For his eighth birthday, Logan Mehling got a box full of show supplies. It got him into the world of showing animals, and the 18-year-old Powell High School graduate has stayed with it ever since.

He’ll be showing his hogs and lambs again this year at the Park County Fair. 

“It’s fun,” he said. “I really like that competitive drive.”

Besides showing at events, he’s been involved in other student agricultural activities. He was an officer for the Powell-Shoshone FFA Chapter for three years, and he was on the livestock judging team for four years. He was also in 4-H.

Mehling said he likes all that goes into raising and showing livestock. Preparing the animals to show takes months. Daily, he gets his sheep on a treadmill to build up their leg muscles. In addition to feeding and cleaning them, Mehling also trains the sheep and hogs how to stand still while the judges examine them.

“I try to get better at it every day,” he said.

Besides showing his sheep, he raises about 30 to 40 breeding ewes, which he sells to other kids who raise and show sheep. 

Mehling said it’s like a part-time job, but he enjoys the work.

“It’s something to do during the summer and a good way to make money,” he said.

Having graduated this year, he’s now getting ready to head off to Black Hawk College in Kewanee, Illinois. He said he chose the college because he wanted to go to school out of state, and he liked their campus. He’s entering an agriculture transfer study program and then he plans to complete a degree in animal science after he transfers.

At Black Hawk, he’ll still be a part of animal shows as a member of the college’s livestock judging team.

Mehling has won a number of awards for his lambs and hogs over the years, but he isn’t quick to talk about his success.

“He’s a hard one to get to talk about his accomplishments,” said Andrea Mehling, his mom, adding that she and his dad, Travis, “are very proud of that because we have tried to raise him to be humble.”

After some coaxing, Mehling provided a list of his awards.

He was the 2018 Championship FFA Sheep Showman at the Wyoming State Fair. At the Park County Fair, Mehling has exhibited the Grand Champion or Reserve Champion Market Lamb every year since 2012, and has been the Champion or Reserve Champion Lamb Showman every year except one.

Mehling also has been the Grand or Reserve Champion Pig Showman multiple times for both 4-H and FFA while exhibiting three Reserve Champion Market Hogs and one Grand Champion Market Hog.

Last year, he exhibited the Reserve Champion Market Hog at the 2019 Wyoming State Fair.

He said he’s most proud of the success he has had with the animals he has raised.