A working greenhouse brings the fair’s farm story into its 10th year

Photo Credit: State Fair of Texas

Inside the State Fair of Texas' Errol McKoy Greenhouse, opening-week visitors can explore a farm program whose work continues after the rides close. Big Tex Urban Farms is marking its tenth year in 2026, connecting the fair's agricultural exhibits with year-round produce donations.

The program began in 2016 and now occupies the greenhouse on the Midway. In an April 1 anniversary announcement, the fair reported that it had supplied more than 2 million servings of fresh produce to South Dallas families since its founding. That is a cumulative figure reported before this year's fair, not a total generated during opening week. Dated anniversary announcement

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Photo Credit: State Fair of Texas

The current Innovations in Agriculture exhibit shows indoor growing methods and do-it-yourself systems that can be built at home. For College Station readers interested in agriculture, it offers a different subject from the livestock ring: how growing space and production methods can fit an urban setting. Current greenhouse exhibit description

The anniversary also provides perspective on what is actually new. Hydroponic growing was introduced in the greenhouse in 2017; the mushroom program began in 2024. Neither should be presented as a 2026 opening-week debut. The milestone this year is the program's first decade. Program timeline

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Photo Credit: State Fair of Texas

A visit can put the plant-focused exhibit alongside the fair's more familiar animal education. The Milking Parlor near the lagoon and Band Shell, for example, offers scheduled demonstrations, while the greenhouse focuses on cultivation systems. These are distinct stops, so choosing a demonstration time first can help organize the rest of the outing. Agricultural demonstration listings

The greenhouse's examples invite practical questions: how much room a system uses, how plants receive water and what a household could realistically maintain. The exhibit is a place to examine those methods, not evidence that any one growing system will produce identical results at home.

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Photo Credit: State Fair of Texas

The fair opened Sept. 25 and runs through Oct. 18. Its current agricultural program gives visitors a chance to connect what they see during a day at Fair Park with work that the Urban Farms program carries on throughout the year. Current fair dates