"Going Organic" Conference to Focus on Production, Marketing

Alabama vegetable and fruit growers interested in growing organically can glean valuable production and marketing tips from veteran organic farmers and get an update on the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station’s (AAES) first-ever organic farming research venture during a one-day conference in Birmingham Tuesday, Nov. 16.

The 2004 conference, “Going Organic: Experiences and Strategies for Alabama Growers,” will be from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the AlabamaCooperative Extension System (ACES) office, Birmingham Botanical Gardens, 2612 Lane Park Road.

Keynote speaker will be Alex Hite of Peregrine Farms in Graham, N.C., who will share practical how-tos of the organic farming business in his presentation, “20 Years of Organic Production and Marketing.”

Further insight on organic produce marketing options will be provided by Laurie Moore of Woodland, coordinator of the Farmers Fresh Food Network, an organization of small-scale growers in east Alabama and west Georgia who sell their products primarily to local restaurants, farmers’ markets and institutions such as hospitals and nursing homes; and Gus Heard-Hughes of Heifer International, who will cover other aspects of marketing for organic growers.

Also scheduled to speak at the conference are Ajamu Nangwaya from the Federation of Southern Cooperatives in Epes and Arnold Caylor, superintendent of the North Alabama Horticulture Research Center (NAHRC) in Cullman, who will give an overview of the organic farming research under way at the center.
Registration for the conference is $10 per person, which includes lunch. The meeting, co-sponsored by AAES and ACES, is open to the public.

“ The only thing that is required to attend is experience and/or interest in growing and marketing low-input, sustainable agricultural products,” said Dee Fowler, AAES research associate and conference coordinator.

Last year, more than 100 people—double what organizers had anticipated—attended the inaugural organic conference. Input by participants at that meeting sparked the AAES’ debut into organic farming research at the NAHRC this year.

Separate but related to the conference, Hite will conduct a Whole-Farm Planning Workshop Monday, Nov. 15, at the Jefferson County Extension Office, located in Building 2121, Suite 1700, Eighth Avenue North, Suite 1700. The free, open-to-the-public workshop is sponsored by the Alabama Sustainable Agriculture Network.

More on the conference and a registration form can be found online at http://frontpage.auburn.edu/ausare/orgveg/ . Pre-registration is requested but not required.

For more information on the conference, contact Dee Fowler at fowlewd@auburn.edu or (334) 844-1950.

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News from:

Office of Ag Communications & Marketing

Auburn University College of Agriculture
Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station
3 Comer Hall, Auburn University
Auburn, AL 36849
334-844-4877 (PHONE) 334-844-5892 (FAX)

Contact Jamie Creamer, 334-844-2783 or jcreamer@auburn.edu

08/18/04

For immediate release