Conference to promote farming information

The University of Florida IFAS Extension and TEAM Santa Rosa is holding its annual Gulf Coast Agribusiness Conference on Thursday, February 18, 2010 at the Chumuckla’s Farmers Opry House located at 8897 Byrom Campbell Road in Pace. 

The conference, which starts at 7:30 a.m., will showcase speakers, who will discuss new crop ideas and business models for local agribusiness farmers.  Every year, the conference has a main topic, this year it’s “Surviving and Thriving on Small Farms.” 

This year, all of the speakers are local residents across the West Florida region, including Cindy Anderson with TEAM Santa Rosa and Dr. Marian Marinescu with the University of Florida.

Dan Mullins, commercial horticulture agent at the county extension office and speaker at the event said in the past, the convention has had great attendance, and is hopeful that this year will be no exception.

“We usually have 75-100 people that come from all over the West Florida region,” Mullins said. “We even have some come from Alabama.”

The conference aims to draw in not only present farmers, but also potential farmers that are looking to start growing and selling crops. 

“This conference is really for farmers and potential farmers who want to gain more understanding of what they plan to get into,” Mullins said.

The conference will have a two-part session.  In the morning, farmers will meet at the Farmer’s Opry in Pace and listen to speakers around the region lecture on new crop and marketing techniques.

“The topics vary from year to year, and this year we are focusing on small farms,” Mullins said.

There will also be a presentation on estate planning by Pensacola attorney Bill Linne. 

After lunch, attendees will head to the Field House in Allentown for the field portion of the program where speakers will put on workshops to demonstrate different farming techniques including a greenhouse demonstration and chemical use and storage solutions.

“These workshops aim towards promoting new agricultural techniques,” Mullins said.

The GCAC planning board has been brainstorming the 2010 conference since last year, looking at past evaluations from participants.

“The program is evaluated every year,” Mullins said. “We look at past evaluations and try to make the next year better based on those evaluations.”

The event, which is welcome to all enthusiasts, will end at 3:30 p.m., and lunch will be provided by the Farmer’s Opry House