(La Porte, IN) - His parents have never farmed, and he lives in the city, but the 4-H youth from La Porte is a county fair champion at showing animals and making homemade desserts.

 

Nathan Baima, 18, hopes to add a few more top prizes to his resume in his last year of competing at the LaPorte County Fair. The 10-year 4-H member is in his final year of eligibility in the program.

 

He gets a little emotional just thinking about the fair being his last one in 4-H.

 

"It's going to be tough. Not having to do it for next year is going to be weird," Baima said.

 

Baima has dived headfirst into 4-H, showing dairy cows and pigs from the beginning and sheep last year. He owns four pigs kept at the farm of family friends ten miles away in Mill Creek. His dairy cows and sheep belong to other farmers in Mill Creek and are 15 miles from his home near Michigan City.

 

Practically every day after school, Baima drives to each farm to feed and train the animals for show. He also does chores like cleaning out barns, building new pens, and milking, occasionally, to have access to the dairy cows and sheep.

 

In what little of his spare time is left, Baima still manages to keep up on his school work and relax at home with his dog, a beagle and basset hound mix.

 

"I somehow manage to squeeze it in between school and other activities," Baima said.

 

Baima said his love for farm animals and watching them grow help keep him going. He also enjoys the lifestyle and the company of his cousins, who allowed him to use four of their sheep for show.

 

"It adds a little variety to my life," Baima said, "it gets me out to a different farm and gets me closer to my family."

 

Last year, his Jersey cow was awarded "Best of Show" at the fair, and his display of family pictures taken at home during Christmas was Grand Champion in scrapbooking. His Dutch Apple pie and cinnamon bread have also been declared Grand Champions at recent fairs.

 

Baima said his older sisters, Brooke and Taylor, were also in 4-H, got him interested in showing farm animals, and taught him to bake and cook well enough to prepare meals, occasionally, for his family.

 

Joining 4-H wasn't a hard sell for Baima, who liked agriculture early in his childhood from visits with family friends at their farms.

 

"I've just been around farm animals like my whole entire life," Baima said.

 

He said one of the most significant benefits of his experience in 4-H is the leadership skills he had developed from doing things like helping younger members in the program with their projects, just like older 4-H members did for him when he was starting.

 

After graduating from LaPorte High School, he plans to attend a 44-week course in welding at Lincoln Tech College in Indianapolis and possibly become a union welder. Baima was first exposed to welding during a Future Farmers of America-sponsored agriculture class in high school. He's been a member of FFA during his four years in high school.

 

Baima hasn't earned any top prizes yet for showing pigs and sheep but is working the animals harder this year to try and end his time in 4-H on a high note. He has no complaints about his time in 4-H, though, regardless of the outcome.

 

"I'm aiming for it, but if I don't get it, it doesn't bother me," he said.