More than just a trophy

After high school, Ryan Duling never imagined a future raising pigs, although it played a significant role in his youth. His parents owned a commercial hog farm in the 1980s, and he raised and showed pigs for 4-H and his FFA supervised agricultural experience project. 

However, following graduation in the summer of 1995, pork prices were a frustratingly low 8 cents per pound. With little incentive to continue and plans to start college in the fall, Ryan sold his 10-sow herd and all his equipment, thinking he was done with raising pigs for good.

“When I sold the last set of fat hogs, I couldn’t even pay the feed bill,” said Ryan. “I didn’t want anything to do with pigs ever again.”

But 30 years later, Ryan and his wife, Mandy, are in the middle of a busy farrowing season on their farm in Neosho County, Kansas, welcoming multiple litters of pigs for the upcoming youth summer show season.

The Dulings, parents of two boys, Jonathan and Tyler, began raising pigs together about 15 years ago. They first purchased two show pigs for Jonathan’s 4-H project but thought it might be more economical to raise the pigs themselves.

“I thought surely it has to be cheaper if we raise them,” Mandy said. “It’s not.”

Growing a dream, pig by pig

They started their breeding operation small, keeping Jonathan’s two show pigs from the previous year.

“We started back from scratch,” Ryan said. “We didn’t have anything; we barely had a barn put up.”

“Our first barn was a carport, and it’s still out there today,” Mandy added.

A few years later, Ryan became the swine superintendent for the Neosho County Fair, but he was disappointed the show had changed significantly since he had participated.

“My junior and senior years in high school, we’d have roughly 100 head of market hogs at our county fair,” Ryan recalled. “But at the time Jonathan started showing, it was down to about 20-25 hogs.”

While he wanted to see more kids involved in raising show pigs, Ryan understood there are often financial barriers to showing.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re showing pigs, cattle, rabbits or chickens, it’s expensive,” he said.

But the Dulings had an idea. Even though their operation was small, they believed they could grow the swine program in Neosho County by raising affordable, show-quality pigs—not just for their kids but also for local youth. Resolute in their goal, their operation expanded over time to support those ambitions, even under tough financial constraints.

“Each year, we added a little bit more to the project,” Mandy said. “Now we have a farrowing barn and a weaning barn.”

Maintaining about 15-20 gilts and sows at a time, the Dulings raise, on average, 20 litters per year, with a winter farrowing season from December-February and a summer season from June-August. While most of their demand is from winter piglets that will be ready in time for the summer show circuit, summer litters can be shown at spring shows in Oklahoma and Texas and a few national shows.

The Dulings run the breeding operation while each working full-time off-farm jobs. Mandy teaches chemistry and human physiology at nearby Chanute High School, and Ryan is an oil and gas compliance officer for the Kansas Corporation Commission. In addition to hogs, Ryan and his father, Mike, run a hay operation and a 120-head cow/calf operation.

Needless to say, enduring their main winter farrowing season is a struggle. The Dulings assist every sow during delivery to mitigate any complications, and just like human babies, piglets arrive at any time of day. When a sow is close to farrowing, Mandy and Ryan take turns checking her every two hours and then wait with her once she shows signs of active labor.

Fortunately, Mandy has a two-week holiday break, and Ryan takes two weeks of vacation during this time. Yet they often must return to work with a few sows due in the coming weeks.

“My kids at school know,” Mandy said. “I usually tell them, ‘Sorry guys, I’ve been up all night in the barn, but we’ve got cute babies to show for it.’”

The years of sleepless nights and hard work eventually paid off. “We’ve been able to grow the fair back to a range of 50 to 70 pigs,” Ryan said. “That’s been a nice increase,” said Ryan. Moreover, a good portion of those were raised by the Dulings. At last summer’s 2024 Neosho County Fair, around 20 of the pigs were bought from them.

Jonathan and Tyler continued to show pigs until they graduated from high school. The experience became a cherished family affair for the Dulings, who traveled to countless competitions in Kansas and surrounding states.

“It’s a great family time. We never took vacations,” Ryan said. “Our vacation was at a show every weekend somewhere.”

They also enjoyed getting to know the community of other show families. “We have made a lot of friends in our show series, adults and kids both,” Mandy said.

Building champions

While increasing the number of pigs at the county fair was initially their goal, the Dulings soon realized a good pig show isn’t always about the numbers. It’s also about the quality of the competition.

“We wanted our county fair to be competitive. I wouldn’t say that it wasn’t competitive when the kids were young, but a lot of families didn’t show anywhere beyond the county fair,” said Mandy. “If you win a show, and there’s been 10 or 15 pigs that were really, really good, it’s so much more exciting than winning because you might have been the only good one there.”

Yet defining a good show pig isn’t easy. The traits judges look for are an ever-changing trend that Ryan often finds exasperating. After many years away from the show circuit, he believed the first two show pigs he purchased for Jonathan were the best pigs he’d ever worked with. Judges at the time didn’t agree.

“My son would say, ‘Well, why ain’t I winning?’” Ryan remembered. “I was trying to buy the style of pigs we were winning with back in the mid-’90s. So, we learned real quickly.”

To produce the best-quality traits, Ryan began researching boars to find the best combination of genetics for each gilt.

“We realized what it takes to be competitive,” Mandy said. “And we’ve tried to increase those genetics as the years go by.”

Ultimately, the Dulings said they want their customers to have success beyond local shows.

“That’s been our biggest goal the last five years, to raise quality pigs that could be competitive, not only at the local county fair but also in spring shows at the state and national level,” Mandy said.

For the Dulings, choosing competitive genetics is straightforward. While desirable show pig traits can vary from a leaner look to a fully rotund hog, Ryan said he always looks for good structure first.

“They have to be correct from the ground up,” he explained. “They have to be able to walk, and they have to be able to move. If I can start with that, then I can build whatever trend is winning shows.”

Outside of the ring, good genetics also help ensure a less-complex feeding program, helpful to a novice competitor, Ryan said. “I don’t want to have to add buckets, after buckets, after buckets of additives to get them looking good,” he said.  

The feeding program Ryan uses and recommends to his customers is centered around MFA’s Ring Leader line, formulated specifically for show nutrition, performance and appearance. He starts by feeding the sows the Ring Leader Gestation and Lactation Meal. Piglets start the weaning period with Swine Starter 1 and then move on to Swine Starter 2.

“We’ve had great success with the Ring Leader,” Ryan said. “It’s a feed that will get you to the point where you need to be.”

For several years, the Dulings have worked with Greg Davis, MFA livestock specialist, to develop the most effective nutritional program for their pigs. Davis said his main selling point for Ring Leader rations are their high palatability. The pigs like to eat it, he said, and it’s easy to digest. Additionally, MFA’s Shield Technology, designed to enhance an animal’s health and immune system, helps the pig receive more benefits from the nutrition.

“Ring Leader gives the pigs a look of fresh, youthful growth,” Davis said.

The Dulings said they also enjoy that Ring Leader products allow them to be competitive while also being economical.

“You have to find a feed that does what you want it to do, but it’s also in your budget,” Mandy said. “And Ring Leader has been good for us.”

After many years of searching for the best feeding program, Ryan shares the lessons learned with his young, inexperienced customers, whom he often continues to advise after the sale.

“His goal is ultimately to help show kids get that knowledge base as quickly as possible so they can be as competitive as possible at a young age,” said Mandy. “That’s where your success comes in. If they enjoy the project when they’re young, they’ll want to continue it as they get older.”

Raising a legacy

One of those kids is Chellby Cosby, the Dulings’ niece, who graduated from high school last year. As a toddler, she began showing pigs by tagging along to shows with Jonathan and Tyler. While this will be her last year showing at the county 4-H level, she values the experience she’s learned in the ring.

“My favorite thing about showing is the friends that you make along the way and the responsibility that you learn from doing it. It has really taught me a lot over the years,” said Chellby, who is studying human biology at the University of Kansas with the goal of becoming a heart surgeon.

These days, the Dulings are now empty nesters. Their oldest, Jonathan, has since married and lives nearby, while Tyler currently works out of state. Their youngest son had originally wanted to take over the family business, but Mandy and Ryan are still motivated to keep it going themselves.

“It’s our way to stay active in the community and keep close with friends that we’ve made all over the country,” Ryan said.

“And give back,” Mandy added. “Our county has a lot of good kids, and we want to ensure they have quality, competitive pigs.”

For more information on Duling show pigs, contact Ryan Duling at 620-432-1640 or rmduling@gmail.com.

For more information on Ring Leader feeds, visit with your MFA solutions provider or online at mfa-inc.com/show-feeds.

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Read the article as printed in the flipbook version of Today's Farmer Magazine: http://mfa.uberflip.com/i/1531823-feb-2025-tf/0?

Read more from this issue here: Feb 2025 Today's Farmer Articles 

LINK TO RING LEADER SHOW PIG DIET: https://mfa-inc.com/products/feed/show-feeds