Grace Curry has been showing hogs since she was 5 years old. And though she’s gained quite a bit of experience in the 11 years since she began, she still wanted to improve. So before this year’s Stanislaus County Fair began, Curry spent two weeks in Oklahoma at two different judging camps, where she learned and practiced new techniques to show her animals.

The investment in time and travel – coupled with her own hard work – paid off handsomely for Curry, who walked away from the county fair last week not only with the top hog but also first place in Advanced Swine Showmanship. It was the second time that Curry – soon to be a junior at Hughson High – earned one of the fair’s top awards (she won Supreme Champion Market Hog in 2022).

“The Stanislaus County Fair is extremely competitive and is one of the hardest fairs in our state to win, so winning Supreme Champion Market Hog in 2022 was such a huge accomplishment,” she said. “However, it has been one of my biggest goals since I was 5 to win Master Showmanship so pulling that off this year is definitely one for the books!”

Showmanship is all about how the handler presents the animal. Curry credits the two camps this summer with increasing her confidence and helping her “get out of my comfort zone and learn how to build connections and that definitely helped this year” when she was showing her 8-month-old, 244-pound Duroc barrow hog. She also reached out to people who show other species for their help and advice on the basics of showing each animal. 

According to her FFA adviser, Curry “was born to show and judge livestock.”

“To win Master Showmanship is not an easy feat,” said Hughson ag teacher Kelly Larson. “Grace puts in hours working with her show pigs. She also donates her time helping other FFA members and 4H members with their showmanship techniques. … Her ability to share her passion for the livestock industry is admirable.”

Curry’s success in Turlock qualified her for the California State Fair, which overlapped with the county fair for a few days – making the logistics of getting her hog from Turlock to Sacramento another challenge for the whole Curry clan.

“My family does a great job in dividing and conquering to make sure my brothers and I can show at both,” said Curry, who finished eighth in the state competition. “This year, my youngest brother and my mom stayed home to sell pigs at the county fair, and they met my other brother my dad and I at State Fair once the sale was over.”

Added Larson: “Grace literally left Wednesday afternoon for State Fair, returned Friday afternoon for Master Showmanship, and then immediately after winning raced back to State Fair.”

Curry’s honor in Master Showmanship continues a family tradition – her mother won the same award at the county fair in 1997.

The other notable takeaway from this year’s fair, according to Larson, was the heat. She said it was “by far” the hottest fair in her 22 years of being involved. Temperatures eclipsed 100 degrees early in the afternoon every day and often soared past 110 – a challenge for students as well as their animals.

“Due to the temperatures being so high late into the evening, we were at the fair later than usual waiting for it to cool off in order to feed the animals,” Larson said. “Luckily, we had donations of water from Valley Tool and some of our parents to help keep our students hydrated. I estimate we went through 75 cases of water.”

Here is a complete list of how the Hughson FFA members did at this year’s county fair:

Swine Barn

*** ***

Grace Curry: Champion FFA Duroc

Lance Curry: Reserve Champion FFA Duroc

Travis Harkrader: Reserve Champion FFA Dark Crossbred

Reserve Champion Chapter Group

Sheep Barn

*** ***

Bryce McDaniel: Reserve Champion FFA Market Lamb

Small Animal Barn

Janet Hill: Supreme Champion Rabbit Meat Pen

Ethan Larson: Outstanding Cavies Exhibitor

Ornamental Horticulture

Sweepstakes Awards

Agricultural Horticulture

*** ***

Sweepstakes Award

Showmanship Results

*** ***

Grace Curry: 1st Place Advanced Swine Showmanship

Lance Curry: 2nd Place Intermediate Swine Showmanship

Kate Cooper: 6th Place True Novice Swine Showmanship

Pearl Bunch: 4th Place True Novice Swine Showmanship

Ethan Larson: 2nd Place Advanced Cavies Showmanship

Eddy Melendez: 1st Place Advanced Cavies Showmanship

Bryce McDaniels: 2nd Place Advanced Sheep Showmanship (advanced to Master Showmanship due to 1st Place winner already competing in 4H Division)

Nyelli Montes: 3rd Place True Novice Sheep Showmanship

Channing Coonce: 5th Place Advanced Beef Showmanship

Chloe Coonce: 6th Place Advanced Beef Showmanship

*** ***

Master Showmanship Results

*** ***

Grace Curry: 1st Place Livestock Master Showmanship Winner (qualified her for 2025 California State Fair representing Stanislaus County in the State Champion Master Showmanship Competition)

Bryce McDaniel: 5th Place Livestock Master Showmanship

Eddy Melendez: 2nd Place Small Animal Master Showmanship