With the help of over forty FFA members, Itty Bitty turned out to be not so itty bitty.

Itty Bitty is a big boar that the FFA chapter purchased from a local farmer in the spring. The group showed Itty Bitty in the Big Boar contest at the State Fair and beat the competition with a final weight of 1,163 pounds.

Once they owned the boar, he needed a name.

“We all came together at a meeting to pick out a name,” Demmer said. “We all kept throwing out ideas, and Itty Bitty just stuck.”

In preparation for the State Fair, Tehya Demmer (12) and Hailey Hellmann (11) created a sign up sheet. Members signed up and took turns taking care of the boar.

“Forty-four members came together to take care of Itty Bitty,” Demmer said. “Each person took turns doing chores for two consecutive nights.”

Chores included feeding Itty Bitty 16 pounds of feed a day and scratching him.

On Aug. 9, FFA members filed into two vans, loaded Itty Bitty into a trailer and headed to Des Moines for the competition.

“Everybody was helping to make sure Itty Bitty was ready to show that day,” Kody Wenger (12) said. “People were feeding him, scratching him, and trying to make him comfortable.”

When it came time for the show, all the members gathered near the scale.

“I saw the judge’s eyes get really big, and I knew it was going to be close,” Wenger said. “Then he announced that Itty Bitty was the winner, and it was such a cool feeling.”

FFA members cheered and celebrated.

“Everyone was so excited when Itty Bitty won,” Demmer said. “He wouldn’t have won without the help of all of the members.”