Hometown: Farmland, IN
Occupation: I work on my family's farm, Shaffer Goldrush. I also am a mom to Cooper & Dylan.
What is your background in the swine/livestock industry?
I grew up on my family's swine farm. It is all I have really ever known. My grandpa started our family farm back the 1960's with a few Duroc sows and over the years our family farm has grown and evolved. Growing up, our farm, called Shaffer Superior Genetics at the time, focused on breeding and raising commercial breeding stock. When I was younger, I road thousands of miles with my dad delivering boars and gilts across the midwest along with following him around doing day to day chores. Over time as the industry changed so did the farm. When I was a freshman in high school, my FFA SAE project was raising show pigs to sell. At the time the farm sold some show pigs but it was not a main focus. That was the jump start to what we do today. The farm also had a boar stud, called Shaffer Goldrush that sold both commercial and some show pig semen for many years. Fast forward to today, Shaffer Goldrush focuses on the show pig industry, having over 90 boars in stud and 150 sows.
I attended Purdue University and graduated in 2009 with a degree in Animal Agribusiness. While at Purdue, I was on the 2008 Livestock Judging Team. I am a past member of the NJSA Youth Advisory Board and the current Secretary of the Indiana Duroc Association.
Outside of raising pigs, growing up we ran 15 to 30 ewes and even had a few cattle over the years.
How did you get started?
My family has always had a love for show pigs. I hit the show ring for the first time when I was 4 or 5 years old. That was just the start of the passion I have for the show pig industry. I was a 10 year 4-H member showing at both our county fair and the Indiana State fair. I was older when the IJSC started and attended many jackpot shows on the circuit. Lynsee and I attended our first NJSA show in Louisville the early 2000's and that was just the start of our involvement and love for this awesome organization.
What are some likes or dislikes you have?
Likes:
-An intense showman who is also calm, cool, and collected at the same time
-When a showman comes into the ring and gives me their all for the 10 second or so first look and then goes and gets out of the way while the rest of the showman come into the ring. Being kind to your fellow showman and giving them the space for the first 10 seconds is pretty awesome.
-Showman who find the hole in the ring and make themselves stand out among the crowd.
Dislikes:
-When we are at the start of class and everyone is getting that first look as showman are coming out one at a time from the holding pens and you keep driving your pig in between me and the showman that is coming out. This drives me nuts (hint, hint!).
-Being too aggressive and over using your whip.
-Bad attitudes in the ring.
Brush or Towel?
Brush
Favorite Food or Restaurant?
I do love me some dumplings from Cracker Barrel but that is closely followed by the Daniella Special at the El Carreton Mexican Restaurant in Winchester, IN (if you are ever in the area, give that place a try!) I also can't leave out chocolate moose track ice cream!
Favorite Sports Team
Any team that Cooper and Dylan are playing on and Purdue Basketball! Boiler Up!
Favorite Song or Band
Zach Williams
Favorite Stock Show Trip
This may be the toughest question to answer! I have a lot of trips that are a contender for my favorite stock show trip over the years. When I was showing, one of my most favorite memories and trips was the year Warren Beeler was judging showmanship at the World Pork Expo and I was named Champion Senior Showman - that was such a high honor.
As a judge one of my most favorite trips was judging the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto. The show's culture, how they ran the pig show (you placed the pigs but you also gave each pig a number 1-100 and then that number along with their carcass data went into a formula to name the Champion Overall), and the strong history of the show made it fun to be part of. |
