Minnesota's biggest boar hails from Hutchinson

By Janet Kubat Willette
jkubat@agrinews.com

Date Modified: 09/20/2012 9:38 AM

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FALCON HEIGHTS, Minn. — Cornhog doesn't like city water.

Jim Dostal, a Hutchinson farmer, was trying to coax the 5-year-old, 1,200 pound crossbred boar to drink more water by putting fresh ears of corn — his favorite treat — into his water pan at the Minnesota State Fair.

Cornhog is the state's biggest boar. His father, Corn Dog, was the state's biggest boar back in 2006. It's the first father-son biggest boar in the state's history, Dostal said.

Dostal wore a blue cap denoting Corn Dog's honor and Star Tribune sunglasses as he stood in a corner of Cornhog's pen visiting with fair-goers. It's fun to talk with them, he said.

One man suggested Dostal bring water from home for the hefty hog. Dostal figures he will do that when he returns to the fair. He'll be there a couple days this week before returning on Labor Day to bring Cornhog home.

"I'd like to be there everyday," Dostal said, but he has chores to do. While he's away, young people working at the Oink Booth tend Corn Dog.

This is the 60th year Dostal has attended the fair. He won his first trip with a Duroc gilt when he was 10 years old. He didn't show hogs after his 4-H days, but liked being back with Corn Dog in 2006.

He stayed with Cornhog until 6 p.m. on opening day, making sure the hog was adjusted to his temporary home and answering questions.

Many fair-goers wondered if there is a special way to raise the state's biggest boar. Dostal said it's just keeping the hog a little longer, though he admits that Cornhog likes the used cooking oil from their food concession trailer mixed with his feed ration. They sell a lot of corn dogs and fries from their trailer and they go through a fair amount of cooking oil. When mixed with their rations, the hogs come running.

Another fair-goer wanted to know how they loaded Cornhog for the trip. He walked right onto the trailer, Dostal said.

Others wondered if the hog would ever get up.

Cornhog was stressed by the trip, Dostal said, and a little hot becaue they were stuck in traffic for 45 minutes. He wanted out of the trailer, Dostal said. A big fan helped cool him and make him comfortable.

When Cornhog decided it was time to get up, phones came out for photos. Dostal steered him toward his water dish where Cornhog found the ear of corn and started to feast.

A few people were skeptical that the hog weighed in at exactly 1,200 pounds, but that was the case according to the scale at the grain elevator in Hutchinson, Dostal said.

He weighed Cornhog on Aug. 6 and was notified by fair officials that he had Minnesota's Biggest Boar on Aug. 20. The news left him with just two days to get ready for the fair.

Dostal can't bring Cornhog back to the state fair since he has already won top honors, but he hopes to continue feeding the hog and hopefully take him to the McLeod County Fair next year. He'd like to get him up to 1,500 pounds.

Corn Dog went to the McLeod County Fair four times after being named the state's biggest boar. He died just two weeks before the 2011 county fair at age 12.

Does Cornhog have a desendent who might be back at the state fair in a few years?

We'll have to wait and see, but Dostal does have three granddaughters of Cornhog with little pigs.