UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State’s Ag Progress Days is back with a full schedule of demonstrations, activities and learning experiences for agriculture enthusiasts of all ages. The expo will take place Aug. 12-14 at the Russell E. Larson Agricultural Research Center at Rock Springs in Ferguson Township, Centre County.
Ag Progress Days is one of the largest agricultural expos in the eastern United States, featuring nearly 500 commercial and educational exhibits, crop displays, machinery demonstrations, guided research tours, family and youth activities, horse exhibitions, workshops, and the Pasto Agricultural Museum.
College of Agricultural Sciences Exhibits Building
Displays and presentations in the College of Agricultural Sciences Exhibits Building will highlight the college’s recently launched Technology for Agriculture and Living Systems initiative.
The initiative is designed to bring researchers and extension specialists together across disciplines to create real-world solutions that boost food production, protect Pennsylvania’s natural landscapes, and build healthier, more resilient communities for the future.
Faculty members and Penn State Extension educators also will address such topics as protecting animal health, invasive species updates, agricultural education and careers, and more. In addition, presentations on topics related to displays will take place in the building’s theater area.
Trade show
The latest in farming products, services, equipment and technology will be on full display during this year’s Ag Progress Days, which will feature hundreds of commercial and educational exhibits, as well as various field demonstrations and workshops.
Exhibitors will cover a wide range of product categories, including field machinery, milking systems, animal genetics, storage structures, feed, tools, trailers, sprayers, mixers, livestock housing, utility vehicles, fertilizers, fencing, financial products and insurance.
Youth activities
There will be no shortage of things to do for even the expo’s youngest visitors. The 4-H Youth Building will introduce attendees to the state's 4-H program, dairy product knowledge, and raising rabbits and poultry. Other activities throughout the grounds will include the Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center wildlife tent, corn maze, a butterfly house and hands-on exhibits in the Pasto Agricultural Museum.
Tours
People curious about what takes place in the research fields of the Russell E. Larson Agricultural Research Center can get a sampling by taking a variety of guided tours and demonstrations.
Most tours will transport visitors by bus to locations around the research center, where researchers and Penn State Extension specialists will discuss their work. Tour topics will include rural and farm pond management, organic vegetable production research, raising and managing livestock, forest management, and more.
Agricultural safety and health
Visitors can learn about agricultural safety topics during a full schedule of demonstrations and hands-on educational programming at the Farm Safety Demonstration Area and the Rural Health and Safety Tent.
Four safety demonstrations — at 10 a.m. and noon on Tuesday and Thursday — will focus on the hazards associated with riding lawn mowers and best practices for safe operation. On Wednesday, volunteer firefighters will stage two demonstrations to show how first responders properly manage a tractor rollover incident. Several other sessions on various safety topics will also take place throughout the expo.
Food, families and communities
Visitors to the Family Room building can explore hands-on exhibits and demonstrations designed to help them build healthier habits.
Extension educators will lead food demonstrations and present talks with a focus on healthy living through food, physical activity, food safety, stress management, digital literacy, cancer screening and sun safety.
New exhibits for this year include digital literacy and online safety, reducing colorectal cancer risk, and sun safety and skin cancer prevention.
Crops, Soils and Conservation Area
Visitors to the Crops, Soils and Conservation Area can see a variety of exhibits, activities and demonstrations featuring crop management, renewable energy, conservation education, crop planting and natural resources.
Highlights will include an Ag Energy display with interactive activities, experts from Penn State and the Pennsylvania Forage and Grassland Council on hand to answer questions, the Hay Show and Wheat Grain Contest, corn maze that will be accessible for wheelchairs and strollers, several Natural Resources Conservation Service demonstrations focused on working farms, and more.
Yard and garden advice
From identifying pests to improving plant health, Penn State Extension Master Gardeners will provide research-based gardening advice in the Yard and Garden Area.
Experts — including Master Gardeners, extension educators, and specialists in horticulture, entomology, and plant pathology — will be on hand to offer advice and answer questions. Visitors also can tour a butterfly house to learn about pollinators, and the Bee Tent will feature an observation hive, beekeeping tools and displays about Pennsylvania’s bee species.
There also will be daily presentations on such subjects as flower arranging, apple tree care, native plants and trees, home composting and other topics.
The Equine Experience
Located at the top of Main Street at the Ag Progress Days site, the Equine Arena and Equine Exhibits Building will showcase the variety and versatility of the equine world.
Events will include the Spring Mount Percherons six-horse hitch demonstrations, Bear Hill Logging demonstrations about horse logging and restorative forestry, handling and training demonstrations with American Quarter Horses from Penn State’s equine science program, and more. New this year, USA Working Equitation also will be on-site Aug. 13 for two demonstrations.
Pasto Agricultural Museum
The Pasto Agricultural Museum offers hands-on exhibits to connect visitors to their agricultural and rural past. The approximately 1,300 items in the collection span from 4,000 B.C. to the 1940s — before the widespread use of electricity and gasoline-powered equipment — when farm and household work was accomplished with the muscle power of people and animals.
Location, dates and times
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, 9 miles southwest of State College on Route 45. Admission and parking are free. Dates and hours are:
- Aug. 12 — 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Aug. 13 — 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
- Aug. 14 — 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
For more information, visit the Ag Progress Days website.