Buck the trend: Conference outlines new farm ideas

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CLARKSVILLE, Ind. – Ask any small farmer and they’ll tell you it’s getting hard to make a buck in agriculture.

Farmers worry about it and country music singers croon about it, but the Ohio Valley Farm Marketing Conference will give people the tools to do something about it.

The conference, Feb. 25-26 at the Holiday Inn Lakeview in Clarksville, Ind., is geared toward producers in Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky who are looking for ways to market their products and make money on the farm.

The two-day conference is a chance for producers to learn about new marketing options for horticulture, livestock and agritourism.

Three tracks. The conference offers discussions on value-added marketing, new market opportunities, business planning and financing, market development, and marketing organics.

Sessions are geared toward one of the three tracks in horticulture, livestock or agritourism. The horticulture track is broken into wholesale and retail.

Presenters from Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana will talk about marketing organic products, opportunities in aquaculture, marketing to institutions, cooperative marketing and other topics.

Educators, growers, and finance and business experts will lead most of the sessions.

Tri-state effort. The event is a partnership between agricultural organizations and supporters from Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio.

In addition, Billy Ray Smith, the Kentucky commissioner of agriculture; Fred Dailey, the Ohio director of agriculture; and Joe Pearson, Indiana’s assistant commissioner of agriculture, will speak at the event.

Ed Bell, a Hoosier storyteller with a farming background, will be the keynote speaker.

Registration. Registration prior to Feb. 14 is $15 per person. After that date the cost increases to $20 per person.

The fee includes three meals and all conference activities.

Registrations should be sent to Historic Hoosier Hills RC&D, P.O. Box 407, Versailles, IN 47042. Checks should be made payable to Historic Hoosier Hills RC&D.

Participants must make their own hotel accommodations. Rooms are available at the Holiday Inn Lakeview by calling 800-544-7075.

More information about the conference can be found at www.sirdp.us.

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