DES MOINES, Iowa — As an ambassador for the pork industry in Iowa, Gracie Greiner helped deliver the bacon Tuesday,
Greiner, the 2019 Iowa Pork Queen, stepped in to help a struggling sow deliver her last piglet at the Iowa State Fair, the Des Moines Register reported.
"Helping pull pigs has come to be one of my favorite parts of the process," Greiner said in a statement to the Register. "When one sow was having trouble getting her piglet out in the Iowa State Fair Animal Learning Center, I naturally stepped in to help."
It was a crowning achievement since Greiner was still wearing her tiara while she delivered the piglet at the fair's Animal Learning Center.
Greiner's grandmother, Sandy Greiner, said in a Facebook post that Gracie Greiner gave "the Old Girl some much-needed relief."
Gracie Greiner, 18, lives a few miles outside of the eastern Iowa town of Washington. According to The Associated Press, her family breeds pigs to show at the county and state levels.
So, helping a sow in need was second-nature for Gracie Greiner, who is about to enter her freshman year at Iowa State University, where she plans to major in animal science.
"The piglet was pretty big, and one of the last ones which meant (the sow) was super tired," Gracie Greiner, told the Register. "Pulling pigs ensures that more piglets come out alive which is why we did it. We care about our animals and do everything we can to keep them healthy and comfortable!"
Greiner's family runs a small show pig operation where they breed and farrow pigs to show them at the county and state level in Washington, Iowa, a small town south of Iowa City in eastern Iowa, so she's had plenty of experience working with pigs in any kind of situation imaginable.
Greiner spent many years at the fair as an exhibitor, but she said this year has been her favorite.