Young exhibitors show off their pigs during last year's Pennsylvania Farm Show. The 2019 show will feature 12,000 competitive exhibits, more than 5,200 of which are animal competitions.

Just in time to combat the post-holiday blues, the 103rd Pennsylvania Farm Show opens this weekend in Harrisburg.

Running Saturday through Jan. 12th and housed in the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex & Expo Center, it is the largest all-indoor agricultural expo in North America. The show is expected to draw 500,000 visitors during its run, according to state Agriculture Department spokesman Bill Nichols.

It will feature 12,000 competitive exhibits, more than 5,200 of which are animal competitions, plus 300 commercial exhibitors.

New wrinkles this year include new livestock classes, the addition of a new breed of beef cattle, the SimAngus, a crossbred animal combining the superior qualities of the Simmental with Angus or Red Angus.

Nichols said, “One of the new things this year is we're taking the best showmen from each of the livestock species and giving them an opportunity to vie for the title of best overall master showman.

“The winner gets the use of a livestock trailer for a year,” he added. “The kids from Butler County are perennial contenders every year.”

To find out more about this year's Farm Show and hear from some of the local people involved pick up Sunday's Butler Eagle.