The 2024 annual Pa Farm Show was held on January 6 to 13. This is the 108th PA Farm Show. The Farm Show has many different things to do. It is a great way to spend a day with friends or family. The Farm Show is fun to go to even if you do not know very much about agriculture. The Pa Farm show is the largest indoor agricultural expo in the nation.
We interviewed 2 people, teacher Mrs. Walker and a 9th Grade student about their experiences at the Farm Show. The Pa Farm Show is known by most for their milkshakes. We asked both people we interviewed, what their favorite food to buy at the Farm Show milkshakes came up in both. The Farm Show added a new flavor to the mix which was salted caramel. When asked what their favorite milkshake flavor was, Mrs. Walker responded saying, “My favorite milkshake flavor overall is the half and half vanilla and chocolate but in the past I liked the orange and vanilla half and half”, and the student said “vanilla”.
The Farm Show does a new butter sculpture every year. When asked for their guess of how many pounds of butter was used, Mrs. Walker’s response was “213 pounds”, and the students was “200 lbs”. The actual amount of butter used was 1,000lbs. You may be wondering what happens to all the butter at the end of the Farm Show. Which lead us to asking for guesses for the people we interviewed, Mrs. Walker said “I hope it’s not wasted but my guess is cooking”, while the student said “it goes to a farm to be processed”. After the farm show the butter is sent to Juniata County farm, which then uses it for energy.
The beginning of the Farm Show starts with all the market animals, which is beef, market lambs, swine and meat goats. While the following part of the Farm Show is the dairy animals, which are dairy cows, dairy goats, sheep, and swine. Each breed is given a chance to show during the time they are at the Farm Show. Which led us to ask our interviewees what their favorite show was to watch. Mrs. Walker said “the goat shows”, and the student said “the cow shows”.
On Monday, January 8th a FFA convention called Mid-Winter was held. Our interviewees both were there. We asked their opinions on the convention. Mrs. Walker said “I think it’s really cool to see FFA chapters come together. It was also enjoyable to see Spring Grove to get their FFA charter.” Mrs. Walker was with the group of students in Future Farmers club that went on stage to receive the charter. The student, who was one of the people in the crowd getting to watch this event, responded saying “It was nice to see all the FFA people but it was boring.”
We asked our interviewees their opinions on Spring Grove becoming a part of FFA: Mrs. Walker’s response was: “It’s really exciting to see something that has been in the making for years come to commission. It’s been exciting to see all the students involved and to watch it grow over the years”. The students’ response was that “it provides more connections outside of school”.
Mrs. Walker is one of the teachers that run the Future Farmers club here at Spring Grove. She was asked from a teacher’s viewpoint who she would recommend to join the club. Her recommendation for people to join was “Anyone who is interested in age or wants to learn more about it”. The student was asked if they would recommend it to anyone the answer was yes. The recurring answer for the least favorite part of the farm show is the large crowds.
