The title of "World’s Largest Male Hog" belongs to a Jackson County swine once again.
Tom, a pig owned by 18-year-old Haley and 13-year-old Dalton Reedy, recently returned home after claiming first place at the Indiana State Fair.
The second-place pig finished around 50 pounds lighter than the four-year-old hog from Freetown, which weighed in at 1,060 pounds.
After Tom hit the scale in Indianapolis, the Reedys waited in suspense for the final results.
They were nervous going into the competition, as Tom had lost 7 pounds since taking the title at the Jackson County Fair.
"At the county fair, they tell (the weight) each time they weigh each pig," Haley said. "At the state fair, they keep it a secret. They put you in a big holding ring, and you wait until they say who wins. We were shocked. It was really exciting."
Haley said she and her brother have raised pigs since around 2010, and a goal always is to bring a pig to the state fair to compete for the title.
At the state fair, barnhands helped take care of Tom. Haley and Dalton returned on the weekends to keep up with their prized pig.
Dalton said the Klosterman family, which brought two gilts and two barrows, had a pen near the Reedys and helped take care of Tom when they weren’t there.
Tom is the first pig the two have brought to the state fair despite competing inside the county for years.
Tickle Me Elmo was the most recent hog to claim the title while representing Jackson County, winning state in 1998 with a weight of 1,150 pounds.
Tom finished second at the county fair in 2018, weighing 761 pounds.
The Reedys said Tom gets fed half a bucket of three times per day.
The hog spent two weeks in Indianapolis for the fair before returning home.
While many people see Tom lying down when they stop by his pen, Haley said he’s pretty active.
"Everyone always asks how we get him so big. People ask if he moves around … and he does," she said. "He chases the cows. He’s in the pasture and eats hay, grass and follows them around."
While the Reedys aren’t sure if they will bring Tom back to the state fair next year, they said he will be in Brownstown for the county fair next July.