This year's Iowa State Fair Big Boar contest's winner enjoys Captain Crunch and Captain Morgan.

No, seriously. This year's champion, "Captain" is allowed a shot of Captain Morgan after 5 p.m.

"It mellows him out," said Bryan Britt, Captain's caretaker.

That's not all Captain eats. Britt and his wife, Tricia, both of Monticello, make sure the boar has well-balanced diet of corn and soybeans. In fact, a nutritionist has Captain on a special diet.

"There are no animal proteins in his diet," Britt said.

Oh yeah, his weight.

Captain stole the show in the fair's Swine Barn weighing in at a whopping 1,254 pounds.

The barn was packed with people hollering for all six swine that competed in the contest. The bigger the boar looked, the louder the crowd got as it lumbered into the contest and was guided onto the scale.

"Lots of people come here," Swine competitive events volunteer Frank James said. James has been a part of the Big Boar contest for over a decade.

"I like this," James said. "This is fun. It's a good show that fills the place up."

The weigh-ins were announced by Gov. Kim Reynolds and Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg.

Ernie Barnes, the "swine superintendent" of 17 years said that the modern record is held by Reggie. The 2012 winner weighed an unbelievable 1,335 pounds.

Britt was fairly certain Captain was going to take home the gold.

"Based off of the last few winners, I knew Captain was bigger," Britt said. "I was pretty confident."

As someone who has raised pigs for his entire life, Britt said he couldn't see himself doing anything else.

"I've always had a passion for pigs," he said. "It's in my blood."

The second place pig, Brutus, weighed in at 1,188 pounds. One of his owners, Owen Sandbute of Sioux City, said he has been feeding the brute for the last eight months.

"You got to mix up the ration he likes," Sandbute said. "Corn and granola. He also like watermelon and marshmallows. It also helps to pet him like a dog so he gets used to being touched."

Slim, who was very much not, finished third weighing 1,170. The top-two boars, Captain and Brutus, can be seen at the Swine Barn in the winner's pins.

Last year's winner, Itty Bitty, took the 2018 crown, weighing 1,163 pounds.

Though in the past some pigs had to be coaxed onto the scale with doughnuts or other treats, all of this year's boars stepped onto the scale with little trouble.

The state fair goes through Aug. 18.

Gage Miskimen is a news reporter mostly covering West Des Moines, Waukee, and Clive for the Register. Reach him at gmiskimen@dmreg.com or 515-284-8234. Follow him on Twitter @gagemisky

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