It’s Farm Show Week! Pennsylvania’s annual indoor “state fair,” the largest indoor agricultural expo in the nation, is underway. I’m an admitted Farm Show “groupie.”
However, growing up in Philadelphia and its close suburbs, I’d never heard of The Farm Show before I moved to central Pennsylvania.
When I first arrived in this area, I knew I had to be missing something. I made my first trip to the farm show in 1974. I don’t think I’ve missed one since.
What’s not to love about The Farm Show?
There are more than 12,000 exhibits, almost half of which are animals. There are another 300 commercial exhibitors. Every exhibit has a fascination all its own.
The crowds are fun to watch, too. Hundreds of thousands of spectators pour through the Farm Show doors for the week-long event. There’s no exact attendance figure, only estimates. That’s because there are no turnstiles. Did I mention that the entire event is FREE?
And then there’s the food. From the famous milkshakes to just about anything on a stick to fried berry Oreos, the stuff we eat elsewhere throughout the year somehow seems to taste a little better when served up at the corner of Cameron and Maclay Streets in early January.
As it is for so many Pennsylvanians, the Farm Show is now a tradition for me.
I’m especially happy to celebrate Pennsylvania’s farming community and our agricultural economy. The economic power of Pennsylvania agriculture can’t be understated. It’s the biggest piece of our economy.
The nearly 60,000 farms spread across our commonwealth produce an annual economic impact of more than $35 billion. They support more than half a million jobs, and $30 billion in wages.
Pennsylvania has more than 2,300 food-processing companies. We lead the nation in canned fruit, vegetable specialty products, chocolate and cocoa products and snack foods.
We lead the nation in mushroom production, we are third in egg production, fifth in milk production and in the top 10 in turkey production. Agriculture is the cornerstone of the Keystone economy.
Although William Penn hosted the first agricultural show in Pennsylvania in 1686, the currently constituted show has been running for more than a century. It began in 1917.
Covering 24 acres under roof, the Farm Show complex boasts 11 halls and three arenas. The show itself has more than 6,000 animals, 300 commercial exhibitors and 12,000 competitive events in just about every aspect of agriculture imaginable. From beef and dairy cattle to swine, sheep, horses, poultry and goats to plants, mushrooms, and corn to beer, wine and hard cider, there something for everybody, so see and enjoy.
The theme of this year’s Farm Show is “Imagine the Opportunities.” It’s a call to our agricultural community to continue pushing their limits to help Pennsylvania’s and the nation’s economies propel into the new Roaring 20’s.
In addition to the traditional staples, there will be lots of new things to see and eat. Our friends at PennAg will have hemp tea and the Mushroom Farmers of PA will introduce the Philly Port Sandwich, a plant-based alternative to the famous cheesesteak.
Farm Show week also allows me to perform my most important duty for the year, judging food competitions. This year it looks like I’ll again be judging the sticky bun competition. That’s my highest and best use. How could I ever get a better gig than that?
The Farm Show is also important to our region. The week-long trek of visitors to the area generates nearly $100 million for our local economy.
Farm Show week is not only a great time to celebrate our agricultural heritage and all that farming does for our quality of life, but also an opportunity to consider ways to improve the lives and fortunes of our farming community.
Farming isn’t an easy life and there are many challenges. Strong pro-agriculture public policy helps. As we enjoy all the Farm Show has to offer, let’s take a minute to focus on how we can help to improve the lives and lot of our farmers and agricultural community.
It’s Farm Show week! I’ll look forward to seeing you there.
PennLive Opinion contributor Charlie Gerow is the CEO of Quantum Communications in Harrisburg, and a Republican strategist. He and Democrat Mark Singel appear each Sunday morning at 8:30 on CBS-21’s Face the State.
"farm" - Google News
January 06, 2020 at 05:48AM
https://ift.tt/36DJXPm
What’s not to love about the Farm Show? | Opinion - pennlive.com
"farm" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2Niluqn
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
No comments:
Post a Comment