HARRISBURG — Schuylkill County potato producers were among agriculture industry representatives who met face-to-face with Gov. Tom Wolf on Saturday during the opening day of the 100th Pennsylvania Farm Show.
Nancy T. Schlegel, director of food safety for Sterman Masser Inc., Sacramento, and Michelle Rumbel, office manager of Huntsinger Farms Inc., Hegins, were volunteers at one of the new displays at this year’s show called “Farm To Shelf.” Wolf stopped at the Farm To Shelf exhibit at 9 a.m., before conducting the show’s official opening ceremony at 10 a.m. in the Large Arena.
Joining Wolf at the exhibit was Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding, and a fleet of reporters, who followed the pair throughout the Weis Exhibition Hall.
“I feel that he’s (Wolf) interested in the industry as a whole and asked good questions,” Schlegel, Lykens, said following the governor’s stop. “I hope he understands how many people are employed, from the farm, to the processing, to the restaurants, and that agriculture’s an important industry in Pennsylvania.”
“I hope that he sees that funding for agriculture and ag education needs to remain,” Schlegel said.
Rumbel said it’s important for political leaders to know the local producers who are feeding their neighbors. She also thought the farm show was a perfect venue to explain the investment and labor producers have placed in their businesses.
“I’m afraid we’re going to lose the family farms. I think him being here shows a commitment,” said Rumbel, who also operates Rumbel’s Roadside Stand and Cider House with her husband, John, in Ringtown.
Schlegel’s first opportunity to meet the governor, she said, was on Friday when she attended a PA Preferred reception at the farm show complex, upper-level dinning room. At the time, Schlegel said the governor spoke to her briefly, and she answered his questions about the different potato varieties that are used for potato chips.
During Saturday’s visit, he greeted Schlegel with a handshake before examining equipment at the potato display.
“He asked about the tractor and planter costs, and asked how potatoes were planted,” Schlegel said.
Moving through the potato display, Wolf saw potatoes already packaged with foil wrapping called “Grillables.” He asked why someone just couldn’t do that sort of wrapping on their own.
“I explained it’s all about convenience these days,” Schlegel said.
The governor asked Rumbel how you determine what potato is best for cooking, baking or mashing. Rumbel said she encouraged him to try round, white potato varieties, especially for mashing.
In conjunction with Weis Markets, the Farm to Shelf exhibit featured four key Pennsylvania commodities — apples, pork, dairy and potatoes. Each commodity had a 30-by-40-foot pod where growers and producers will be teaching farm show attendees about their commodity and the story of how it gets from the farm to the grocery store shelf.
Schlegel coordinated the potato pod portion, in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Cooperative Potato Growers. This portion of the display was sponsored by the Pennsylvania Cooperative Potato Growers, Sterman Masser Inc. and Keystone Potato Products Inc. Schlegel also asked Huntsinger Farms Inc. to help staff the booth. Schlegel said her mother-in-law, Muneen Jury, Lykens, who formerly operated Red’s Greenhouse, had a “creative hand” in setting up the potato display.
Roger Springer, general manager of the Pennsylvania Cooperative Potato Growers, helped design one of the elements in the display, showing how the potatoes grow during the plant’s life cycle. Visitors could see the plant — above and below ground — at the soil level, with the seed potato and the edible tubers.
“This is a great opportunity to promote and market potatoes,” Springer, Harrisburg, said. “Pennsylvania potatoes have a distinct taste. Our soils do make a difference.”
Springer said he was happy his idea to launch a cinnamon potato doughnut this year at the cooperative’s food stand was a hit.
Redding attended a media ribbon-cutting, launching the Farm To Shelf exhibit Friday.
“This display is a partnership between the department, Weis and some of the state’s leading commodity sectors,” Redding said, according to a farm show press release. “With more people further and further removed from agriculture, we too often take for granted the food on our plates. We don’t give a lot of thought to all of the hard work by so many people to move that food from the field or the farm to the table. This display is about illustrating the tremendous investment producers make 365 days to ensure a safe, reliable food source for Pennsylvania consumers, as well as those beyond the state’s borders and around the world.”
“We are proud to be a part of the 100th Pennsylvania Farm Show. Our Farm To Shelf exhibit highlights our commitment to buying local in our home state of Pennsylvania where we purchase virtually all of our milk and more than 25 million pounds of local produce,” Dennis Curtin, Weis Markets director of public relations, said.
Hazel Kramer said she and her husband, Kenneth, traveled from Hamilton Township, Mercer County, New Jersey, on Saturday to get to the farm show early. They like to sample the food court, she said, and try to arrive early to beat any long lines.
“I already had my cinnamon potato doughnut,” Kramer said shortly before 9 a.m. She stopped by the potato pod, and she said she enjoys snacking on potatoes after popping them into the microwave.
Tamara Hoffman, Windber, browsed the potato pod with her son, Emory Koehler, 6.
“My dad brought me to the farm show when I was his age,” Hoffman said. “I had a cinnamon potato doughnut, and I’m set.”
Emory asked Schlegel about how many seed potatoes fit into a planter, as he stared up at the tall Harriston 4-row potato planter on display.
Meanwhile, the dairy portion of the display showed how fresh milk gets from the dairy cow to consumers. The exhibit was sponsored by Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association, Pennsylvania Dairy Promotion Program, PA Dairymen’s Association and the Center for Dairy Excellence.
The Pennsylvania Pork Producers Council and PennAg Industries Association sponsored the pork portion of the pod with an interactive display, which included a sow and her litter of piglets.
The apple pod was designed to educate the public about the various outlets for apples, from the orchard to the retailer. This portion of the display was sponsored by the PA Apple Marketing Board, Knouse Foods Cooperative and Penn State Extension, Adams County.
Although he wasn’t in the apple pod, Hegins apple producer Andrew Schwalm, with Schwalm Farms, volunteered Saturday at the Young Growers Alliance booth near the Main Hall. He was selling cider and apples, and answering visitors’ questions.
“A lot of people know the old standards, but we’re introducing them to some of the newer varieties, like Gala, Honeycrisp and Pink Lady. Some people had questions about growing apples in their backyard, while others wanted to know why varieties they could buy as a kid, they can’t find anymore,” Schwalm said. Schwalm Farms raises 50 acres of apples and other fruits, with Gala and Honeycrisp among their top sellers.
Elsewhere, farm show participants worked serving refreshments or tending to their livestock.
Kim Morgan, Pine Grove, a co-leader with the Blue Mountain 4-H Livestock Club, had a group of four students prepping their crossbred lambs. The students had attended a seminar Friday night and were using some of the skills they had learned Saturday as they groomed their market animals. Among the 4-H members attending and competing in this year’s show are sisters, Sara Strouse, 12, and Stefanie Strouse, 14, both of Auburn; Casmira Keller, 12, of Orwigsburg; and Collin Felty, 12, of Schuylkill Haven.
Keller said this was her second year showing at the farm show venue. Last year, she showed a goat.
“I’m not that nervous out there. I get into the ring and just do what I need to do,” Keller said.
Luke Mease, 9, a member of the Schuylkill Stampede Livestock Club, was showing livestock for the first time at this year’s farm show. On Saturday, he was tending to his male Boer goat and female Yorkshire purebred pig. He’s the son of Mike and Tabitha Mease, Pine Grove. Luke’s brother, John, 14, who’s a member of Pine Grove’s FFA, was also scheduled to show a pig and lamb. John volunteered at the PA Livestock Food Stand on Saturday. Luke said he’s also competed at the Gratz Fair and Schuylkill County Fair.
“I’ve got to feed and water them and work with them, so I can make them stand still,” Luke said about his livestock upkeep.
The farm show’s also an opportunity for legislative leaders to meet with agriculture producers to determine what laws may be of interest to their constituents.
U.S. Rep. Glenn “G.T.” Thompson, of the 5th congressional district, and his wife, Penny, stopped by the PA Vegetable Growers Association food stand Saturday to speak with Barron “Boots” Hetherington and his wife, Robin, of B&R Farms, Ringtown.
Thompson, who chairs the house subcommittee on conservation and forestry, said he tries to attend the farm show every year, not only because agriculture is Pennsylvania’s number one industry, but because he has an opportunity to speak with farmers and ranchers directly.
“We want to find out if the 2013 Farm Bill is serving their needs,” Thompson said. “I also like to ‘graze’ the food court.”
Thompson was sponsoring a Congressional Listening Session from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Saturday at the farm show, which Hetherington was planning to attend.
Hetherington said he was hoping the session would address concerns involving water pollution and the Chesapeake Bay, and the EPA’s efforts to regulate producers.
Hetherington said he realizes the need to keep the Chesapeake water clean, but has fears efforts may be too restrictive.
“Our fear is if we go so stringent, we’ll drive livestock producers out of Pennsylvania; and what about my use of irrigation water? The EPA is pushing, perhaps, over-reaching. We can’t become too vigilant. There has to be a balance,” said Hetherington, noting his 400-acre vegetable and strawberry farm uses no-till techniques to cut down on erosion. “We’re lucky to have a congressman from Pennsylvania on the ag committee. He’s such a champion for us.”
The 100th PA Farm Show, themed “Our Commonwealth’s Blue Ribbon Experience,” runs through Jan. 16.