Tennessee sessions help direct farm marketers’ online presence

Direct farm marketers, including value-added agriculture entrepreneurs and agritourism operators, must learn to communicate with customers in new ways. Consumers’ use of smartphones, tablets and computers to interact with businesses has changed the game.

To help farmers analyze and improve their online presence, the University of Tennessee Center for Profitable Agriculture is partnering with Eric Barrett and Rob Leeds from Ohio State University Extension to bring their workshop, “Device Ready,” to Tennessee farmers in August.

The workshops will help participants understand how customers view their businesses online using different devices and media, including GPS to navigate to the business, social media to connect with businesses and the business’ access to and use of the latest apps and gadgets. Participants will work through exercises in the Device Ready workbook and take home a plan to improve their online presence.

The Device Ready workshops will be held Aug. 15 in Knoxville and Aug. 16 in Murfreesboro. Exact location information will be emailed to registered participants the week prior to workshops. Check-in and networking will begin at 9 a.m. local time. Sessions will begin at 9:30 a.m. and end at 4 p.m.

Pre-registration and pre-payment are required by Aug. 7. There is a registration fee of $20 per person. Lunch will be provided. Register online now at tiny.utk.edu/DeviceReady.

This workshop fulfills a Tennessee Agricultural Enhancement Program requirement in the Agritourism, Fruits and Vegetables, and Value-Added diversification sectors.

The workshops are made possible, in part, through a grant from the Southern Risk Management Education Cente​r. This material is based upon work supported by USDA/NIFA under Award Number 2015-49200-24228.

Contact Megan Bruch Leffew with questions about the workshops at mleffew@utk.edu or 931-486-2777.

Learn more about the Center for Profitable Agriculture at ag.tennessee.edu/cpa.

The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture celebrates 50 years of excellence in providing Real. Life. Solutions. through teaching, discovery and service. ag.tennessee.edu​.

– Megan Leffew, UT Center for Profitable Agriculture

Photo above: The website for the UT Center for Profitable Agriculture highlights many resources for Tennessee Farmers. Photo: UTIA