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  • From: "TradingPostPaul" <tradingpost@riseup.net>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] Small Acreage Conference
  • Date: Tue, 13 Feb 2007 11:08:58 -0700


Participants at Feb. 24 Small Acreage Conference Will Learn the Keys to
Safe and Successful Farmers' Markets
http://www.smallfarms.ag.uidaho.edu

BOISE, Idaho-With farmers' markets more than doubling
nationally
since 1994 and with interest intensifying in Idaho, the folks at University
of Idaho Extension will feature farmers' market management and food safety
at their 2007 Small Acreage Conference Feb. 24 in Caldwell.

Participants will learn techniques for selling their products
through farmers' markets and community-supported agriculture ventures, for
meeting food-safety regulations and for assessing their markets' overall
success. Those who produce meat and other animal products for direct sales
can find out the best management, nutrition and vaccination strategies for
preventing and controlling livestock diseases. And those who produce crops
can learn how to protect organic and sustainable operations from plant
disease losses.

Cinda Williams, University of Idaho Extension small farms
specialist, will teach participants a new "rapid market assessment" method
to estimate attendance and sales at their markets. Williams says a July 29
assessment of Boise's Capital City Market put attendance that Saturday at
about 10,700 and sales at nearly $108,700.

She projects that interest in Idaho's farmers' markets-by both
sellers and buyers-will continue to grow. "We're definitely seeing more
people who want to develop different types of enterprises and more
consumers
who want to have a connection with the people who produce their food," she
says. "I see more small towns getting markets and I see bigger towns
getting
more markets per city."

At the Idaho State Department of Agriculture, trade specialist
Lacey Menasco says respondents to a recent survey of Idaho farmers' market
vendors indicate that some have experienced a doubling or tripling of their
sales just in the past two or three years. "People are looking to buy local
products and they're intrigued with agriculture," she says. According to
Menasco, 26 farmers' markets were operating in Idaho last year.

The Feb. 24 Small Acreage Conference is targeted to
small-scale,
part-time and full-time farmers as well as to small-acreage landowners who
are considering developing traditional, sustainable or organic agricultural
enterprises. Co-sponsors include Albertson College of Idaho, Idaho State
Department of Agriculture, Rural Roots, Master Gardeners and Living on the
Land Alumni.

The event will be held at Albertson College of Idaho's Simplot
Dining Hall from 8:30 to 4:30 p.m. Cost for those who pre-register by Feb.
20 is $25 per person and $15 for each additional member of the same family
unit. Lunch is included and five pesticide and organic certification
credits
are available. Late registrants will pay an additional $10 at the door. For
registration information, call the University of Idaho Ada County Extension
Office at 377-2107 in Boise.

An in-depth technical seminar on disease diagnosis and
management in turfgrasses, forages, and sustainable and organic crop
systems
will precede the conference on Feb. 23. Intended for full-time farmers,
green industry professionals and agency representatives, this seminar will
be held at the Ada County Extension Office. It also includes information on
toxic plants and on white rot in garlic and other diseases of concern for
Idaho. Cost is $50 before Feb. 20 and $60 at the door. Six pesticide and
organic certification credits are available. For details or to reserve a
place, call 377-2107.

Get additional information by clicking on
<http://www.smallfarms.ag.uidaho.edu/> http://www.smallfarms.ag.uidaho.edu.


Sara Kate Foster
Education Coordinator
Rural Roots, Inc.
PO Box 8925, Moscow, ID 83843
208-883-3462 phone 208-882-7834 fax
sara@ruralroots.org
<http://www.ruralroots.org/> www.ruralroots.org
Rural Roots mission is to support and enhance sustainable and organic
agriculture and community-based food systems in the Inland Northwest.






  • [Livingontheland] Small Acreage Conference, TradingPostPaul, 02/13/2007

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