Agriculture Secretary Leads Tour of 2025 Farm Show Must-See Exhibits, Events Featuring Pennsylvania Agriculture ‘Powering Pennsylvania’
HARRISBURG – Thursday, Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding led Pennsylvania media on a tour of must-see exhibits, special guests, new events, and food to be featured during the 2025 PA Farm Show. The 2025 Farm Show theme, Powering Pennsylvania, celebrates
the best of Pennsylvania agriculture and the people who power our daily lives, our communities, and our economy.
“The importance of the Pennsylvania Farm Show goes far beyond being the nation’s only mid-winter State Fair,” Secretary Reddingsaid. “It is an opportunity to celebrate the New Year with the people of Pennsylvania agriculture whose products enhance our quality of life every day and sustain our environment and our communities year-round. It is a chance to learn about the agricultural legacy that has made Pennsylvania a national leader, and the innovative people and cutting-edge technologies powering Pennsylvania’s future.”
2025 Farm Show Tour stops included:
1,000-pound Butter Sculpture —‘From Moo to Marvel: Dairy Cows Power Pennsylvania’ hosted by American Dairy Association Northeast
A fan-favorite at the PA Farm Show since 1991, depicts a dairy cow alongside a methane digester — a powerful renewable energy system — set against a Pennsylvania farm and cityscape backdrop. Jim Victor and Marie Pelton, of Conshohocken, sculpted the piece from 1,000 pounds butter donated by Land O’ Lakes in Carlisle. Post-Farm Show, the butter will be recycled into renewable energy in the methane digester at Reinford Farm in Juniata County.
“Cows are truly superheroes,” said Chester County dairy farmer Kacie Hershey of Ar-Joy Farms in Cochranville. “They not only produce nutritious milk that nourishes us, but they also upcycle food scraps, enrich soil, and, with digesters, turn their waste into renewable energy. It’s a marvel of nature and ingenuity!”
PA Preferred® Charcuterie Feast with host Chef Kurt Wewer
Chef Wewer, award-winning chef and consultant with Central PA Chef Consultants, highlighted a sampling of Pennsylvania-sourced food and beverages that will
be featured throughout Farm Show, in the Main Hall Farmers Market to take home, and on the PA Preferred® Culinary Connection Stage.
Visit Culinary Connection, every hour daily during Farm Show to sample celebrity recipes prepped by future stars from PA culinary schools, grab a cookbook, and get powerful inspiration for your own PA farm-to-table adventures.
Featured products included Pennsylvania wine, cheese, honey, maple, potatoes, mushrooms, and Painterland Sisters Organic Skyr Yogurt, the first product to bear the new PA Preferred Organic™ logo, designating it as locally sourced to meet the quality standards of the new state brand for organic products.
Cow Cuddling with hosts Alyssa and Dennis Swartz of Swartz Farm in Mohnton, Berks County
The East Hall exhibit offers guests the chance to snuggle up to a fluffy Mini-Highland Cow, or “Coo,” in their native accent. The exhibit highlights not only Pennsylvania’s diversity of cattle breeds, but a hot trend in agritourism, while supporting a cause. The exhibit is one of a handful that charge a fee during the Farm Show, including Fishin’ With Friends, Goat Snuggling, and the perennial favorite Carousel. Proceeds from the $5 per-person Cow Cuddling fee go to the Friends of the Pennsylvania Farm Show Foundation to support their educational mission.
Horsepower is Powering Pennsylvania with host Amy Snover of WAE Up Farms in Valley Township, Montour County
A tremendous diversity of horse-powered events bring excitement and awe thundering into Farm Show every year, highlighting the state’s powerhouse equine industry. With expanded draft horse hitch classes and new Adult Showmanship — in which competitors are judged on their knowledge, poise, and skill at handling their animals — 2025 will be no exception.
From the exciting action of small, but mighty pony pulls and the fan-favorite PA State Police Drill Team demo; to hitched teams of massive and majestic Percherons, Shires, Clydesdales, and Belgians; to educational Barn Talks on animal care in the Equine Barn, there is something for everyone, including a patriotic draft horse team salute to Pennsylvania’s military veterans. From the thrills of the PA State High School Rodeo at the beginning of the show, to the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Circuit Finals at the show’s conclusion, and the Exceptional Rodeo in between, there will be no shortage of power and emotion in the arenas.
Conservation and Innovation Powering Pennsylvania with hosts PSU College of Agricultural Sciences Director of Research Development and Initiatives Dr. Gretta Tritch Roman, Forrester Farm Equipment President Cory Forrester and CNH North America Medium Tractor Product Marketing Manager Sean Dorosz
Innovation is driving Pennsylvania forward and feeding our future together. Visit GIANT Expo Hall’s innovation and conservation area to learn about cutting-edge research, robotic and
sensor technologies empowering farm productivity, as well as new twists on age-old farming methods that PA farmers are using to protect and improve our soil and water for tomorrow.
CNH New Holland’s brand new T6.180 Methane Power Tractor and an array of powerful equipment revolutionizing farm sustainability joins the popular rainfall simulator, planted field, and indoor stream at the center of GIANT Expo Hall – a must-see area whether you’re a farmer looking for funding, checking out innovative technology to power your own productivity, or just looking to power your imagination with some awe-inspiring technological horsepower and Pennsylvania ingenuity.
The tour ended with a preview of the Farm Show Food Court hosted by PA Farm Show Complex & Expo Center Executive Director Sharon Myers. She introduced foods you can purchase at the Farm Show’s Food Courts in GIANT Expo Hall and Main Hall to support Pennsylvania food producer organizations and fund youth scholarships that feed the future of agriculture.
The food court will open to the public from noon to 9 p.m. on Friday, January 3, prior to the opening day of the 2025 Farm Show on January 4. Daily hours, a full menu of items and information on the organizations that benefit from sales can be found at farmshow.pa.gov under 2025 Farm Show at the Eat button.
The Pennsylvania Farm Show draws scores of visitors to our capital city every January for a powerful encounter with the products and people who make Pennsylvania agriculture great. The largest indoor agricultural expo in the nation, Farm Show features nearly 4,000 animals, 12,052 entries, and 3,000 competitors, from every corner of Pennsylvania. With nearly 275 commercial exhibits and hundreds of educational and entertaining events, the 2025 show celebrates how agriculture is Powering Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania’s State Fair showcases top competitors from 108 county and local fairs, and the diversity and quality of Pennsylvania’s agriculture industry, the innovative people who make it thrive, and the faces of our proud past and promising future. The show offers visitors a peek into the industry that supports 593,000 Pennsylvania jobs and contributes $132.5 billion to Pennsylvania’s economy every year.
The 2025 Pennsylvania Farm Show runs from Saturday, January 4 through Saturday, January 11 at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex and Expo Center in Harrisburg. Admission is free. Parking is $15 per vehicle.
Hours, a daily schedule of events, maps, and much more information to help visitors enjoy the show can be found at farmshow.pa.gov under 2025 Farm Show.
