A summertime fixture at New Hampshire county fairs is about to get its first set of statewide ground rules. The pig scramble, an event in which children dash through a pen trying to catch a loose piglet and stuff it into a bag, has been governed for generations by whatever rules each individual fair chose to adopt. Under a new law signed by Gov. Kelly Ayotte, that patchwork is set to give way to a single statewide standard, with the goal of making the tradition safer and more humane for the animals involved.
As New Hampshire Public Radio reported, the measure requires the commissioner of the state Department of Agriculture to develop best practices for any event in which people compete to capture a pig. Those guidelines are to be published before the 2027 fair season. Because of that timeline, the rules will not apply to any pig scrambles held this year, including the events expected at the Deerfield Fair in the fall.
For anyone who has never stood at the rail of a fair pen on a hot afternoon, a pig scramble works like this. People of the same age group compete to catch piglets that have been released into a large enclosure. Contestants must secure the pig inside a drawstring bag, and the first to manage it can take the animal home. It is part county-fair spectacle and part rural rite of passage, and in much of New Hampshire it draws an enthusiastic crowd.
Why lawmakers stepped in
The push for statewide standards came from Rep. Cathryn Harvey, a Democrat from Spofford and the bill’s prime sponsor. Harvey’s central concern was consistency. Because each fair sets its own rules, she said, some scrambles are run far more humanely than others, and the animals can pay the price for the difference.
One practice she singled out is the bag itself. At some events, organizers hand contestants plastic bags to capture and carry the piglets. “They’re putting an animal in a plastic bag on a hot summer day,” Harvey said. “It isn’t a great idea.” On a humid New Hampshire fair day, a plastic bag offers a piglet almost no airflow, a detail that turns a few minutes of chaos into a genuine welfare risk.
Joan O’Brien, president of the New Hampshire Animal Rights League, backed the legislation and described what she has witnessed at these events. She said she has seen piglets kept in plastic bags for long stretches after the scramble ended. A breathable burlap bag, she argued, would let an animal breathe far more easily in the heat. Her organization ultimately supported the bill.
O’Brien also wants the new guidelines to require that participants bring an animal carrier for the trip home. “If you don’t have a carrier, you should not be allowed to leave your pig lying in a bag,” she said, noting that some fairs already ask winners to bring carriers. “You should be taking them right home.”
What the best practices might include
Although the agriculture commissioner has not yet written the guidelines, advocates have a clear wish list drawn from rules that some fairs already follow. The Deerfield Fair, for instance, has adopted a requirement that O’Brien and Harvey both hope becomes a statewide standard: having a parent supervise each child inside the pen.
That supervision matters because, in the rush of competition, young contestants can handle the animals roughly. O’Brien recalled watching a child hang a piglet upside down by its legs and then lower it headfirst into a bag. “In the heat of the moment, the kids get excited and they just do whatever it takes to get the pig in the bag,” she said. Her suggestion is that parents work alongside the event referee to make sure their child handles the animal humanely.
Other measures advocates hope to see in the final guidelines are modest but meaningful. Harvey pointed to something as simple as giving the piglets water after the scramble, a small step that she said would still mark an improvement over current conditions at some events. Taken together, the proposed practices form a short, practical list: breathable burlap bags instead of plastic, mandatory carriers for transport home, water for the animals afterward, and adult supervision inside the pen.
From a proposed ban to a compromise
The law that Ayotte signed is notably narrower than what Harvey first proposed. Her original bill called for banning pig scrambles across the state altogether. That approach did not survive, but both Harvey and O’Brien said they believe universal guidelines can still meaningfully improve the experience for the animals, even without an outright prohibition.
O’Brien suggested the law’s value may extend beyond its specific rules. By establishing a statewide expectation, she said, the measure could empower bystanders to speak up when they see something wrong. “I think that the bill will embolden people to speak up at these events,” O’Brien said. “If they think a pig is being mistreated, they’ll be able to say to themselves, ‘I know that there’s supposed to be a rule, so I’m going to say something.’” In her view, that cultural shift, more than any single regulation, could be the most lasting outcome.
The debate sits at the intersection of two things New Hampshire takes seriously: its agricultural heritage and its county-fair culture. Fairs like Deerfield, Hopkinton, and Rochester draw large crowds each year, and livestock events are central to their identity. Granite State agriculture continues to evolve, as our coverage of on-farm slaughter and meat processing rules and the state’s bicentennial farms and their adaptability shows. The pig scramble law is the latest example of lawmakers trying to balance tradition against modern expectations for how animals should be treated.
For families planning to attend a fair this season, nothing changes yet. The 2026 fair calendar, including the Deerfield Fair, will run under each event’s existing rules. The new statewide best practices are scheduled to be in place before the 2027 season, giving fairs, organizers, and the agriculture department a full year to prepare.
For related coverage, see our reporting on Strawberry Season Has Arrived in New Hampshire.
