Steve Malcolm hadn’t even weighed in his hogs when he got the phone call about a different victory: a grand-champion finish for one of his other hogs.

And considering the call came Tuesday, on the first day of the Allen County Fair, it was a good way to start the week.

Few in the swine barn Tuesday afternoon would have argued that the four hogs Malcolm’s children, Jordan and Spencer, are showing this year are serious contenders for the top spot.

But the other competitors weren’t throwing in the towel early.

The win Tuesday afternoon came at the Whitley County Fair and added one more victory for the Malcolm farm. Now with a third generation running the show-hog circuit, this prize swine breeder has risen to prominence in one of the most competitive livestock contests at the Allen County Fair.

The fair runs through Sunday at the Allen County Fairgrounds, 2726 Carroll Road.

For three generations, the Malcolms have been showing hogs at the Allen County Fair, to varying degrees of success.

It was not until the mid-1990s that Steve and his brother Phil became a force in local swine circles.

In 10 years of showing his father’s market hogs, Steve said he can remember coming in last or near the bottom most times.

Now the Malcolm brothers focus on raising high-quality hogs for showing and breed stock. Their spring auction draws crowds of buyers – many of whom buy Malcolm pigs for their children to show in 4-H fairs across the state.

Jerry Hammon, Allen County Fair Board chairman, said he can remember competing against Steve and Phil Malcolm when they were youngsters.

He doesn’t quite remember the failures as Steve Malcolm does, but he said their reputation has grown over the years.

This year, hogs from the Malcolm farm, which is outside Huntertown, have taken prizes in Wayne, Rush, Delaware, Adams and Whitley counties, Steve Malcolm said. And with about 30 of their pigs in the Allen County Fair among at least 150 competitors, their farm has a good chance of coming up with a win in their home county, too, Hammon said.

“Everybody knows Malcolms have good hogs,” he said.

Now Jordan Malcom, 16, and her 15-year-old brother, Spencer, represent the fourth generation in a family of prize-winning 4-H kids.

Jordan gently and deliberately guided her 325-pound Hampshire named Nightmare up to the weigh-in scales with nothing more than a few taps from a length of water-line PVC pipe.

She said she can hardly imagine spending her free time doing anything other than training hogs.

“I’d sleep with them if they’d let me,” she said.

mzennie@jg.net