The annual Miss Harford County Farm Bureau contest recognizes young women who are involved in agriculture and want to help promote the conservation of rural life. Farm Bureau is a non-profit organization that represents county, state, and national levels.

     Held on July 27 at the Harford County Farm Fair, two NH seniors Paige Rickey and Sarah Fielder and Notre Dame Preparatory School 2013 graduate Elizabeth Galbreath participated in the contest.

      “The contest was a lot of stress, but was a fun way to meet a lot of people,” said Fielder.

       2011 NH graduate Emily Gill was crowned last year, but passed over her crown to the new Miss Harford County Farm Bureau 2013 winner Galbreath.

     “I know Sarah and Paige did an excellent job and either one deserved the title as much as anyone. They both are involved in agriculture and 4-H and understand what diligent farm work is like,” said Galbreath. “We’re all in this program because we want to promote agriculture. It doesn’t matter what the title is, we are all here for a great cause…”

     The contest consisted of giving a short speech on stage explaining their responsibilities on the farm and the history of their family farm. The contestants had to even take a tour of the farm fair with the judges while answering questions in an interview.

     “I was nervous because the speech had to be memorized, but we had a good turnout of fifty people,” said Fielder.

     Rickey and Fielder entered the contest because they both grew up in agriculture. The Rickey family farm, Goose Creek Farm, has been around ever since Rickey was a young girl and she grew up around sheep and cows. Rickey began showing animals at the Harford County Farm fair when she was just eight years old and then began to show at the Maryland State Fair.

     “I have been involved in Farm Bureau my whole life and have been a Farm Bureau member forever.”

     Rickey’s father, Jay Rickey is currently the president of the Farm Bureau so their involvement in agriculture has been a family affair.

      “The contest gave me good experience being in an interview and preparation for next year,” said Rickey. “I wanted to promote agriculture and  to become more involved in the community.”

      Rickey is planning to compete in the Miss Harford County Farm Bureau contest next year.

      In addition, Fielder’s roots began on a dairy farm with her great grandfather who has been in the agricultural arena for over 75 years.

      “We have a dairy farm with over 350 cows and I work on the farm weekly,” said Fielder.

     Additionally, Galbreath has been attending Farm Bureau events since she can remember and her father has been involved in the program for over 20 years.

     “Winning the county competition was amazing mostly because I had always wanted the title. I’ve known for years what I want to do with my life and this is just taking me a step closer to reaching my dream,” said Galbreath.

      Since Galbreath was the winner of the competition, she moved on to the Miss Maryland Agriculture competition where she received third runner up at the Maryland State Fair out of twenty-two girls. Now, she will travel around the state to promote agriculture with the top five runner-ups of the state competition.

     “I think the judges really did see my passion for agriculture though, and that was awesome,” said Galbreath. “I participated in the contest because I really just want the public to learn about the importance of agriculture…it always reminded me why I was there.”

       All of the girls are truly devoted to promoting agriculture and were even awarded with one hundred dollar cash prizes for participating in the competition.