Lexi Marek with her champion pig. Contributed photo

Philip, a pig from Washington County, who claimed the Grand Champion FFA Market Hog title this year at the Iowa State Fair broke records over the weekend. The calico barrow was shown by Washington High School alum Lexi Marek, who is a current student at Iowa State University. The pig was part of the 2016 sale of champions at the state fair and broke the all-time record for any species, bringing in $53,000. He broke the record by $12,000 which was set in 2013. Iowa Select Farms purchased Philip with $16,550 in local support.

Also, Taylor Brinning’s reserve champion 4-H market steer of Keota and McKenna Brinning’s reserve champion FFA market hog of Keota were in the sale of champions, selling for $17,500 and $32,000 respectively.