Smart Talk makes our annual visit to the Pennsylvania State Farm Show for a live broadcast Tuesday.

The Farm Show is a celebration of agriculture in Pennsylvania but it also is a good time to catch up on the status of farming and hear stories from individual ag-related businesses and families.

Pennsylvania's Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding appears on Tuesday's program to do just that. What are a few of the challenges facing the state's farmers and food producers in 2017? One of the real unknowns is in Washington with a new president. President-Elect Donald Trump has yet to name a nominee to be the nation's Secretary of Agriculture. That nominee will have a lot to say about the direction farm policy takes over the next four years.

Trade is another issue Pennsylvania farmers will be watching closely. About one-fifth of the products produced by farmers are exported.

Also on the program, The Pennsylvania Farm Bureau says the state's farmers are doing much more than they're being giving credit for when it comes to reducing pollution that runs into the Chesapeake Bay.

The Shaw Family that runs Blue Mountain Farms and Fiber Mill in Dauphin County has a unique story to tell. With no background in farming, the family became farmers only after the Shaw children became involved in 4-H programs. Today, they raise beef cattle, goats, sheep and rabbits, produce maple syrup and run a fiber mill. Three members of the Shaw Family joins us on Smart Talk.

Finally, did you ever think of vacationing on a farm? Gary Schubert of Hummerhaven Farmstead in Juniata County tells us about a farm vacation and how you can do it.