Next January’s PA Farm Show to be held online
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Among the visceral aspects of the annual PA Farm Show is being able to see and smell the cows, hogs and goats up close, taste the fresh food and run your hands over the equipment on display.
Unfortunately, there won’t be quite the same opportunity for that at the 2021 Farm Show in January.
Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding announced Wednesday that the show, like so many other events, will take place virtually to prevent the spread of covid-19.
“There are times in the life of a farmer when the risks are too great or uncertain, requiring farmers to make the tough decision to leave a field fallow,” Redding said. “To protect out assets – both our people and our resources – from incalculable losses, we have made the tough decision to take a year to ‘lie in fallow.’”
Details of the virtual show will be announced in the coming weeks. Online events will focus on education and awareness for both the general public and the agriculture industry.
Redding said they are considering what can be done to have some type of food court offerings and what can be done virtually for livestock sales and 4-H kids shows. Any competitive events held virtually will not require the purchase of an animal, according to the Agriculture Department.
The department said the theme of the 2021 virtual PA Farm Show is “Cultivating Tomorrow.”
Sharon Myers, Pennsylvania Farm Show complex executive director, said the themes are used each year to convey a vision for the future of Pennsylvania agriculture.
“We have not lost sight of what this industry means to Pennsylvania,” Myers said. “In fact, this pandemic has highlighted our reliance on it. The show will go on, just as agriculture has persevered.”
Redding said the focus of the event is on agricultural awareness, education, and literacy and the inter-connectedness of the food chain.
“We’ll consider what has become crystal clear during the pandemic — that agriculture is essential for life,” Redding said. “We’ll look at our strengths and where we need to invest in order to grow and cultivate for tomorrow.”
For news updates on the virtual PA Farm Show, go to farmshow.pa.gov.
For more information about agriculture during covid-19 mitigation in Pennsylvania go to agriculture.pa.gov/COVID.