The annual banquet that brings together hundreds of representatives from industry, agriculture and politics also highlights local farmers through such honors as the Century Farm Award. He said less than a third of family businesses today make it to a second generation as succeeding generations feel the need to branch into other enterprises. Today they grow corn, soybeans, barley and hay and have a small flock of sheep. LancasterOnline.com: News : Banquet honors farms. LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa...

Research began in the late 1990s to determine the old farmstead's outbuildings - constructed on cypress foundations, they had long since rotted - and what the house would have looked like before it was added onto and modernized. The corncrib, the outhouse with its three seats, the brick-floor smokehouse, the two-room slave cabin and the kitchen were reconstructed as authentically as possible. He raised cattle, pigs and sheep, owned at least two horses and an ox. The Dare County Board of...

While they re a delicacy in Asia and their native South America, they re valued for their fleece fiber here, which is noticeably softer and less coarse than sheep wool. Alpaca fleece is coveted because it s softer than wool, yet provides more warmth and is more breathable. People who can t wear sheep s wool often can wear alpaca, Honey said. Because of his love for animals, Honey considered starting a dog daycare or a pet food delivery service. An alpaca looks like a cross between a sheep...

Rules allow animals from protection zones to cross the border for slaughter, so there should be no affect on the 134 single and 33 pairs of lambs entered for carcass competitions. Attendances had been climbing steadily to peak at 26,996 in 2006 and the horse section, introduced in 2001 when foot-and-mouth stopped primestock classes, regularly pulled in more than 600 entries and many spectators. Provisional entries for 2007 are also good, though they could be sharply reduced by the fact...

He and his brother, a real estate appraiser, will decide what kind of meal they want, shop for the best ingredients, make stocks, execute a menu and cook for upward of 20 people. Hes been out of his parents house for 22 years but the farming life he grew up with isnt out of him in the least. It instilled a love of food in the J&W trained chef who was recently promoted to the newly created position of executive chef, Practicum Properties, overseeing the food services at the Universitys...

He made the decision to team up with his father and brother on the family property after school and says he has always liked the work, being outdoors and working with sheep. His duties involve selecting the stock for artificial insemination, joining the stud sheep, animal husbandry and preparing for two annual and main events, an on-property sale and the Royal Melbourne Show. The stud is celebrating 50 years in 2007, making it older than Mr Dixon, who started helping out on the farm when...