Charlotte Thompson, 9, spends quality time with Nosey the cow at the Oregon AG Fest held at the Oregon State Fairgrounds on Saturday, April 26, 2025. (LAURA TESLER/Special to Salem Reporter)
The barns were full at the Oregon State Fairgrounds over the weekend as thousands of people came out to learn about livestock, Oregon crops and more.
Cows, rabbits, goats, horses, llamas, chickens and more were on display for visitors to greet in the livestock barn. Children could ride ponies or try their hand at a modified firefighter physical fitness test to rescue a teddy bear.
Inside, dozens of activities gave people a hands-on look at many of the state’s crops, with opportunities to dig up potatoes, grind hazelnuts or take a photo with a giant inflatable Dungeness crab.
Hadley Smalley, 5, enjoys riding a pony at the Oregon AG Fest held at the Oregon State Fairgrounds on Saturday, April 26, 2025. (LAURA TESLER/Special to Salem Reporter)Debi Garvin shows off “Cowboy,” her champion show llama at the Oregon Ag Fest held at the Oregon State Fairgrounds on Saturday, April 26, 2025. (LAURA TESLER/Special to Salem Reporter)Kirsten Helton of Gresham attempts to get eight seconds of fame on the mechanical bull at the Oregon AG Fest held at the Oregon State Fairgrounds on Saturday, April 26, 2025. (LAURA TESLER/Special to Salem Reporter)Aaliyah Perez takes a chance on the mechanical bull at the Oregon AG Fest held at the Oregon State Fairgrounds on Saturday, April 26, 2025. (LAURA TESLER/Special to Salem Reporter)A team of draft horses wait patiently to take attendees for a ride around the Oregon State Fairgrounds at the Oregon Ag Fest on Saturday, April 26, 2025. (LAURA TESLER/Special to Salem Reporter)Rhett Burge, 5, watches a gas powered coin grinder with Antique Powerland volunteer Jim Batch at the Oregon Ag Fest held at the Oregon State Fairgrounds on Saturday, April 26, 2025. (LAURA TESLER/Special to Salem Reporter)The Crisanto-Brito family enjoys lunch together and the free plants they received at the Oregon Ag Fest held at the Oregon State Fairgrounds on Saturday, April 26, 2025. (LAURA TESLER/Special to Salem Reporter)Another satisfied family leaves the Oregon Dairy Women red barn stand with ice cream in hand at the Oregon Ag Fest held at the Oregon State Fairgrounds on Saturday, April 26, 2025. (LAURA TESLER/Special to Salem Reporter)Amber McLennon holds one a baby pygmy Nigerian goat for attendees to pet gently at the Oregon Ag Fest held at the Oregon State Fairgrounds on Saturday, April 26, 2025. (LAURA TESLER/Special to Salem Reporter)Bernadette Kennedy, Future Farmers of America, and Trinity Baker, 4-H, take goats to the petting zoo for attendees to interact with at the Oregon Ag Fest held at the Oregon State Fairgrounds on Saturday, April 26, 2025. (LAURA TESLER/Special to Salem Reporter)Isaac Newman, 4, puts on a veterinary exam sleeve to reach inside the pretend cow to get a prize at the equine veterinarian booth at the Oregon Ag Fest held at the Oregon State Fairgrounds on Saturday, April 26, 2025. (LAURA TESLER/Special to Salem Reporter)Arianna Wilson, 12, pets Dancer in the horse barn at the Oregon Ag Fest held at the Oregon State Fairgrounds on Saturday, April 26, 2025. (LAURA TESLER/Special to Salem Reporter)Lianie Rodriguez, 3, makes friends with the poultry at the Oregon Ag Fest held at the Oregon State Fairgrounds on Saturday, April 26, 2025. (LAURA TESLER/Special to Salem Reporter)Laurene Stepan, with her two border collies Ben and Jess, came from Battle Ground, Washington to show their skills at herding and agility at the Oregon Ag Fest held at the Oregon State Fairgrounds on Saturday, April 26, 2025. (LAURA TESLER/Special to Salem Reporter)Inside the Red Barn the Oregon Dairy Women manage the long line of ice cream lovers with practiced ease and calm at the Oregon Ag Fest held at the Oregon State Fairgrounds on Saturday, April 26, 2025. (LAURA TESLER/Special to Salem Reporter)A team of matched mules pulls Oregon Ag Fest attendees while a Future Farmer of America member gives an overview of the event to riders at the Oregon AG Fest held at the Oregon State Fairgrounds on Saturday, April 26, 2025. (LAURA TESLER/Special to Salem Reporter)Lorraine Arwood, Leilani Silva, and Kimberly Estrada, members of Salem-Keizer FFA, are ready to hand out plants to attendees at the Oregon Ag Fest held at the Oregon State Fairgrounds on Saturday, April 26, 2025. (LAURA TESLER/Special to Salem Reporter)An attendee gets instruction from a Salem-Keizer FFA member on how to take care of their plant at the Oregon Ag Fest held at the Oregon State Fairgrounds on Saturday, April 26, 2025. (LAURA TESLER/Special to Salem Reporter)Brayden Sorenson, 5, plants his plant he received from the Salem-Keizer FFA booth in soil medium at the Oregon AG Fest held at the Oregon State Fairgrounds on Saturday, April 26, 2025. (LAURA TESLER/Special to Salem Reporter)Ernesto Zuniga Junior, 8, enjoys crushing hazelnuts in the press to get the meat at the Oregon Ag Fest held at the Oregon State Fairgrounds on Saturday, April 26, 2025. (LAURA TESLER/Special to Salem Reporter)Vernon Herrick has been handing plants to people for 16 years in the Oregon Grange booth at the Oregon Ag Fest held at the Oregon State Fairgrounds on Saturday, April 26, 2025. (LAURA TESLER/Special to Salem Reporter)Lucas Sexton, 6, gives careful directions to Emma Lingscheit, Madras FFA, while she helps assemble his “dirt baby” in the Farm Bureau booth at the Oregon Ag Fest held at the Oregon State Fairgrounds on Saturday, April 26, 2025. (LAURA TESLER/Special to Salem Reporter)Ruby Vollmer, 2, enjoys time in the corn pool at the Farm Bureau booth while attending the Oregon Ag Fest held at the Oregon State Fairgrounds on Saturday, April 26, 2025. (LAURA TESLER/Special to Salem Reporter)
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Laura Tesler has lived in Salem, Oregon for 20 years and is originally from Flint, MI. Laura has been an underwater photographer for 15 years, and is an avid scuba diver. Topside, she has been taking photographs since age 12, and currently works on assignment for the Salem Reporter, and full time purchasing land for fish and wildlife habitat in the Willamette Valley. Laura attended Oregon State University, and has traveled extensively all over the world and the United States.
