Zade Jennings back at fair to show winning livestock

Jennings is familiar with the mishaps of the job, but it's a job he's mastered it at a young age.

The livestock competitions are annually among the most popular attractions at the state fair.

"You get to come out here and place high in the stakes, then you know you're good," Katherine Eastep, a 13-year-old competitor, said. "Even if you don't do well he's going to tell you some things that you can do better so you can improve."

Jennings is among dozens of competitors showing their animals in the livestock area of the fairgrounds, all of which are North Carolina born and bred.

"First thing I do is, I go and show my pig," Jennings said. "I put it back in the pen and then go back out and show it."

For the second consecutive year, Jennings took home the top prize with his pig, Charlotte Supreme Jr. as the breeding gilt champion.

Last year Jennings showed his meat goat at the fair and was named the grand champion. The goat was later purchased by Iron Horse Auction Company in the Sale of Champions with a winning bid of $10,000.

"It's something we do as a family, so we get that that time together," Jennings' father, Brent, said. "That means a lot to us at home, much like kids playing sporting events. They do it together as a family, but we show livestock as a family."