Farm show plows forward with virtual schedule
Courtesy of Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture
The virtual Pennsylvania Farm Show kicked off Saturday.
Courtesy of Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture
Sheep are judged during the 2019 Pennsylvania Farm Show.
Courtesy of Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture
A restored tractor sits on display at the 2019 Pennsylvania Farm Show.
Courtesy of Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture
A young participant takes part in judging at the 2019 Pennsylvania Farm Show.
For 104 years, the Pennsylvania Farm Show attracted large crowds to Harrisburg to share in the agrarian experience. Farmers and their families gave demonstrations on their crafts, competed in uniquely rural events, made scrumptious dishes from scratch, and informed and enlightened hundreds of thousands about the vital vocation they practice.
This year, the weeklong event will be a little different.
The 2021 show will be virtual, thanks to COVID-19. Previews and light programming cow-kicked things off Saturday, followed by events taking place Monday through Friday.
Nearly 500,000 typically attend the annual farm show, according to state Agriculture secretary Russell Redding. That number, however, will drop by a half-million over the next seven days.
“The farm show has seen good times and bad, feast and famine, war and peace, and now a pandemic,” Redding said Thursday afternoon, during a virtual news briefing.
“This year, we’re taking the farm show well beyond the four walls of this complex. We’re giving farmers the chance to tell their story from their farm. You’ll get to know all about who’s feeding us.”
The theme is “Cultivating Tomorrow,” with an increased emphasis on educating, entertaining and enlightening viewers at a time of increased food insecurity. A number of live and pre-recorded events will be shown on the Pennsylvania Farm Show Facebook page and Pennsylvania Cable Network. Some events not available on Facebook or PCN may require pre-registration by viewers.
“We had to figure out how to take what happens inside a million-square-foot complex and compress it onto a computer screen,” Redding said.
The agenda includes more than 200 virtual exhibits; farm tours: chefs and farmers piquing viewers’ culinary interests; instruction on how to raise farm animals; and live beehive and duckling pond cams daily.
A new event will enable viewers to churn out works of art – more or less. It’s called the Butter Up! competition, whereby residents statewide can create a butter sculpture on a much smaller scale than the 1,000-pound work that has become a show standard. Entries could be submitted from Saturday through 8 p.m. Jan. 16.
Contestants can use up to five pounds of butter, and chicken wire, sculpting wire and a base to support their work. But they cannot use food dye or coloring to enhance the butter.
Winners and runners-up will be determined in five age categories: 5-10, 11-13, 14-18, 19-64, 65-plus. Participants will be judged from total reactions on the farm show Facebook page.
Each day’s events will begin with the National Anthem and end with an agriculture-related bedtime story.
For a full schedule of events, visit farmshow.pa.gov.
This show will be different, to be sure, but the ag secretary is eagerly anticipating the experience.
“You use all five of your senses at a traditional farm show,” Redding said. “This year, we’re bringing it to you.”