A group of wild turkeys.
                                 File Photo

A group of wild turkeys.

File Photo

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<p>Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding unveiled the 2023 Pennsylvania Farm Show butter sculpture. Carved from 1,000 pounds of butter, it highlights this year’s theme: Rooted in Progress.</p>
                                 <p>Submitted Photo</p>

Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding unveiled the 2023 Pennsylvania Farm Show butter sculpture. Carved from 1,000 pounds of butter, it highlights this year’s theme: Rooted in Progress.

Submitted Photo

<p>Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding unveiled the 2023 Pennsylvania Farm Show butter sculpture. Carved from 1,000 pounds of butter, it highlights this year’s theme: Rooted in Progress. “We celebrate this year’s theme, Rooted in Progress, by highlighting the progress made over the past eight years and the opportunity that Pennsylvania’s farm families have today to innovate, diversify, and plan,” said Redding. “The entire commonwealth benefits from the strong roots we’ve cultivated for agriculture. These roots feed local economies and Pennsylvania families, they break down walls holding Pennsylvanians back, and they are a strong foundation for the future.”</p>
                                 <p>Submitted Photo</p>

Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding unveiled the 2023 Pennsylvania Farm Show butter sculpture. Carved from 1,000 pounds of butter, it highlights this year’s theme: Rooted in Progress. “We celebrate this year’s theme, Rooted in Progress, by highlighting the progress made over the past eight years and the opportunity that Pennsylvania’s farm families have today to innovate, diversify, and plan,” said Redding. “The entire commonwealth benefits from the strong roots we’ve cultivated for agriculture. These roots feed local economies and Pennsylvania families, they break down walls holding Pennsylvanians back, and they are a strong foundation for the future.”

Submitted Photo

The Pennsylvania Game Commission is asking for the public’s help finding turkey flocks to trap for ongoing turkey projects.

The agency is encouraging Pennsylvanians to report the location of any turkey flocks they see between now and March 15.

Information is being collected online at pgcdatacollection.pa.gov/TurkeyBroodSurvey.

Visitors to that webpage will be asked to provide the date of the sighting, the location, and the type of land (public, private or unknown) where birds are seen, among other things.

Game Commission crews will visit sites to assess them for the potential to trap turkeys. Turkeys will not be moved; they’ll simply be leg banded and released on site. In four Wildlife Management Units (WMUs) some also will be outfitted with GPS transmitters, then released back on site to be monitored over time.

Trapping turkeys during winter is part of our ongoing population monitoring as well as a large-scale turkey study.

Just like the last three winters, the Game Commission will put leg bands on male turkeys statewide. Hunters who harvest one of those turkeys, or people who find one dead, are asked to report the band number by either calling the toll-free number or emailing the Game Commission using the email address on the band. New on this year’s leg bands is a website for directly reporting the information into the database.

“These data give us information on annual survival rates and annual spring harvest rates for our population model and provides the person reporting information on when and approximately where it was banded,” said Mary Jo Casalena, the Game Commission’s turkey biologist.

The Game Commission is also attaching GPS transmitters to a sample of turkeys in WMUs 2D, 3D, 4D and 5C; on approximately 150 hens and 100 males total. The four study areas have different landscapes, turkey population densities, and spring hunter and harvest densities.

“We’re studying turkey population and movement dynamics, disease prevalence, and other aspects that may limit populations” Casalena said.

These studies are being done in partnership with Penn State University and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wildlife Futures Program.

The population and movement portion of that work is looking at how landscape and weather impact hen nest rates, nest success, poult survival, predation, habitat use and movement. The disease portion of the study is examining how disease prevalence varies based on landscape and impacts things like the survival and nesting rates of hens of different ages. This is accomplished by collecting blood, tracheal, feces and skin from turkeys that receive backpack-style transmitters at the time of capture.

The study will continue next winter for both males and females, and continue through 2025 for hens, so that in the end, the Game Commission will monitor more than 400 females and more than 200 males.

Researchers from Penn State University and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wildlife Futures Program will interpret the data collected. Biologists from Maryland, New Jersey and Ohio joined the study this year as well.

“It is the largest turkey project we’ve ever conducted, with the hope of answering many questions regarding current turkey population dynamics,” Casalena said.

Finding birds to trap is key to accomplishing the work. That’s where the public comes in. Fortunately, Pennsylvanians have a history of helping in this way.

Last winter’s Wild Turkey Sighting Survey was extremely useful to staff for locating trappable flocks, Casalena said.

“The public was so helpful last year and even helped with monitoring sites and trapping,” Casalena said. “We really look forward to it expanding this winter.”

Half-ton butter sculpture highlights 2023

Farm Show theme: Rooted in Progress

Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding today unveiled the 2023 Pennsylvania Farm Show butter sculpture.

Carved from 1,000 pounds of butter, it highlights this year’s theme: Rooted in Progress.

The sculpture, a longtime PA Farm Show staple that celebrates Pennsylvania’s 5,200 dairy farmers, highlights the strong roots Pennsylvania agriculture has today thanks to a vision rooted in progress and eight years of targeted support and investments for the industry.

“We celebrate this year’s theme, Rooted in Progress, by highlighting the progress made over the past eight years and the opportunity that Pennsylvania’s farm families have today to innovate, diversify, and plan,” said Redding. “The entire commonwealth benefits from the strong roots we’ve cultivated for agriculture. These roots feed local economies and Pennsylvania families, they break down walls holding Pennsylvanians back, and they are a strong foundation for the future.”

The sculpture, sponsored by American Dairy Association North East (ADANE), depicts several generations of a dairy farming family, enjoying a moment together amid the backdrop of their family farm, celebrating how they work together to produce wholesome food for their community in a sustainable way.

The sculptors, Jim Victor and Marie Pelton, began work in mid-December to craft the work of art from butter donated by Land O’ Lakes in Carlisle, Cumberland County. Following the show, the butter will be moved to the Reinford Farm in Juniata County to be converted into renewable energy in the farm’s methane digester.

“The butter sculpture is a creative way to showcase the important role agriculture plays in our lives. Producing nutritious milk and dairy products, and feeding people, is what I love most about being a dairy farmer,” said dairy farmer Steve Harnish of Central Manor Dairy LLC in Washington Boro, Pa. “This sculpture could be my own family. This is a meaningful way to show how dairy farmers work with their loved ones on land where they have deep roots, but always farming for the future.”

Pennsylvania is also rooted in the next generation. The commonwealth leads the nation in preserved farmland.

Since January 2015, the Wolf Administration has invested more than $273 million in preserving 116,527 acres on 1,416 farms across the state. Since 1988, Pennsylvania has protected 6,148 farms and 619,191 acres in 58 counties from future development, investing more than $1.6 billion in our agriculture industry’s ability to feed our families and our economy.

In addition, Pennsylvania leads the nation in young farmers, with 14 percent of the state’s farmers under 35. The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture lifts up new and young farmers by offering grant programs and tax incentives through the PA Farm Bill.

The butter sculpture is on display in the Farm Show’s Main Hall.

The Pennsylvania Farm Show runs Jan. 7-14, 2023. Admission is free. Farm Show parking is $15, and all major credit cards are accepted.

For faster service, have your card ready upon entry to the parking lot. The Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex and Expo Center is easily accessible from Interstates 81 and 83.

Must-see exhibits at 2023 PA Farm Show

Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding was joined by canine companion, Honey Bee, for a tour of the PA Farm Show Complex and Expo Center to showcase new features and returning favorites focused on progress at the 2023 Farm Show.

On their tour, Redding and Honey Bee visited some must-see exhibits and encouraged Pennsylvanians to stop by them while at the show. The exhibits included:

• Conservation and Sunflower Exhibits, GIANT Expo Hall

Take a look at how Pennsylvania farmers are protecting our precious soil and water resources, how home gardeners can do their part, and what role sunflowers can play not just as a stunning selfie backdrop, but in protecting our environment.

• Forrester Farm Equipment LTD Display, GIANT Expo Hall

Check out the massive machines, including the New Holland FR Forage Cruiser, that will be on display, and learn about the high-tech farm equipment that helps farmers make progress in both efficiency and conservation.

• Department of Agriculture Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement Booth, GIANT Expo Hall

Stop by the Dog Law Enforcement table at the Farm Show and pick up a dog license application – love your dog, license your dog! Also stop by to see the sweet dogs that will be hanging around.

• Pennsylvania Hardwoods Exhibit/WoodMobile, Main Hall

Learn about Pennsylvania hardwoods and their sustainability and take in their beauty at the refreshed hardwoods exhibit. And don’t forget to check out the fan favorite Pennsylvania WoodMobile to learn even more about the industry’s progress.

• So You Want to Be a Farmer Exhibit, Main Hall

Visit the expanded So You Want to Be a Farmer exhibit in Main Hall for interactive info and fun for all ages. Pick the brains of professionals from the new PA Agriculture Business Development Center, PASA Sustainable Agriculture, Rodale, PA No-Till Alliance and more – your destination to feed your progress!

• World War II Homefront Window Display, Maclay Street Lobby, and WWII Display, GIANT Expo Hall

We cannot make progress without first understanding history. See some WWII homefront posters to get a glimpse of the times, and plan to visit Space #2310 in the GIANT Expo Hall to see a WWII display commemorating the Pennsylvania Farm Show’s role during the war.

Join us on Thursday, Jan. 12, for Service Members, Veterans and their Families Day, which will feature the popular Army-Navy Cook-off at 1 p.m., as well as other cooking demonstrations and much more.

For an up-to-date 2023 PA Farm Show schedule of events, visit the show’s website.

2023 Farm Show hours

Sunday, Jan. 8: 8 a.m.-8 p.m.

Monday, Jan. 9: 8 a.m.-9 p.m.

Tuesday, Jan. 10: 8 a.m.-9 p.m.

Wednesday, Jan. 11: 8 a.m.-9 p.m.

Thursday, Jan. 12: 8 a.m.-9 p.m.

Friday, Jan. 13: 8 a.m.-9 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 14: 8 a.m.-5 p.m.

The 2023 Farm Show will feature fun and educational experiences.

Here are some of the top activities and stops:

• Kids can become Farm Show AgExplorers by visiting different stations as part of a unique program that teaches visitors of all ages about Pennsylvania agriculture through fun, interactive, and hands-on learning. If you can’t participate in person, check it out online.

• Visit the new Ag Immersion Lab, sponsored by GIANT in partnership with the PA Friends of Agriculture Foundation, in the GIANT Expo Hall for fun things for kids to see and learn.

• Head over to Destination Dairy in Northeast Exhibit Hall to the Moo U interactive, STEM learning area with hands-on activities for kids with all ages.

• Families can check out goat snuggling each day in the New Holland Arena!

• Participate in Meet the Breeds to find out which dog is best for your family.

• Take a selfie with the sunflowers in the GIANT Expo Hall!

• Older kids and teenagers can participate in Judge Alongs for cookies, potatoes, floral arrangements, and more to learn about judging processes.

• Check out the vendors in the New Holland Arena, where there will be face painting and lots of places to shop.

• After all the fun, grab a new orange cream milkshake and more delicious PA foods at the food court!

Also, as a reminder, a nursing station will be located in the Cameron St. Lobby.

Learn more about the 2023 Farm Show, the schedule, and how agriculture is Rooted in Progress at — farmshow.pa.gov.