With Walk Through Exhibits, Speech In Large Arena
BY EVERETT NEWSWANGER
Managing Editor
HARRISBURG - The 71st
Annual Pennsylvania State Farm
Show received its grand opening
here Sunday when Governor
Richard Thornburgh and Mrs.
Thornburgh entered the Farm
Show complex from McClay Street
to the microphones, lights and
cameras of the host of media
representatives waiting inside.
Agriculture Secretary Richard
Grubb and Mrs. Grubb had
escorted the state’s first couple
through some of the isles of the
main exhibition budding into the
sheep, bog and dairy bams and
onto a wagon drawn by two flashy
black work horses. The team of
horses pulled the celebrities into
the large arena to the cheers and
applause of a warm crowd
gathered to witness opening
ceremonies and the presentation of
farm products to the governor by
queens, princesses and product
representatives of Pennsylvania
agriculture.
Thornburgh told the state farm
crowd that he shares with our
farmers, farm leaders and the
entire agribusiness community a
feeling of {Hide in the growing
success and continuing importance
of agriculture in our Pennsylvania
•the state with the nation’s largest
rural population.
'‘lt has been an eight-year
commitment of this administration
to create an environment con
ducive to the growth of this vitally
important industry and to the
preservation of the values implicit
in our rural communities,”
Thornburgh said.
“The cash return last year to our
fanners on $4 billion in crop and
animal production ranks Penn
sylvania 17th in the nation in
agricultural receipts, up from the
21st position in 1980, and makes us
the'
Jai -«(left) >
and wife in the Pennsylvania Farmers’ Association booth.
Governor and Mrs. Thornburgh receive a cheesecake at the
Pennsylvania State Grange booth. The cheesecake is on the
list of products available through the State Grange Exchange
Food Buying Service.
Governor Thornburgh Opens State Show
in the Northeast. Agricultural
employment is up 30 percent in
Pennsylvania since 1900. Indeed,
one in five Pennsylvanians today
owes a job to agriculture.
“The preservation of family
farms and farmland resources has
been a priority policy of this ad
ministration. Will Rogers once
observed that the American far
mer is the only segment of our
economy who ‘buys at retail, sells
at wholesale and pays the freight
in both directions’.” These are
hurdles that no other industry has
had to overcome.”
“Our administration has sought
to even the odds and give the
family farmer a fighting chance
not only to survive but to prosper,
through unprecedented promotion
and marketing assistance,
economic development programs,
animal health improvement ef
forts and creation of a farmland
preservation division in the
Department of Agriculture.
“It is fitting that the theme of
this year’s farm show is ‘Penn
sylvania Agriculture-Progress
Through Technology,’ because it
highlights the partnership between
the state’s number one industry
and the technological revolution
that is hard upon us.”
“While some still insist on
viewing the farm in terms of the
stereotypes of the past, those who
make their livelihood from
agriculture realize that modem
farming has itself undergone a
whole' series of technological
advances. Livestock are now being
graded with ultrasonic equipment
which improves both breeding and
marketing; feed is both deter
mined and dispersed by computer;
automatic milking parlors not only
handlde the milking, but also
compile detailed information on
each cow’s performance and
production.”
carriage ride around the arena.
■iver's seat
In the