Two years ago, Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan topped off a traditional opening ceremony at the Missouri State Fair by slicing into a 30-foot pizza, made with Missouri agricultural products.

State fairs, district fairs and county fairs are known for showcasing the "Best of the Best" in agriculture.

Every year, fairgoers will find the fruits of hundreds of farmers on display. Various farm crops and seed, such as corn, wheat, soybean, popcorn, oats, rye alfalfa and others will be judged and placed on display at the fair.

The best ham, bacon and sausage is exhibited and agriculture categories included everything from honey cake to honey combs, sheep to mules, and chickens to pigeons.

Fruits and vegetables -- including 100-pound watermelons and 300-pound pumpkins -- may be found, along with cucumbers, peppers, potatoes and squash.

If you can grow it, you can show it at the fair.

The best of Missouri agriculture will be highlighted again this week at the 143rd Southeast Missouri District Fair, being held this week at Arena Park in Cape Girardeau.

Agriculture is the state's No. 1 industry and largest employer. Missouri is among the country's leaders in agriculture production, growing and processing many high-quality food products.

The average Missouri grocery store carries more than 250 products that area made in the state, from farm products.

This includes food, beverages, deserts, candy, mushrooms, nuts, pasta, ethnic foods, gourmet deserts and fresh vegetables.

Products also range from Mississippi County's Story's Gourmet Popcorn on the Cob, to My Daddy's Cheesecake in downtown Cape Girardeau.

In between are numerous other items -- wild boar snack sticks from Ozark Wild Boar at Bismarck; pork rinds from Tri-State Snacks, Edina; and hams, bacon and sausage from Esicar's Smokehouse Inc. in Cape Girardeau.

The list of food products and other quality goods "Made in Missouri" is almost endless, and the Missouri Department of Agriculture's (MDA) AgriMissouri Program is designed to create consumer awareness of the state's products.

"You've heard of brand loyalty when shopping," said Wayne Yokley, directors of the department's Market Development Division. "One of the most common things we hear from consumers is `I didn't know that was made in Missouri.'"

The MDA wants to help consumers find fresh food products and in turn support the state's ranchers, farmers and agribusiness.

Thus, the AgriMissouri Buyer's Guide, a publication listing Missouri companies and the foods and beverages they produce.

"This guide features a variety of categories," said Yokley. "There is even a section for specialty items such as gourmet dog treats."

The AgriBusiness guides are free. They can be obtained by calling toll-free (888)MO-BRAND (663-7263), or by writing the Missouri Department of Agriculture, Market Development Division, P. O. Box 630, Jefferson City, Mo., 65102.

"When consumers purchase Missouri products, they're guaranteed to get quality goods at reasonable prices," said Sally Oxenhandler of the MDA's public relations department.

Story's Gourmet Foods can be found on supermarket shelves throughout the nation. One of the big varieties in the Story line, produced in Mississippi County in Southeast Missouri, is microwave popcorn that can be "popped on the cob."

My Daddy's Cheesecake in Cape Girardeau specializes in cheesecake and other desserts that are available throughout the United States. "We ship everywhere," said Wes Kinsey, who operates the downtown bakery.

Popcorn is a big business in Southeast Missouri.

Story's Gourmet Foods started experimenting with popcorn a number of years ago, selling to popcorn companies. The company added it to its gourmet line during the late 1980s.

One of the big varieties in the Story line is the microwave product that can be popped on the cob.

"We leave the corn on the cob," said a company representative. "When you're ready to pop it, you butter the corn on the cob, place it in the microwave and pop it."

About 60 percent of the corn pops off the cob. What remains can be eaten as (pop) corn on the cob.

Another big packager of popcorn is Gilster-Mary Lee Popcorn, with facilities at McBride, between Perryville and Chester, Ill.

Gilster-Mary Lee produces thousands of packages of microwave popcorn a day, including some major brands -- Paul Newman's Own, President's Choice, IGA, Kroger, Hyde Park and Gilster's own brand, Hospitality.

Popcorn, decorative gourds, gourmet ham and other meats, fruits and vegetables all help make agriculture a vital industry in Missouri. Yokley adds that the money spent by local consumers for locally produced products goes to "support our state's farmers, ranchers and others who work in the state's agricultural industry."

My Daddy's Cheesecake is now open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year via the Internet Web site at www.mydaddyscheesecake.com. The baker features a number of bakery items, including a "cookie wedgie," which was featured nationally on QVC products last year.

Agriculture is Missouri's No. 1 industry and largest employer.

Over the past three years, more than 102,000 farms have produced more than $5 billion in farm products, which include soybeans, corn, hay, cotton, grapes, apples, fruits and even tobacco.

Sales of agriculture products in the Southeast Missouri area have increased during the past decade, to more than $600 million annually, up 14 percent from a decade ago.

The number of U.S. farms has decreased this year to 2.06 million, with horse owners and small-scale suburban farmers helping to boost the total, says the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The number of farms in the nation fell under the 2 million mark in 1981, the first time since before the Civil War that the United States had fewer than 2 million farms.

Farm acreage remains virtually unchanged at 972 million acres. The average farm size dipped to 469 acres from 471 last year.

Missouri is second on the list of states with the most farms, at 102,000 farms. Texas has the most farms at 202,000, up 2,000 from a year ago, and Missouri followed with 102,000 farms, down 2,000 from last year.

Farms in Southeast Missouri have followed the state and national trend in size and number.

Mechanization is allowing farmers to handle more land with the same labor, and the trend has been to fewer and larger farms.

A report by Southwest Missouri State University's Center for Social Research, reveals that the number of farms has dwindled in the 22-county area of Southeast Missouri by nearly 9 percent over the past decade, from 15,127 to 13,817. At the same time, the average size of individual farms has increased by 30 acres.

Southeast Missouri farm acreage has increased over the past decade, but only slightly -- from 4.41 million to 4.44 million acres.

The 2-year-old report shows 1,365 farms in Cape Girardeau County, comprising 266,557 acres, for an average size of 195 acres a farm.

This is about half the farms that were in the county in 1900, when 2,576 farmers had about 348,000 acres in agricultural use, for an average of 136 acres.

Bootheel farms boast some of the larger farms in Missouri. With only 340 farms listed, the Mississippi County average is 762 acres; New Madrid County farms average 695 acres; Pemiscot County farms average 653 acres; and Dunklin County farms average 445 acres.

Total land in Missouri farms is 29.9 million acres.