Jun 11, 2018

Virginia is setting for National Direct Ag Marketing Summit

United States Department of Agriculture, Farm Credit, Farmers Market Coalition, Food Distribution Research Society and National Value Added Conference will collaborate to offer the 2018 Direct Agricultural Marketing Summit.

The 2018 National Direct Agricultural Marketing Summit, will be held Sept. 15-18 at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Virginia. Registration is now open.

The summit will convene practitioners, researchers, and technical assistance providers to explore best practices in farmers market, farm stand, and CSA management, programming, evaluation, products, and expansion. The summit is made possible by the Food Distribution Research Society (FDRS), the Farmers Market Coalition (FMC), Value-Added Agriculture Conference, and Farm Credit Council (FCC), in partnership with the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service.

Conference attendees will engage with national leaders and experts during plenary and break-out sessions, with technical assistance available for FMPP grantees and MarketMaker stakeholders.

View the agenda and register for the summit at this link: localfoodeconomics.com/agsummit.

The goal of the summit is to improve understanding, capacity and performance of farms and businesses that participate in direct to consumer markets. Summit will feature new resources – intended to assist farmers, market managers and direct marketing farmers – as well as research and data on direct to consumer markets. The Summit will be relevant to people from diverse backgrounds. These include researchers, extension specialists, entrepreneurs, service providers, farmers, mission-focused investors, business operators, community practitioners, students, consultants, and government employees from state and Federal agencies.

National leaders and experts from industry and the public sector will participate in plenary sessions and break-out trainings. Technical assistance will include workshops for Farmers Market Promotion Program grant participants and MarketMaker stakeholders.