Lebanon County youth take center stage at annual Pa. Farm Show in Harrisburg

The 2026 Pennsylvania Farm Show theme “Growing a Nation” is symbolic of more than just the crops that grow in the field and a celebration of delicious foods. 

It’s also about the people who work tirelessly to feed fellow Americans, and whose participation makes the state’s annual agricultural extravaganza a success. 

The 110th edition of the Pennsylvania Farm Show runs today through Saturday, Jan. 17, at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex on Cameron and McClay streets in Harrisburg.

Lebanon County will be well-represented – especially by its youth – at the eight-day event.

From those who are in the public limelight to those individuals who work behind the scenes, Lebanon’s own turn out in full force in a variety of ways during the statewide celebration of the agricultural industry.

Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding believes the show is secondary to what young adults put into and get from it.

“I think it’s nice to celebrate the industry in the moment, but I’m celebrating the future. And the future is not about a butter sculpture or a show, it’s about the people,” he said. “So I think having the 4-H and FFA members who represent that, right, they’re dedicating their lives to it in different ways and, you know, that’s what we’re selling. So I think it’s actually part and parcel to a farm show. It’s about youth and youth development, all of that engagement here at this event.”  

Pennsylvania State Dairy Princess

Jesslyn Risser will be one of the most visible Lebanon Countians at this year’s show in her role as the 2025-26 Pennsylvania State Dairy Princess, a title she won in September following her selection as the local princess in July at the Lebanon Area Fair. Risser lives in South Lebanon Township on her parents’ dairy farm.

On Thursday, Risser was at the unveiling of the 35th annual butter sculpture, which this year celebrates and honors the 250th anniversary of the nation’s birth on July 4, 2026. 

Decked out in her sash and crown, Risser posed for at least 20 minutes inside the frigid display case for photo opportunities with various dignitaries next to the sculpture. This year’s butter sculpture design features a scene of colonial icons Betsy Ross sewing the first flag and Pennsylvania resident Ben Franklin and several of his colleagues toasting the signing of the Declaration of Independence … with a glass of milk.

Carrie Anderson, program director for Pennsylvania Dairy Princess and Promotion Services, said judging for the title is a stiff competition that, among other things, tests the contestants’ knowledge of the dairy industry.

“We test them on their dairy knowledge and then they must do a speech, a 3- to 5-minute speech, and then they have a 3- to 5-minute presentation that can be utilized basically for elementary school age children. So they can take that presentation when they go into schools,” Anderson said. “And then we have a recipe contest that is optional. We have a scrapbook contest that is optional. We have a poster display (contest) that’s a must. And they could have traveled with that. It can go to different locations. And then a PSA radio spot.”

Like her predecessors, Risser will be around the Farm Show throughout the week to represent the industry at themed events and will be in the dairy show ring to hand out ribbons to those whose animals win awards. On Friday, she was in the food court for the kickoff of all the delicious commodities being sold by various ag organizations.

Lebanon County 4-H at the Farm Show

If you visit the Pennsylvania Farm Show this year, keep an eye out for Lebanon County entries from 4-H members. 

Much like watching a television show that contains Easter eggs within an episode, Lebanon County’s presence can be witnessed throughout the complex if you look close enough. 

From youths who will show steers and hogs to entries in the Family Living section, projects from 4-H have been entered into the judging competition, according to 4-H adult leaders Debby Tice and Linda Siegel.

“I have lots of kids participating, and there are many more families that I do not know about, such as the dairy and horse community,” Tice said, who will be working at the show herself. “I will be working the beef check-in and shows … then helping with the sale on the 13th.”

Siegel noted that Stella Klynoot, a senior at Our Lady of the Cross, will be in the Fashions with a Flair contest, a fashion show held today at 5 p.m. in the banquet hall. 

For those who want to watch the competition on television, Siegel noted the show is broadcast via the Pennsylvania Cable Network, the statewide cable channel, several times during Farm Show week. Check PCN’s schedule for air times for this and other events. 

Monica Klynoot, Stella’s mother, praised the local 4-H program. 

“As her mom, one of the best things I’ve ever done is put her into the 4-H program,” she said. “She has been involved since she was 8. She went to the National Congress in Atlanta this past year. She is student council president at her school. I mean, 4-H has done a lot to help her develop.”

Stella said she’s exhibiting in the 4-H sewing competition where the prom dress she made and wore to her junior prom will be on display and judged. She’ll also wear that dress in the fashion show, which has a different set of judging criteria and corresponding awards.

She said she crafted a blue and white mermaid-style gown with a corseted bodice and print on the fabric called toile (cloth/canvas). 

“Making my own prom dress has always excited me,” said Klynoot, who’ll enter her third fashion show. “The biggest competition this year is the Farm Show and the Fashions with a Flair competition is one that I will enter since it allows me to showcase all of the hard work that was put into the dress.”

She told LebTown she wants to pursue a career in fashion design.

“As a kid, I was always the one that was always drawing fashion sketches and what I thought I wanted my career to be has changed over the years, but my answer when I was eight years old was a dancer, a pop star, and a fashion designer,” she said. “The idea of creating walking art started with me at a young age and has always stayed with me.”

FFA at the Farm Show

Lebanon County’s FFA students will also be active during the show. Besides the annual FFA convention on Tuesday, there are entries throughout the complex from local members. 

Madison Balthaser, agriculture science teacher and FFF adviser in ELCO School District, said her students have placed a window display in the McClay Street lobby of the complex and a tractor restoration project in the Giant Expo Hall. 

The tractor is located directly across from Lebanon County-based Bell & Evans’ display and the one for the America 250th celebration. 

Balthaser said the window display highlights food safety, a topic her students have studied in the past school year.

“I think it’s really exciting for them because a lot of the kids that we have in our chapter don’t come from farm backgrounds, where they don’t really have the opportunity to live on farms or be involved with agriculture unless it’s an opportunity like this,” Balthaser said. “So like for most of our kids, this will be the first time that they ever get to show at the Farm Show or do anything here. I think it’s exciting because of that.” 

ELCO sophomore and FFA member Reagan Grumbine is the exception to that rule since his parents, Daryl and Michele Grumbine, are farmers. 

Grumbine and five of his classmates rebuilt a dilapidated 1955 John Deere Model 60 tractor into one that’s as pristine as if it was on the showroom floor. The tractor is part of the ELCO FFA chapter’s entry into this year’s Farm Show. 

“This tractor is a row crop version, and our original inspiration for the tractor was my grandparents’ great-grandparents, a great-grandfather. Harold and Lee were big, big crop farmers, one of the largest in Pennsylvania, and this is kind of what they started out with. They had a pair of these 60 model tractors,” Grumbine said.

Pennsylvania Farm Show Junior Committee 

Four of the 22, or 5.5%, of the youth members on the Pennsylvania Farm Show Junior Committee hail from Lebanon County. They are Brooke Beamesderfer, Annville; Chelsie Bomgardner, Jonestown; Emma Copenhaver, Lebanon; and Anna Houser, Myerstown.

The committee’s big project, in addition to working behind the scenes, is planning and executing the annual auction on Saturday, Jan. 17. Proceeds benefit the Pennsylvania Farm Show Foundation. 

“So that’s been a huge thing, just like prepping for that, making sure we have materials. But I think a lot of it also is just trying to bond with all the committee members from across the state for us to come here and work as an effective team, just to get everything done and accomplished in an effective manner,” Copenhaver said. 

Bomgardner said she received some words of wisdom from sisters Crystal and Chloe, both of whom served on the committee in the past, to guide her work with the group this year.

“I would definitely say take in every moment, and they were definitely (advising to) be in the moment,” she said. “Definitely do everything you can, serve who you can, talk to whoever you can, and ultimately just be present and really take it to the fullest opportunity.”

Copenhaver said much of the committee’s work is behind the scenes via marketing and doing publicity.

“A lot of stuff has kind of just been like behind the scenes, and a big thing for us is publicity,” she said. “So that means using social media and just like Instagram and Facebook and just really getting, like, what the Pennsylvania Junior Farm Show Committee is about but also just the Pennsylvania Farm Show in general.” 

Beamesderfer said she was added as the alternate State Fair Queen, a first for the committee, and she’s seizing the opportunity like others she’s had in the past in the ag arena.

“I grew up on a farm my whole life and I got to see the production agriculture side of things. And then when I grew older and kind of embraced my age background through extracurriculars like 4H, FFA,” she said. “I was super involved with my county fair, not only through being a fair queen, but I also worked in the fair office. So I just got to see agriculture through a different kind of lens just advocating and sharing the authentic story with the public. And it’s really, it (the Farm Show) is just a full circle moment for producers and consumers together and that really supports the longevity of the industry because you have to have that kind of mutual relationship.”

Houser said a new twist this year for committee members was to shadow an agricultural commodity as part of their duties. She’s the only one of her fellow members not to have grown up in a farm environment.

“Each of us, at the beginning of the year when we filled our application, they asked us some commodities that we’d be interested in, whether that be dairy or apples, apiary, potatoes, those sorts of things. And then from there they gave us a partnership with one of those commodities,” she said. “So for me, I was partnered with the Pennsylvania Cooperative Potato Growers, kind of with my potato judging background. I thought being a part of and working with the potato people would be really interesting.” 

A career in agriculture

Redding noted the first-ever Ag Career Expo will provide an opportunity for young adults looking for an ag-based job to meet with 50 ag businesses to learn more about those companies and their employment opportunities. Fredericksburg-based Bell & Evans is one of those participating companies.

“We spend a lot of time with ag employers who lament, ‘I can’t find anybody,’ and you have a lot of young people who are not really sure what this ag industry is about. So the goal is to bring them together in an Ag Career Expo,” Redding said. “So we’ve got 2,500 kids that are coming in on Monday with 50 ag companies. And they get a chance to rotate through and talk to employers and they will talk with the students. You have to expose both sides to what you’re trying to do.” 

Redding noted employment challenges exist outside of production agriculture.

“Our biggest challenge is not necessarily on the farm side. The issue is all of that other supply chain stuff, right? And we see it all the time. It’s the Messics of New Holland and John Deere saying to us all the time that they can’t find service technicians,” he said. “And their projections are to need a thousand technicians in Pennsylvania just over the course of the next 10 years. Where is that coming from? So these are the things underneath the desire to really have some career focus at the Farm Show.”