Faces of the Valley: Plum teen Trevor Walling enjoys time raising pigs, entering them in Butler Farm Show

Plum freshman Trevor Walling is not afraid of knowing how the sausage is made.

He is responsible, after all, for generating many pounds of it on Burton Farm, not far from his home.

Trevor, 14, raises pigs as part of a livestock program with Butler County 4-H — a nonformal educational youth development program overseen nationally by the United States Department of Agriculture.

In Pennsylvania, 4-H is administered by Penn State Extension.

“It has been amazing,” Trevor said about his time on Burton Farm. “Most people do sports and that stuff, but this is like my sport and the thing that I do because I enjoy raising and learning about animals. It’s a way to hang out with people through the 4-H and share the love of animals that I have.”

His love of the animals shines through even though he understands the end game is for the animals to provide food for people.

Amy Metrick, a 4-H educator, said there are 300 youths ages 8 to 18 in the Butler County program.

More than half of the 4-H participants have some type of animal project, whether it’s pigs, sheep, dairy cattle, goats, rabbits or horses.

Metrick said Trevor is among a handful of Allegheny County youths to cross county lines to participate in the livestock program.

“What kid doesn’t like animals?” she said. “I think that’s part of it. They also see their friends doing it. We’re growing great kids in Butler County. It is a great thing for kids to make lifelong relationships and learn life skills.”

Kids have to keep a record of their animals as part of the program, including how much they weigh, create a budget and identify goals.

Trevor’s parents, Matthew and Kristin Walling, said they are proud of their son and support his interests.

Matthew Walling loves seeing the look on other people’s faces when talking about Trevor’s activities.

“You tell somebody that your 14-year-old is raising animals on a farm, it opens a lot of eyes because it is a different responsibility,” he said. “(Many) 13-year-olds, 14-year-olds don’t want to come to a farm in 100-degree weather and go out there and take care of animals.

“They’d rather be playing a sport or sitting at home on a video game. … He’s seeing and experiencing life that is vital.”

Trevor’s parents could see something like this brewing inside his mind at a very young age.

“When he was 3, we had a petting zoo at our house for one of our birthday parties,” Kristin Walling said. “He just has loved animals his whole life. When your kid loves something, you try to find (a way to do it).”

Burton Farm owner Jim Burton has emus, goats, chickens, sheep, ducks, turkeys, horses and more on his land.

“It’s a long list,” Burton said. “My parents bought this farm in June of 1969, and I was born in September of 1969.”

Burton said he treats Trevor like a nephew and has a lot of respect for him, even if his work area is a pigsty.

“I like to see kids be passionate about the animals,” Burton said. “He’s very passionate about this. He enjoys it. I don’t have any children of my own. None of my nieces and nephews wants to do it. When I found a kid that would be interested in doing it, I was willing to take him in and let him experience this life. I don’t mind being a weird uncle.”

Trevor raised two pigs this year, Frankenswine and the Notorious PIG, which were born Jan. 21.

They grew from 8 pounds to more than 270 pounds in just eight months.

“They’re like a dog,” Trevor said. “They’re very smart, and I’ve just liked (pigs) ever since I was little.

“I feed them. I walk them. I clean them. I clean their stalls, and I raise them and prepare them for the big show in August. You get to enjoy them and you get to show them how to walk and things like that, and train them for my showmanship class.

“I’ve learned responsibility for keeping my animals alive and healthy.”

He said the most challenging part of raising animals is building the fencing around them and stacking hay. The most enjoyable aspects are watching them be born and bottle feeding.

The culmination of months of hard work for many 4-H participants is the Butler Farm Show, where students get to exhibit their animals and show how they take care of them.

At the farm show, youths compete by walking their pigs in a ring to show how much control they have over them in front of judges.

The pigs are then walked again in a separate competition for market value, in which professionals evaluate them by looks and on bone-to-muscle ratio.

Trevor successfully took Notorious PIG to market and made about $1,120.

Frankenswine weighed in five pounds over the 300-pound show threshold and was unable to compete. He will be used for breeding next year’s pigs.

Last year’s pigs, Piggy Smalls and Pig Kahuna, each went to market and made Trevor a total of more than $2,000.

Trevor also won a ribbon for the cleanest pen at the show.

Burton said everyone could benefit from spending time on a farm.

“You will learn where your food comes from,” he said. “You’ll learn the knowledge of what it takes to raise an animal, how much work and effort goes into growing meat or vegetables.”

It is that knowledge that helps to keep Trevor’s emotions in check when raising his pigs from birth, knowing their ultimate fate will be to end up on a plate.

“You should look at it as, ‘This is what the animal’s purpose is,’ ” he said. “This is why this animal exists. If you look at it with that mindset, it’s a lot easier to understand.”

The new school year has begun. Trevor is enrolled in several honors classes.

He said his time spent on Burton Farm during the school year will not impact his high school studies.

“School is structured and the farm is formed around it,” he said.

Trevor said he hopes to run a farm when he gets older.