Paul Shealer, who retired Friday as Carbon County Agricultural Agent, can be credited with a major change to the Carbon County Fair.

The former Carbon County Fair, which was held in Lehighton for about a century, had an annual livestock auction. It was primarily hogs that were sold. In the ranks of 4-H members, it was labeled the "swine show."At the current Carbon County Fair near Palmerton, the 4-H livestock sale will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday. There will be more than just hogs sold. Buyers will also bid on steers, dairy cows, lambs, goats, poultry, and rabbits.Shealer, who was the agricultural agent the past 26 years, worked with 4-H livestock clubs during that tenure. He stressed raising more than hogs."Currently, all types of animals are run through the livestock sale," he said. "This created more opportunities for our children."The fair opens tomorrow and continues through Sunday.Shealer retired Friday.While 4-H has been one of his priorities, he said perhaps, his biggest achievement was the impact he made on the Christmas tree industry.He said that in 1984 when he arrived in the county, there were more than 100 growers. One of the management practices back then was "stump planting." He said whenever a tree was harvested, a new one was planted at the stump of the one removed.This resulted in trees of all ages on the Christmas tree farms and tougher control of pests.Although there are some tree growers that still use stump planting, he said he introduced a method that most have adopted. His program "Everything in, everything out" means all trees are harvested within a two-year period."It led to much more efficient operations," he said.Shealer owns and operates a Christmas tree farm in his hometown of Auburn in Schuylkill County. He is a proven expert on Christmas trees:• This past year at the Pennsylvania Farm Show, he raised the grand champion evergreen.• He was the grand champion at the state level on numerous past occasions.• In 2000, he produced the national champion Christmas tree. This meant supplying the Christmas tree for the White House.• In 2006, he produced the national reserve champion Christmas tree. The tree was put in the residence of then Vice President Dick Cheney.This week, he traveled to Winston-Salem, North Carolina for the 2010 National Christmas Tree Competition.Shealer is only the third agricultural agent in Carbon County. He succeeded the late Ray Reitz, who was ag agent for more than 30 years. Before Reitz, Nicholas Rahn held the position.Agricultural agents have their salary paid by Penn State University. Their main job is to take research from Penn State and disseminate it to residents of their respective county.Shealer said the number of farms in Carbon County has been steadily declining. When he assumed the position, there were more than 200 farms. Today there are between 180 and 190 farms.He said the statistic is misleading because a farm is any agricultural operation which produces grocery receipts in excess of $1,000.The biggest agricultural product in the county in gross income is Christmas trees. He said Pennsylvania ranks fourth in the nation in total Christmas tree production. Carbon, Schuylkill, and Columbia counties combined make up 70 percent of the state's Christmas tree production.In 1986, Shealer formed the regional Christmas Tree Growers Association. It's been a continuous program with an annual convention. Attendance at the meetings are mainly from 17 or 18 counties, five or six states, and there have been a couple of sessions attended by tree growers from Canada."The purpose is to educate growers about good cultural and marketing practices of Christmas trees," he said.Shealer's wife, Sharon, serves as the guidance counselor at the Carbon Career and Technical Institute. He stressed that she is not retiring.Plans for his retirement include traveling."I'm an avid hunter," he said. "This fall I will be going on hunting trips in three states in three weeks: Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana."He and Sharon are hoping to take an African safari next year.The Shealers have two children, Paul, an agricultural engineer currently working as a landscaper; and Briana, a 4-H educator in Schuylkill County. They have one granddaughter."My biggest loss in retirement is the people and the friends and the relationships I developed in the 26 years. I've developed some tremendous friendships," he said.