Newsroom

CORVALLIS - The Oregon Farm Direct Marketing Conference will be held March 1 at the Valley River Inn in Eugene, offering numerous workshops of interest to farmers, managers of farmers' markets and community food advocates.

The Oregon State University Extension Service, the Oregon Farmers' Market Association, Oregon Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Lane County Food Coalition are sponsoring the conference.

Workshops include: the fundamentals of improving sales, selling to restaurants and institutions, the role of labels and certification in direct market sales, and business planning aspects of farm direct marketing. New this year is a community development and food policy track for community food advocates, organized by the Lane County Food Coalition.

Keynote speakers will be John Ikerd and Neil Hamilton. Ikerd is a well-known sustainable agriculture advocate and agricultural economist at the University of Missouri. Hamilton is with the Agricultural Law Center at Drake University and is author of "The Legal Guide for Direct Farm Marketing."

Two pre-conference programs are scheduled for Friday, Feb. 28. A workshop specifically for farmers' market managers and board members is slated from noon until 5 p.m. An introductory workshop on the basics of farm direct marketing is scheduled at 7 p.m. This workshop is intended for farmers and non-farmers who may be interested in, but not familiar with, farm direct marketing.

A post-conference workshop will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m., entitled "It's Not Only Commodities Anymore: Mining the 2002 Farm Bill for New Funding Opportunities." Led by Kim Leval, of the Center for Rural Affairs, it will explore the many new funding opportunities for individual producers, agriculture and environment non-profit, and other organizations existing in the new Farm Bill.

Registration is $25 per person or $40 per couple. There will be an additional fee of $5 for the pre-conference introduction to farm direct marketing workshop. For more information or registration materials call 541-766-6750 or 800-365-0201. Information and registration materials will be posted soon on the web at: http://smallfarms.orst.edu.