VOL. 31 No. 12 Five Sections
Farm Show comes down to the best of the breed
Secretary of Agriculture Richard Grubb
was on hand to congratulate Mike Messick
for a job well done.
Joe Kuzemchak of Pleasant Gap, Centre
County, won the prestigious market lamb
championship with his 137-pound Suffolk
wether.
... With honors to owners, growers and producers, too
HARRISBURG - While most
farmers, growers and producers
tend to think of the Farm Show for
its livestock and dairy com
petitions, its carnival atmosphere
and its equipment displays, the
annual event is also a time of
recognition for the industry’s
outstanding individuals.
Hundreds of personal awards
were presented during the show’s
six-day run, with recognition
extended to young and old,
producer and processor alike.
Dr. Richard E. Grubb, State
Secretary of Agriculture, kicked
things off Saturday night at the
Pre-Farm Show Dinner by con
ferring the State Agribusiness of
the Year Award on a Lebanon
County company.
The firm, Kutztown Bologna and
Country Fresh Foods of Myer
stown, sells specialty foods
through a network of door-to-door
salesmen as well as major food
service distributors. Sales of the
firm’s bologna, beef, chicken and
pork products totaled an estimated
$2.6 million in 1985. The company
employs 26 people.
PENpages
Governor Dick Thornburgh
officially opened the Farm Show
on Sunday, touring the exhibits and
becoming the first person to use
the brand-new PENpages com
puter linkup.
After Thornburgh cut the ribbon,
the system was officially open to
anyone with access to a computer
and a telephone hookup known as a
modem.
The complex information
system, created by the Penn State
extension service, is thought to be
the country’s only agriculture
computer system that can be
accessed free of charge. Users of
the system, however, must have
use of a computer and pay for their
telephone call into the system.
“This new system will give our
farmers daily, hourly and even
minute-by-minute access to the
information they need,” Thorn
burgh said. “It puts Pennsylvania
way out in front of other states. ”
Later, in remarks to the crowd at
opening ceremonies, Thornburgh
talked about the system’s ap
plication as an information source
on weather alerts, market in
formation, and other important
data.
“It’s another advanced
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 18,1986
Kutztown’s Todd Bennecoff showed
grand champion market hog.
HARRISBURG Clear, but cold
weather brought good crowds and
good fortune to the 70th annual
Pennsylvania Farm Show this
week.
A record number of entries,
combines with solid attendance
figures, gave organizers the op
portunity to claim that this year's
edition erf the ag extravaganza was
bigger and better than ever.
With a full slate of livestock and
crop competitions, the Farm Show
truly lived up to its billing as the
largest indoor agricultural
exhibition in North America.
In competition Thursday, Mike
Messick of Messick Farms,
Middletown showed the grand
champion market steer for the
show.
Earlier in the week, top market
animals had been selected in swine
and sheep categories, and grand
champions had been named in the
six dairy breeds.
The selection of the market
animals capped a week of breed
technology way we can show our
agricultural producers, ‘You have
a friend in Pennsylvania.’”
Pioneer Fanner Award
The governor also took the oc
casion to recognize the state’s
“Pioneer Farmer,” J. Fred
Campbell of Tyrone, Huntingdon
County.
Campbell, now 80, attended the
first Pennsylvania Farm Show
ever held, and hasn’t missed one
since.
He exhibited Belgian draft
horses at the Farm Show for 35
years, retiring in 1968, and showed
the grand champion stallion at the
1959, 1961, 1962 and 1968 Farm
Shows.
Campbell was raised on a 257-
acre dairy farm, and used a horse
drawn wagon to sell the milk
produced by the farm’s 35 Ayrshire
cows. The family also raised goats,
sheep, horses and potatoes,
producing 463 pounds of potatoes
per acre in 1930 to earn a spot on
the state’s 400-bushel club.
Farm City Award
The Franklin County Farm-City
Committee was honored as the
best in the state in 1985. Grubb
presented the first-place placquc
shows m all the livestock
categories, as well as competitions
in a varied lineup of agricultural
pursuits.
Farm ShotaMesuiUs
Dairy:
Holstein A 26
Jersey A2O
Guernsey A2O
Ayrshire A 26
Brown Swiss A2l
Milking Shorthorn A2l
Sheep:
Junior Breeding
Sheep 818
Open Breeding Sheep Dl6
Junior Market Lamb 819
to Committee Chairman Dalton
Paul at the Secretary of
Agriculture’s Night Festivities at
the Farm Show.
Second place was awarded to the
Lebanon Farm-City Council,
represented by David Wauls,
executive director of the Lebanon
Valley Chamber of Commerce.
■ The Berks County Committee,
Pioneer Farmer - Governor Dick Thornburgh awards the
Pioneer Farmer Award to J. Fred Campbell of Tyrone,
Huntingdon County, while his wife Margaret looks on. ,
Leroy Plance shows his grand champion
Holstein.
Extensive coverage of this
major agricultural event can be
found in this week’s Lancaster
Fanning.
Beef:
Open Breeding Beef A 22
Junior Breeding Beef A 24
Junior Market Steer AlB
Swine
Bred Gilt Show Dl2
Junior Market Swine A3O
Draft Horses Dl4
winner of the award last year,
captured third place for its 1985
program.
In addition, the Pennsylvania
Kiwanis Clubs received special
recognition fur support of the
Pennsylvania Farm-City Week,
which celebrates its 30th an
niversary in 1985.
67.50 per Year
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