HARFORD COUNTY, Md. — Pigs and ponies and goats, oh my—it's the 38th Harford County Farm Fair.
WATCH: Harford County Farm Fair in full swing
Hold on to the reins because there's so much in store.
For 16-year-old Mackenzie Gill, taking care of her family's farm animals every day is no small feat.
"Getting up in the morning, feeding, watering, getting hay, walking them, taking care of their leg shag and their skincare. These animals have better hair care than I do," Gill said.
All that work leads up to this, the Harford County Farm Fair.
The event had many activities like livestock shows, track events, food and more.
Kimmi Lyons, one of the board of directors with the fair, told WMAR 2 News it's all about preserving farming culture in Harford County.
"Harford County has 614 farms and 65,000 acres permanently preserved in agriculture, so the farm fair is serving as an event for the community to come out and celebrate that heritage with us," Lyons said.
Jackie Harward said it's also a teaching moment for people outside of the agriculture community.
"So this week allows the 4H kids and FAA kids and all of the farmers to showcase the time and effort what goes into raising their crops, raising the livestock—this is the way to show the community what all goes into that. And without it, you're not gonna have crops for your table; you're not gonna have meat for your table either," Harward said.
For many of these kids, farming is a family affair.
Fifteen-year-old Madison Thomas, the Upper Chesapeake Dairy Princess, makes it her mission to educate people on the dairy industry so it doesn't fizzle out.
"I've lived on my grandparents 120-year-old dairy farm for my whole life, and in 2021 we sold our dairy herd, which was really hard for me and my family because my grandfather got older and wanted to retire, and that is a struggle in the dairy industry—that older farmers are retiring and not everyone wants to be a farmer," she said.
Some of the animals at the fair had a unique purpose.
Dawn Leung, Executive Director of the Wellspring of Life Farm, walked around with ponies who serve as support animals for veterans.
"They play cornhole with the veterans; like, one of our Walter Reed veterans is in a chair, and she'll toss the beanbag, and if she misses, awesome will go up, and he'll push it in," Leung said.
For Mackenzie, coming to the fair every year makes all the hard work worth it.
"You kind of form a family, and so when you're at the shows, it's such a great feeling to see the day-to-day work you put in and to have it pay off with a blue ribbon or hopefully a purple ribbon and a banner."
The fair will run until Saturday, July 26th.
