Rabbit 'king' from West Newton presided at Pa. Farm Show

As he wrapped up his week at the 2020 Pennsylvania Farm Show, Zach Farlow found himself on Thursday at AngoraPalooza.

The event, one of many he’s attended this week as 2019 king of the Pennsylvania State Rabbit Breeders Association, featured Angora rabbits and scarves made from Angora rabbit wool.

“I had to judge rabbits, identify rabbits, give presentations about rabbits,” he said.

It was all in a day’s work for Farlow, 19, of West Newton, who is finishing up his one-year reign as a member of the 2019 breeders association royalty court.

A 2019 graduate of Yough High School, Farlow has been breeding and showing Dutch and Netherland Dwarf rabbits since 2014.

“I got a pet rabbit, and it just took off from there,” he said.

He took his hobby to the next level in 2019 by running for and being named the association’s king — a role which kept him busy most of the year and culminated in a week’s worth of duties at the PA Farm Show in Harrisburg.

“At times, it can be stressful, but it can also be fun,” he said.

Farlow traveled to Harrisburg early so that he could attend the Farm Show rabbit show on Jan. 3. His one entry, a Chinchilla Dutch rabbit, won first place in its category.

He spent the rest of the week performing numerous kingly duties, including being present at various rabbit hopping demonstrations, the meat pen auction and AngoraPalooza. Much of being association king at the Farm Show is about education and outreach to the public, he said.

“We are expected to promote the hobby,” he said.

Farlow got to meet Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding, the alpaca queen, the dairy princess and all the other commodity representatives. He attended the PA Preferred Reception on Jan. 3 and the Department of Agriculture Luncheon on Wednesday.

Although he has attended the Farm Show in the past, this is the first time he spent the whole week in Harrisburg. He will end his reign next month, when a new king is chosen at the 2020 association convention in Lebanon.

A student at Westmoreland County Community College, Farlow plans to transfer to Penn State and prepare for a career in agricultural education.