PEORIA, Ill. — If a photo truly reflects a thousand words, the 2016 Peoria County Farm Bureau (PCFB) calendar speaks volumes about local agrarians, including the crops they grow, the families they raise and the animals they care for.

One could say the calendar, which is available at next week’s 34th Greater Peoria Farm Show (GPFS) free of charge, provides a collective snapshot of all that is wonderful about farming in Peoria County.

Thirty-three members submitted 273 photos for the 2015 PCFB amateur photo contest, with many of the top 14 making the cut for the full-color 2016 calendar. GPFS visitors can obtain the calendar at the PCFB-sponsored Farm Toy Show, which is located between the Peoria Civic Center Theater and Exposition Hall, during all three days of the exposition Dec. 1-3.

Categories for judging were expanded from three to six for the 2015 photo contest to accommodate the growing interest in it. Categories were antique farm tractors and equipment, barns, families and farm activities, farm animals, nature and wildlife and 4-H, FFA and country kids.

“The photo contest is a great opportunity to get some wonderful pictures of farm work, farm scenes, nature and wildlife and other categories by our farmer-members,” said Patrick Kirchhofer, PCFB manager. “We use the photos in a variety of ways to teach children and consumers about agriculture.

“We use them for our Ag Literacy program in around 150 third-through-sixth grade classrooms in Peoria County every month. We also display them at the nine-day Heart of Illinois Fair in Peoria and at our Farmer’s Share of the Food Dollar breakfast in March, which was attended by 1,700 people this year.

“It’s really rewarding to have our members look forward to receiving their calendars this time of year. This year we’ve printed 1,800 calendars, and anyone in the community can pick one up for free, and $3 for each additional calendar,” he said.

The 2015 photo contest Best of Show Award was bestowed on Peggy Pullen of Dunlap, for her portrait of Rosie, the Barn Cat. The image shows a handsome orange tabby feline – no doubt a formidable mouser – lounging in a straw bed wedged into an interior barn crossbeam. Pullen received the top prize of $100 for her photo.

First-place winners in the six individual photo categories received $50, while runners-up fetched $25 for their efforts.

Thirty-two photos were submitted for the 4-H, FFA and farm kids category, including Julie Campen’s first-place snapshot taken on her family farm near Mapleton that includes a young toddler, Joshua Campen, representing the sixth generation to live on the farm homesteaded by his great-great-great-grandfather, Karl Goetze.

Another photo entered into this category and included in the calendar  shows an excited lass, Katherine Gibbs of Princeville, posing with her arms draped around her horse, Philip, during a break from grooming the horse in preparation for a 4-H show.

Nature and wildlife proved to be the most popular category, with 110 photos submitted.

“We had to expand from three to six categories this year because there are so many categories people want to enter,” Kirchhofer said. “The contest and the calendar represents a big cross-section of our members and the way they farm and live in Peoria County.”

See David Kopple at the PCFB-sponsored Farm Toy Show at the GPFS for your free calendar (while supplies last). Copies can also be obtained at the PCFB office, 1716 N. University, Peoria, or call 309-686-7070.