Fewer people enter produce competitions at Michigan State Fair

According to a banner in the agricultural building at the Michigan State Fair, there are nearly 50,000 farms with 100,000 full- and part-time workers in Michigan. But there were just two prize-wining entries in this year’s giant pumpkin contest, and both of them belonged to the same person, Don Van Houtte, a 55-year-old farmer from Armada. The 682- and 578-pound winners were displayed at the front of the agricultural building along with Van Houtte’s hand-picked vegetable peck basket, another uncontested first-place winner. Van Houtte was surprised that he didn’t have any competition this year but understands why few farmers had entries in the produce competitions. “There’s less and less people doing that now,” he said. “I didn’t have the time to do it the last three or four years, but the fair board called and wanted me to bring down a big pumpkin. A few years ago we had a little more competition, but it’s hard because you have to take a whole day off to go and set up down there.” Read Article

By Nick Meyer