UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The 2010 edition of Penn State’s Ag Progress Days exposition will take place Aug. 17-19, and organizers are planning a variety of activities of interest to agricultural producers, consumers and families.
400 exhibitors
Show Manager Bob Oberheim said more than 400 commercial exhibitors expected to display the latest goods and services.
Interactive educational exhibits, guided tours and workshops will show how agricultural research and extension programs are helping to safeguard and improve our food supply and the environment, while helping to enhance the efficiency and profitability of agriculture and related industries.
The College of Agricultural Sciences Exhibits Building will provide a hub for information on topics such as renewable energy; food, diet and health; water quality and quantity; pest prediction and response; and business development.
Around the 55-acre expo grounds, faculty and extension staff also will be on hand to answer questions and provide information on crop, dairy, livestock and equine production, conservation practices, integrated pest management, woodlot management, farm safety, and home gardening and lawn care.
Beyond the exhibits field, visitors can get a glimpse of scientific research under way at the surrounding, 2,100-acre Russell E. Larson Agricultural Research Center.
The field machinery demonstrations will return, featuring hay mowing, hay rakes and tedders, hay baling and bale handling.
A new demonstration this year will showcase the latest technology in field sprayers, Oberheim said.
Field demonstrations
Other new field demonstrations will include planting machinery for no-till cover crops and horse-drawn no-till planting equipment, featuring drills, corn planters and transplanters.
Also planned are family living exhibits; food demonstrations; a corn maze; horse exhibitions and clinics; wildlife displays; children’s activities; exhibits of antique farm and home implements in the expanded Pasto Agricultural Museum; and a wide variety of food booths.
Details
Sponsored by Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, Ag Progress Days is held at the Russell E. Larson Agricultural Research Center at Rock Springs, nine miles southwest of State College on Route 45.
Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Aug. 17; 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Aug. 18; and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Aug. 19. Admission and parking are free.
Free shuttle bus service between the Ag Progress Days site and downtown State College will be available. For more information, visit the Ag Progress Days Web site at http://apd.psu.edu.
