FFA students learn responsibility and hard work at the Kitsap county fair.

SILVERDALE — Kitsap County Fair time is show time for the North Kitsap School District FFA students.

Approximately 25 FFA students are at the grounds to show swine, steer or sheep. The students also man the snocone fundraising booth and the informational display.

The 20 FFA members showing animals received their four-hoofed projects as babies in February and have spent the past six months raising them to a certain quality and weight. Nineteen of the animals will be sold at today’s auction.

On Wednesday it was swine time — and also noise pollution time, as a hog can squeal two decibels louder than a jet engine. And the swine didn’t miss an opportunity to exercise their deafening voice boxes.

Audry Wytko, a rising sophomore at North Kitsap High School and FFA treasurer, is showing a hog — six-month old Tiberious, which weighs 258 pounds — for the first time.

“I’m really lucky because he’s calm and relaxed and doesn’t scream a whole lot,” Wytko said, glancing over at a sleeping Tiberious.

She got her pig in February and thought, “Oh my gosh, what am I getting myself in to?” But he was hers to raise and she and her sister Helen fed him every day. The swine was eventually able to put down four pounds of food each day. Now Tiberious is the perfect weight — not too skinny and not too fat but a quality amalgamation of muscle and meat, as bigger doesn’t always equal better.

When asked her thoughts on Tiberious’ inescapable fate, Audry was stoic, as she’d been preparing for this moment.

“I told myself not to get attached,” she said. Her face breaking into a smile she added, “and I like bacon more than the actual pig. I like bacon. I like ham.”

Chris Wade, a former Kingston High School FFA member who graduated in 2008, added with an air of mischief: “That’s what they all say until the pigs get locked up.”

At auction Wytko is hoping to get $3 to $4 per pound for Tiberious and believes she’ll be able to do so because at the Kitsap County Fair there’s fewer pigs to go around and prices usually reflect the demand. At larger fairs, pigs usually get $2 per pound.

KHS’ FFA Advisor Nancy Rauch said a big incentive for FFA members is to raise market animals so they can make a little extra cash.

Wade is one such individual who’s benefitted from the sale of his animals. This is Wade’s third year to have a pig at the fair — a 289 pound behemoth named Fredrick. Wade said he’s big and a good breed so he should do “fairly well.” Perhaps as well as Wade’s first year when his pig Fred sold for $4.50 per pound, which was very good.

“All the fees and costs to raise a pig are about $250 and I sold Fred for $900,” said Wade who’s set aside his earnings to cover a few of his expenses as a University of Washington freshman.

While the concept of raising an animal for slaughter might be hard for some to stomach, the FFA members get first-hand knowledge and experience of what most simply choose to ignore when going to the store to pick up a few steaks.

For them the whole process is a humbling experience.

“You pretty much raise your own food and you appreciate it more because you take into consideration this is a living creature and it gives its life for you,” Wade said. “The way I justify it, I guess, is it’s a pig’s fate. All I can do is give it the best life it can have before it meets that end.”

In addition to the actual showing and auctioning of animals, the FFA students arrive at the barn no later than 6 a.m. to start the day’s duties.

They clean and feed the animals and make sure the barn is ready for the public.

“One thing they always get awards for is herdsmanship, helping out,” Rauch said. “Our kids are very good at helping out.”

The FFA program entails far more than raising animals for auction. The NKSD students belonging to the nation’s largest youth organization participate in sales and public speaking competitions. They learn leadership and responsibility.

They host community events such as the Fishing Derby, set up tours for agriculture teachers from around the state, and keep the flower pots in downtown Poulsbo looking pretty.

Actually FFA is equivalent to being a full-time volunteer.

“It was like a job, I did it like 40 hours a week,” said Katie Webster, chapter vice president in 2006. “There’s so much to it. There’s a lot to list, but it’s like one big family group that supports each other.”