This year’s theme is “Keeping Pennsylvania Growing” and there will be 6,000 animals, 10,000 competitive exhibits and 270 commercial exhibitors. Exhibitors will compete for more than $550,000 in prize money.   

The best of Pennsylvania agriculture will be on display at the Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg – including youth livestock shows, educational displays and some of the state’s most delicious foods. New and returning events promise to match the interests of every guest including the Celebrity Milking Contest, the PA Preferred Best Chef in Pennsylvania Contest and the timeless favorite, the Sheep-to-Shawl competition.

Competitive exhibits open at 8 a.m. , commercial exhibits and the food court open at 9 a.m. and everything closes at 9 p.m. every day except Saturday, Jan. 17, the last day of the show, when the competitive exhibits close at 1 p.m. and the commercial exhibits and food court close at 5 p.m.

For kids, young and old

“Antique & Farm Family Fun Day” on Jan. 14 includes the perennial fair favorite: tractor pulls – tractor pulls of all kinds, including antique tractor pulls (no diesels allowed), garden tractor pulls, pedal-powered tractor pulls for ages six to 12 and big wheel races for ages four to nine.

The day also includes antique tractor and truck displays, “hit and miss” engine demonstrations, and an antique feed and fertilizer bag display.

Education is a Farm Show focus, and this year features the Farm Show Detectives program, where the “detectives” use a special map to guide them to 18 interactive learning stations located throughout the show.

Kids will get a chance to “Test Your Pig Prowess,” meet Patty Melt in Cattleville, pet a rabbit, feed and groom a yearling horse, watch chicks hatch, pet an alpaca, stitch a quilt, and learn about dogs, wood products, dairy cows and healthy eating habits.

The best kid detective wins the grand prize of one year of free ice cream.

Good eatin’

Farms nowadays produce fuel, fiber and foliage, but they are mainly about food, and food is a farm show focus.

The farm show food court is not a collection of preprocessed fast food outlets; it’s about down-home, farm-fresh food, served up by several state agricultural organizations.

The Cattlemen’s Association, of course, has beef: rib-eye steak sandwiches, Philly cheese steak sandwiches, and other beef delights. Not to be outdone, the Penn Ag Swine Council offers egg-bacon-sausage breakfast sandwiches and slow-roasted pulled pork.

The State Horticultural Association has fresh apples, apple cider, apple butter, apple dumplings, dried apple snacks, and caramel apples on a stick.

Everyone should eat their vegetables, and the Vegetable Growers Association makes it easy with vegetable soup, batter-dipped vegetables, blooming onions, strawberry slushies and this reporter’s favorite: pumpkin pie.

Featuring Pennsylvania specialties, the Mushroom Growers Cooperative has mushrooms deep-fried, grilled, fresh and in soup, salads and sandwiches; the Maple Syrup Producers Council has maple sweets of all kinds; and the Bee Keepers Association has honey waffles, honey ice cream and honey by the bottle.

The Cooperative Potato Growers serve up the famous Farm Show Baked Potato and the Dairymen’s Association, the Poultry Council, the FFA Foundation and other agriculture groups all offer their specialties.

For advanced foodies, there is some serious competition: four of the state’s best chefs, including Shaun Alcorn, chef and owner of Bella Cucina in Franklin , go head-to-head Jan. 15, using Pennsylvania foods in an “Iron Chef” competition. The winner faces 2008 champion Drew Wandishin for the Pennsylvania ’s Best Chef title.

Serious talk

Jan. 13 is “Women in Agriculture Day,” with speeches and panel discussions.

The “ Pennsylvania ’s Heritage, Pennsylvania ’s Future,” program offers dynamic speakers and a panel discussion covering a wide range of topics relating to women’s roles in agriculture.

“Today’s Leaders in Agriculture” features women holding leadership positions in the state and federal departments of agriculture and trade and youth organizations.

“The Next Generation of Ag Leaders” features a panel of young women involved in the industry, including former Dairy Princesses and FFA leaders, now holding professional positions.

Free workshops will be held Jan. 12 for new and beginning farmers, or those considering a career in farming. Topics include: land strategies, including leasing, finding the financing to begin, sustain or expand operations; understanding production costs and understanding future agricultural directions.

Another set of workshops will be held Jan. 16 for producers transitioning their operations to the next generation of farmers. Topics include retirement planning, key elements of a farm succession plan, strategies for finding a farm successor, and what to do with unanticipated wealth.

For complete schedules of all farm show events and information in general, the Pennsylvania Farm Show website can be found at: www.farmshow.state.pa.us.