Bryce Fevold wasn’t in his normal ninth grade classes at South­east Valley High School in Gowrie, but he was learning valuable lessons in the pig barn at the Clay County Fair in Spencer in early September.

Fevold and other 4-H and FFA members exhibiting at the Clay County Fair are in a unique position. The county fair starts and ends after school begins for the year. But parents and students say the lessons learned raising and showing livestock more than make up for the lost school time.

Before taking his hogs to the fair, Bryce, 14, talked to his teachers and his football coach about the homework...