This success story could be best summarized by this overachieving-tinged, overarching theme: The Hammer nailed a national championship with the help of an 11-year-old Hope youngster.
The Hammer — or should that be Ham-mer? — is a 6-month old, 280-pound pig of the Cody and Rikki Hege family. Brody Hege is the Hope Elementary School sixth-grader-to-be who just showed the prized barrow at the recent World Pork Expo 2023 in Des Moines, Iowa.
“This is like winning the World Series,” said mom Rikki Hege.
“Oh, it’s a humongous deal,” said Brody Hege. “It means a lot — an awful lot.”
Also worth mentioning is that fact that 8-year-old sister Andi Hege took third place in the Expo’s Division I for Berkshire gilt.
As big as all this is for the local clan, it may fall short in offering much practical help for The Hammer, despite his winning ways. In the next few weeks, he’ll go from sizzling swine success to sizzling bacon on the Hege breakfast table, even though the family has grown attached to him. Heck, Brody Hege has walked him for 20 minutes per day literally every day at his grandparents’ barn since The Hammer was maybe 30 pounds. And the boy understandably admitted he loves the pig.
“But this is just the circle of life,” said dad Cody Hege, a lifelong farm boy who showed cattle for years. “We’re all aware of that idea from the very beginning.”
Brody Hege is a young man given to straightforward summaries to the most basic of reporters’ queries, such as: Why spend so much time and dedication on such showmanship? He paused for a second as if some silly someone asked him why he breathes.
“It’s because it’s such a fun hobby,” the youngster said, adding that he will also be showing at the Bartholomew County 4-H Fair opening Friday. “Yeah — it’s just a really fun hobby.”
Dad said it’s actually far more than that.
“It definitely teaches kids a sense of responsibility and self worth,” said Cody Hege. “The biggest thing is that if you don’t learn the proper way to work with these pigs, then these pigs won’t learn to work with you.”
And mom pointed out that the family is, well, whole-hog into togetherness.
“I’m still in shock for getting the win,” Rikki said. “We weren’t expecting it and needed something positive for our kids for sure, since my mom is really sick.
“I wasn’t raised showing livestock, so this is all new for me. What I can tell you is the people are amazing and family values are strong.
“I love that we do this hobby as a family and spend so much time together.”
