TOPEKA – The state’s youngest grape growers will be among the celebrities at the Seventh Annual Great Kansas Grape Stomp this week at the Kansas State Fair.

FFA members from Mission Valley High School in Eskridge grew 185 pounds of Noiret grapes that will be used in the grape stomp, which will take place at 3 p.m. Friday at the Lake Talbott Stage on the Kansas State Fairgrounds in Hutchinson.

Kansas producers grow about 350 acres of grapes in vineyards across the state, the majority of which are processed at the state’s 31 licensed wineries. Representatives of these industries will be among those who attend the event.

Public officials, agricultural and economic leaders and other dignitaries have been stomping grapes at the Kansas State Fair since 2004. The 2012 participants are:

• Kansas State Fair President Jeff Deeds, Goodland
• Kansas State Fair Board Member Harmon Bliss, Jetmore
• Kansas Secretary of Wildlife Parks and Tourism Robin Jennison, Topeka
• Associate Director of K-State Research and Extension Dr. Daryl Buchholz, Manhattan
• University of Kansas Student Body President Hannah Bolton, Lawrence
• Kansas State University Student Body Vice-President Grant Hill, Manhattan
• Kansas State Fair Manager Denny Stoecklein, Hutchinson
• Kansas State Fair Community Ambassador Richard Shank, Hutchinson

Longtime Kansas agricultural journalist Larry Steckline will serve as the celebrity announcer for the event.