UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Ag Progress Days is all about modern agriculture, offering a view of the food and fiber industry’s present and future. But visitors to the show can take some time to appreciate its past in a cool, quiet and friendly venue.
At the top of Main Street and central to the Ag Progress Days site, the Pasto Agricultural Museum is a place where visitors can explore exhibits and interactive displays showcasing agricultural and rural life before gasoline engines and electric motors. Visitors can see tools that helped do the work of planting, harvesting, processing and preserving food.They can walk through time, exploring the intersection of science and history.
Each year at Ag Progress Days, the Pasto Museum strives to connect the agricultural past with present-day practice and research around food, environment and renewable resources, according to Rita Graef, director of the Pasto Agricultural Museum and Armsby Respiration Calorimeter. She noted that the museum’s exhibits, programs and demonstrations provide an understanding of local and regional history, where food comes from, and the inventions and technology that have made food production on a large scale possible.
“The museum collection focuses on what life was like and how work was done before gasoline engines and rural electrification,” she said. “The museum will immerse visitors in thinking about our food and fiber systems and natural resources. The museum provides an opportunity to explore important issues facing agriculture and the environment in a historical context.”
This year at Ag Progress Days, on Wednesday, Aug. 14, the museum is partnering with the Penn State Student Farm to offer family-friendly activities that are part of the Growing Together: BEANanza series.
Penn State University Press again will have a presence just inside the museum’s doors offering a range of titles. From 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 15, the museum will host the first-ever “Ag Lit Day” event, where authors will be on hand to discuss their work and sign copies of their books.
During the show, the museum will be open every day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., offering air conditioning, accessible restrooms, baby-changing stations and water fountains. For information about the Pasto Agricultural Museum and for information about regular hours and programs throughout the year, visit https://agsci.psu.edu/pasto.
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. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Aug. 13; 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Aug. 14; and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 15. Admission and parking are free.
For more information, visit the Ag Progress Days website. The official hashtag for social media is #agprogressdays, and the event also can be found on Facebook (@AgProgressDays).
–Jeff Mulhollem, Penn State University