Whole-day registration today for Agricultural Fair

The Saipan Agricultural Fair Association and the Department of Public Lands and Natural Resources will be conducting today on-site registration for the 29th Saipan Agricultural Fair. The registration will be held the entire day at the Sabalu Market grounds by the 4H Building in Susupe.

The Agricultural Fair itself will take place tomorrow, culminating Semanan Lanchero or Farmers Week.

DLNR’s Marianne Concepcion Teregeyo, who is also the SAFA treasurer, said yesterday that while a lot of farmers and ranchers have already stopped by to pick up their forms, most of them are expected to register their livestock and produce throughout the day.

Only U.S. citizens and registered voters who are farming and residing on island can take part in the fair, which will have two main divisions, the Animal and the Plant Divisions. The Animal Division will have 13 categories while the Plant Division will have 70 categories. Winners will receive cash prizes.

Teregeyo noted the hauling of livestock entries to the grounds will be done today as well.

There will also be a separate agricultural fair involving entries from youths ages 8 to 17 years old. A total of 97 different kinds of produce will be accepted as entries and winners will receive non-monetary prizes.

Judging and the announcement of winners will be done tomorrow.

Saturday’s event will also feature exhibitor booths from the Soil & Water Conservation Unit, the Natural Resources Conservation Office – Saipan Field Office, and the Invasive Species team of the University of Guam.

Teregeyo urged local food and other vendors to take advantage of their $30 fee per vendor so they can set up a booth at the site, provided that they will bring their own tents.

“If they want to open a booth, they need to come right away to the site,” she told Saipan Tribune. “The enforcement team of the Department of Public Lands will also be at the site to deal with unauthorized vendors since only those with SAFA permits will be allowed to be there.”

Teregeyo said they are expecting a big crowd for the event given the marketing and promotion that SAFA has undertaken to ensure the success of the event.

For information, stop by the fair site today as the SAFA committee members will be there for the registration from 7:30am to 10pm.