Penn.'s Farm Show Puts Best Hoof Forward

Immaculate grooming isn't just a concern for beauty-pageant contestants. At the Pennsylvania Farm Show, Brandy, an 11-month-old Angus heifer, needs to look good, too.

As Jamie Brozman was sizing up her heifer last week, her main objective was to de-emphasize the animal's bulging shoulders by giving her coat a closer shave.

``It's really an art form, like sculpting,'' said Brozman, from the Just Enuff Angus farm in Nazareth. She spoke over the din of electric hair clippers and blow dryers that resembled distant cousins of wet-dry vacuums.

Brandy was among nearly 8,000 animals that will be on display at the 92nd annual Farm Show, billed as the nation's largest indoor agricultural exposition. Nearly a half million people are expected to attend the event, which opened Saturday and continues daily through Jan. 12.

The show is a key event on the calendar for farm families seeking judges' accolades and buyers for their livestock. Preparing an animal for that much scrutiny requires allowing it to grow a thick coat of hair in the months leading up to the show, then using strategic grooming to accentuate the positives, said 23-year-old Jennifer Hower, Brozman's sister.

``The better in clipping and thinning you are, the better you can make your animal look,'' Hower said. ``You can't make a terrible animal look fantastic, but you can make them look better.''