ASAP (Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project) kicks off the new year with their annual Business of Farming Conference on February 14, 8:00 am – 5:30 pm.
The conference—which focuses on the business and marketing side of farming—promises to offer more learning and networking opportunities for regional farmers than ever before.
What’s new this year? Returning farmers will discover a new conference location at the beautiful Sherrill Center at UNC Asheville, featuring an expanded exhibitor hall and larger classroom spaces, allowing for more farmers to attend the annually sold out conference. Pre-conference workshops are available for farmers to investigate a variety of current topics including agritourism, value added processing, and food safety.
The conference features 17 workshops, including new options such as “Accepting SNAP and EBT at your Farmers Market” and “Managing Risk on Your Farm.” During the two-hour lunch break, farmers will meet one-on-one with marketing, media, and business consultants as well as lawyers from Ward and Smith, P.A. The popular Grower-Buyer Meetings also return with more than 15 restaurant owners, grocers, and distributors.
“Participating in the Grower-Buyer meetings gave me an opportunity to clearly explain how farmers should approach working with us.” says Bridget Kennedy, Produce Manager of Katuah Market. For farmers who are just getting started to those looking to expand their markets, the Grower-Buyer meetings provide new business connections and valuable learning opportunities.
Registration is now open at asapconnections.org/conference; attendance is $75 with a discount for multiple farm registrants. Pre-conference workshops can be registered for separately.
The Business of Farming Conference is made possible with support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Risk Management Agency, Southern Risk Management Education Center, and Farmers Market Promotions Program, as well as The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina, Golden LEAF Foundation, and many more community partners.
In addition to offering valuable training and technical assistance, market connections and networking opportunities, this conference also introduces farms to the wide variety of services, resources, and materials offered by ASAP. Well known for the comprehensive Local Food Guide, ASAP also operates the Appalachian Grown™ program that certifies family farms as authentically local to the Southern Appalachian region and includes branded packaging and promotional materials, cost share funds for labels and marketing materials, and one-on-one market planning assistance.