\u00a0An estimated 500,000 visitors came to the 2026 Pennsylvania Farm Show to enjoy a grand display of Pennsylvania agriculture.<\/p>\n
During the Farm Show, Governor Josh Shapiro, Secretary Russell Redding launched another $10 million round of historic Agricultural Innovation Grants to support farmers and producers shaping the future of agriculture.<\/p>\n
The 2026 Pennsylvania Farm Show wrapped up Saturday, January 17, concluding eight days of events, celebrations and exhibitions featuring Pennsylvanians across the diverse spectrum of the state\u2019s $132.5 billion agriculture industry and the investments by\u00a0Governor Josh Shapiro\u2019s Administration\u00a0\u2014 working together to grow the future of Pennsylvania and the nation.<\/p>\n
The 2026 Pennsylvania Farm Show \u2013 Pennsylvania\u2019s State Fair\u2122 \u2013\u00a0kicked off a year of\u00a0America250PA<\/a>\u00a0celebrations recognizing the Commonwealth\u2019s role in the birth and future of our nation. The annual event connects the people who feed and clothe our families and fuel our economy with funding and support to feed their success and connect them with the consumers who rely every day on what they produce.<\/p>\n For the fourth time since 2023,\u00a0Governor Josh Shapiro\u00a0addressed 800-plus ag industry innovators and policy makers\u00a0<\/a>during Wednesday\u2019s Public Officials Day luncheon. The Governor\u00a0highlighted his Administration\u2019s continued commitment<\/a>\u00a0to Pennsylvania\u2019s agriculture industry and the farmers, producers, and ag communities who power the Commonwealth\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n \u201cPennsylvania\u2019s farmers today continue a proud legacy that stretches back centuries and do the noble work of feeding their neighbors,\u201d said\u00a0Governor Shapiro. \u201cThis year at the Farm Show, we came together to recognize that hard work and once acknowledge that our farmers and ag producers aren\u2019t just part of our history \u2013 they are key to our future growth and success here in Pennsylvania.\u201d<\/p>\n Secretary Redding met with countless influential leaders in agriculture and government throughout the 2026 Farm Show, as well as many of the hundreds of thousands of consumers whose local purchasing power supports the industry across the Commonwealth.<\/p>\n \u201cDuring the 2026 Pennsylvania Farm Show we have celebrated Pennsylvanians in agriculture, honoring our past and investing in our future,\u201d\u00a0Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding\u00a0said. \u201cAmerica began here in Pennsylvania, and our future is rooted in Pennsylvania agriculture \u2014 in the care of the soil, our collective spirit of innovation, and our shared pursuit of progress. Together, we are\u00a0\u2018Growing A Nation.\u201d<\/p>\n Among an estimated 500,000 visitors, special guests, including\u00a0Pennsylvania First Lady Lori Shapiro<\/a>, joined the celebration, along with a host of other state, local, state, and federal officials, and Pennsylvanians of all walks of life.<\/p>\n Here are a few glimpses of the milestones reached, and the Pennsylvanians in the spotlight in showrings, on stages, in stalls, behind counters, and behind the scenes around every corner in the million square foot complex, showing off the proud legacy and the prosperous future of Pennsylvania agriculture.<\/p>\n Growing A Nation: Investing in Opportunities for Agriculture Businesses, Entrepreneurs and Career-Changers<\/p>\n In Governor Shapiro\u2019s visit to the Farm Show, he announced the upcoming opening of the second round of funding\u00a0for the first-in-the-nation\u00a0Agriculture Innovation Grant Program.\u00a0The Shapiro Administration has continued to fuel growth to keep Pennsylvania’s nation-leading agricultural sector at the top by securing a total of\u00a0$20 million for the Agriculture Innovation Grant Program\u00a0and making targeted investments in sustainable farming practices, farmland preservation, avian influenza management and recovery, and expanding markets for organic farming.<\/p>\n During the Farm Show, delegations from\u00a037 countries\u00a0networked with Pennsylvania agricultural trade leaders, seeking opportunities to buy Pennsylvania\u2019s nation-leading products, and forging partnerships that will strengthen agriculture businesses and feed our economy in the future.<\/p>\n Deputy Secretary Lisa Graybeal joined farmers and leadership from\u00a0Pennsylvania\u2019s Centers for Excellence<\/a>\u00a0to celebrate two decades of industry growth in Pennsylvania\u2019s different plant and animal agriculture sectors.<\/p>\n Recognizing Pennsylvania farm families who have kept the Commonwealth\u2019s farming heritage alive for generations,\u00a0Lt. Governor Austin Davis\u00a0joined Sec. Redding as Pennsylvania designated 11 Bicentennial and Century Farms<\/a>.<\/p>\n Giving Students of All Ages the Freedom to Chart Their Own Course and the Opportunity to Succeed in Ag Careers<\/p>\n Grand and Reserve Champion\u00a0livestock, raised and shown by youth were auctioned off in the\u00a0Sale of Champions<\/a>\u00a0followed by 411 additional market animals. Proceeds fund agriculture scholarships and help fund the juniors’ livestock purchases for the coming year.<\/p>\n A portion of the\u00a0$587,270\u00a0raised at the Junior Market Livestock Sale will fund Farm Show Scholarship Foundation scholarships in 2026.<\/p>\n Eighty buyers donated their purchased steers, goats, lambs, hogs, and turkeys to the\u00a0Central Pennsylvania Foodbank<\/a>\u00a0to provide healthy protein sources for families in need in foodbanks throughout the state.\u00a0<\/p>\n Forty turkeys from one of the newest Farm Show contests, the Jr. Market Turkey competition<\/a>,\u00a0were among the animals donated to the foodbank.The\u00a0PA Farm Show Scholarship Foundation<\/a>\u00a0awarded 21 college students from 18 Pennsylvania counties and 10 universities each with\u00a0$6,000\u00a0scholarships from funds raised at the 2025 Farm Show.<\/p>\n The\u00a0Bill and Betsy Macauley Foundation\u00a0contributed an additional $1,500 per student. Funding expands career opportunities for students \u2014 many of whom grew up competing in Farm Show as FFA or 4-H students \u2014 in agriculture fields from textile science to agronomy to veterinary medicine.<\/p>\n Sec. Redding\u00a0announced a\u00a0$600,345 investment\u00a0in\u00a0PA Farm Bill Agriculture & Youth Grants<\/a>,\u00a0including 15 matching and 47 direct awards to organizations in 33 counties, funding projects that will empower youth across the state to succeed in Pennsylvania’s $132.5 billion agriculture industry.\u00a0Labor & Industry Secretary Nancy A. Walker\u00a0and\u00a0Education Secretary Dr. Carrie Rowe\u00a0joined Secretary Redding to make the announcement during a Career Expo connecting more than 2,200 Pennsylvania students with career opportunities offered by 48 agricultural businesses.<\/p>\n Monday\u2019s FFA Mid-Winter Convention<\/a>\u00a0packed an arena to celebrate a Pennsylvania record of\u00a01,448\u00a0students earning their blue FFA jackets for the first time \u2014 breaking the 2025 record by nearly 100. Another\u00a0536\u00a0student leaders were presented with Keystone Degrees \u2014 the capstone of their preparation for careers in science, business and technology \u2014 connecting them to opportunities to become the skilled, innovative workforce that feeds our families and our economy, growing our nation in decades to come.<\/p>\n On a full day devoted to\u00a0honoring military veterans<\/a>, the\u00a0Shapiro Administration\u00a0announced a funding opportunity, renewed in the Governor\u2019s 2025-26 budget, for\u00a0$300,000 in PA Farm Bill grants<\/a>\u00a0to connect military veterans to opportunities in farming.<\/p>\n Growing Local Economies by Promoting Quality Pennsylvania Products\u00a0<\/p>\n Eighteen calves from four family-run dairy farms were born at the\u00a0Calving Corner<\/a>, connecting crowds daily with the miracle of birth. A host of volunteers demonstrated the hard work, passion, and care that goes into putting wholesome PA dairy products on family tables day-in and day-out \u2013 just one vivid example of the PA farm families who connected throughout the show with the families who consume their products.<\/p>\n An expansive roster of culinary stars on the\u00a0PA Preferred\u00ae Culinary Connection<\/a>\u00a0stage included chefs with Michelin star r\u00e9sum\u00e9s working at Helping Harvest Community Kitchen in Reading \u2014 where a\u00a0$459,000 tax credit through the expanded\u00a0Neighborhood Assistance Program<\/a>\u00a0is helping the nonprofit feed struggling community members. Celebrating more than 20 years of the PA Preferred program connecting consumers to Pennsylvania agricultural products, 70 competitions and demonstrations took the stage, featuring master chefs from top Pennsylvania restaurants, TV culinary stars, pint-sized novices, and\u00a0military chefs<\/a>, pairing chefs with the Pennsylvania farms, wineries, breweries, cideries, and creameries, where their ingredients were produced. Visitors enjoyed samples prepared under the direction of master chefs by students from a record six Pennsylvania culinary schools and\u00a0took home recipes<\/a>\u00a0to whip up PA-sourced culinary magic at home.<\/p>\n Pennsylvania\u2019s longstanding tradition, a 1,000-pound\u00a0butter sculpture<\/a>, featured defining moments in U.S. history that happened in Pennsylvania and progress in agriculture that has fed the nation\u2019s growth. The sculpture was dismantled Sunday, January 18 by 4-H members, and will be recycled in a methane digester funded in part by a $130,000 grant through Pennsylvania\u2019s $10 million\u00a0Agricultural Innovation Grant Program<\/a>. The waste will be converted to clean electricity that will run\u00a0Reinford Farms\u2019<\/a>\u00a0Juniata County dairy farm and the surrounding community.<\/p>\n Feeding Professional Development, Education, and Growth for Agricultural Organizations<\/p>\n With sales figures still rolling in, the commodity-producer and youth organizations hosting\u00a0Food Court<\/a>\u00a0booths during the show will continue to help their members reach the consumers who buy their products and feed Pennsylvania\u2019s economy. Proceeds will fund professional development for their members, and scholarships for future members, and beef up the bottom lines of Pennsylvania producers.<\/p>\n Pennsylvania FFA Foundation\u00a0sold\u00a025,000 slices of pizza, with 1,700 lbs. of mozzarella cheese, and\u00a020,000 lemonade servings\u00a0from\u00a04,400 lbs. of lemons.<\/p>\n Pennsylvania Beekeepers Association\u00a0served\u00a0497 gallons of ice cream, 14,000 honey sticks, 2.5 tons of honey,\u00a0and\u00a0sold 950 lbs. of beeswax.<\/p>\n Pennsylvania Cooperative Potato Growers\u00a0treated visitors to\u00a023,000 lbs. of\u00a0fresh cut french fries,\u00a09,000 lbs. of\u00a0baked potatoes,\u00a090,000pierogies;\u00a0550 gallons\u00a0of batter in\u00a0potato cakes,\u00a02,000 lbs.\u00a0of baked sweet potatoes, and\u00a020,000 lbs.\u00a0of\u00a0potato donuts.<\/p>\n Mushroom Farmers of Pennsylvania\u00a0sold\u00a010,000 pounds of mushrooms\u00a0in six menu items, contributing to their national leader position.<\/p>\n Pennsylvania Livestock Association\u00a0pleased crowds with more than\u00a030,000 pounds\u00a0of\u00a0pork, beef and other products.<\/p>\n PA Dairymen\u2019s Association\u00a0patrons downed\u00a020,200 gallons of milkshakes,1,600 loaves of bread\u00a0for grilled cheese sandwiches and\u00a07,200 pounds of mozzarella\u00a0cheese cubes.<\/p>\n Enjoy highlights including a video\u00a0wrap-up of the week<\/a>\u00a0as well as\u00a0full show results<\/a>, a\u00a0photo album<\/a>\u00a0of highlights, and\u00a0news releases<\/a>\u00a0from the show are at\u00a0farmshow.pa.gov<\/a>\u00a0on the\u00a02026 Farm Show<\/a>\u00a0page.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u00a0An estimated 500,000 visitors came to the 2026 Pennsylvania Farm Show to enjoy a grand display of Pennsylvania…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":92556,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29,960,962],"class_list":["post-92555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news","tag-valley_times_star","tag-vts_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92555"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92555\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}