The Butler County Farm Tour on Saturday gave families their annual chance to learn more about Pennsylvania's — and Butler County's — number one industry.

A rare inside look at the process which takes food from the pasture to the grocery shelf, with the farmers themselves available for questioning, the tour has been a Butler staple for the past 11 years.

The Thiele family, 10 years after the farm tour last visited them, still milks between 35 and 40 Holstein dairy cattle and raises corn, oats, soybeans and hay to feed the herd.

"There hasn't been a whole lot of change. But I embrace technology, if I can afford it," owner Ed Thiele said.

"I can't decide the price of milk or diesel fuel, but I can be more efficient," he said.

Though the farm's costs have dramatically increased, Thiele still hopes to pass the farm onto his twin sons, William and James, now 15.

"They work in the barns and help in the field, sometimes against their will," Ed Thiele said with a laugh.

"They are the sixth generation to live on this ground. That is something special," he said.

Visitors wearing complimentary, plastic shoe covers toured the Thieles' milking barn and were able to learn about the process of creating milk as well as the costs involved.

"You get to learn about all this stuff and see all the animals. It's educational and fun," said Dan Greer of West Deer Township, whose family was visiting the tour for the third time.

The Thiele farm also featured the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau's Mobile Ag Science lab, where guests could see what daily products are made from agricultural products or, every hour, learn to make cream into butter.

"We go to schools and do hands-on science experiments. It's like a field trip at the school," said Alayne Jacobs, a teacher with the farm bureau.

The bureau employs 23 teachers, four drivers and four mobile labs in its program, which operates throughout the school year.

"The tour is wonderful. My grandkids are here for the first time, though, and having a great time," said Pat Potocnak of Sarver.

"I grew up around farms, but they are from Ford City so this is new to them," she said.

Her grandchildren, Tyler, 10, and Deanna, 4, had found the highlight spot of the farm tour for youngsters — a 20-foot mountain of hay bales set up in a barn at Har-Lo Farms.

Har-Lo also featured hay cart rides, dress-a-scarecrow, a miniature farm display and a pumpkin patch.

Harold Foertsch and his family farm 1,250 acres of owned and leased land. Crops include corn, potatoes, soybeans, wheat, oats, straw, hay and, since 1998, Pennsylvania Simply Sweet Onions.

Picking through the pumpkins, Ian Gazdacko of Zelienople had trouble deciding the best part of Har-Lo Farms.

"It is probably the hay mountain, but once we go in the corn, that might be my favorite," he said.

Har-Lo also had a grain silo open where youngsters could shed their shoes and frolic in the corn.

Gazdacko was one of 10 students in teacher Drew Kysel's third-grade class from Connoquenessing Valley Elementary School, touring the farms on a Saturday field trip.

"We do a couple each year, but this is always the first one," Kysel said.

Asked if it was OK to give up a Saturday for school, Miya Paserba of Cranberry Township, a student in Kysel's class, said, "it was totally worth it. This is fun."

Rustic Acres Winery, owned by Gary and Eirlys Matson, was a hobby turned business in 2005.

The winery has captured several awards, including gold and double gold honors at the 2007 Keystone Wine Competition and six first place awards at the Big Butler Fair.

"I think it's wonderful. It's great how they have foods to complement the wine," said Melissa Hickman of Butler.

Adult visitors had an opportunity to sample the wine produced at Rustic Acres — picture the lines at Kennywood Park on a warm summer day — in addition to watching Gary Matson bottle and label wine.

"This forces us to think about expanding," he said with sweat on his brow.

"We actually had people here yesterday to see where it was for today. It's much busier than I expected," Matson said.

Eirlys Matson agreed.

"This is over and above anything we could have imagined," she said.

Schramm's Market set up shop at the winery, as well, while Mama Rosa's restaurant contributed foods to accompany the wine tasting.

One of the lessons of the farm tour is the price of agriculture. Below is a list of the Thiele family's expenses from 1998, when the tour first visited its farm, and 2008.• Diesel fuel: 70 cents per gallon in 1998, $4 per gallon in 2008• Propane: 80 cents per gallon in 1998, $3.15 per gallon in 2008• Corn fertilizer: $206 per ton in 1998, $950 per ton in 2008• Seed corn: $70 per bag in 1998, $172 per bag in 2008• Soybean meal: $200 per ton in 1998, $360 per ton in 2008• Distillers: $150 per ton in 1998, $234 per ton in 2008• Veterinary fees: $60 per hour in 1998, $100 per hour in 2008• Home owners insurance: $2,335 in 1998, $4,800 in 2008• Property tax: $4,900 in 1998, $7,800 in 2008During that 10 years, the price of milk earned by Pennsylvania farmers has increased from $1.30 per gallon to $1.69 per gallon.