judging and think one of the best things that happened to me during the pandemic was getting to spend more time at home looking at our set of pigs. We basically spent all our time in the barn. That extra time with my family just talking about the changes we were seeing in the pigs has helped me see hogs better and learn how to feed them better. I still have a lot to learn but am thankful that showing hogs has helped me become a better livestock evaluator. Someday I hope I get to judge shows. My family decided to add goats and sheep to the barn these past few years. That’s been a great learning experience, too. Dale Hummel and Craig Benoit have been a major help with my goats. They’ve invested a lot of time in helping me get better and I’m grateful for that. Olivia shows the lambs, but I’ve learned a lot from watching her and talking to my uncle Brad Homann and the breeders of the sheep Cruz Nichols and Craig
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