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 College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences UGA Cooperative Extension
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Published on 01/17/07

Direct marketing workshops in Tifton, Statesboro

University of Georgia

Farmers never get to set the price for their livestock. They can have more say in the matter, though, whenever they can stop thinking "livestock" and start thinking "food" for restaurants, grocery stores and other direct markets.

To help them do that, two free "Direct Marketing of Livestock Products Workshops" are set for Feb. 28 in Tifton, Ga., and March 14 in Statesboro, Ga.

Specialists from three university groups will lead the workshops: the University of Georgia Center for Agribusiness and Economic Development, the UGA Food Science and Technology Department and the Fort Valley State University Animal Science Department. The event is sponsored by the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program at UGA.

Direct marketing can make farms more successful in ways that are environmentally friendly and good for rural communities. Consumer demand for direct-marketed livestock products is growing.

The workshops are each a full day packed with information on how to be successful at direct marketing of beef, goat, hog, sheep and poultry products. Each program starts at 8 a.m. and ends around 5:15 p.m. Lunch and a resource binder are provided.

And it's free.

The only catch is that each location has room only for the first 30 people to register there. The workshop is open to farmer mentors, county agents, agricultural professionals and community leaders.

The Tifton workshop will be at the UGA Tifton Campus Conference Center, and the Statesboro program will be at the Bulloch Center for Agriculture. To learn more about either workshop or to register, contact Joy Schomberg at (706) 542-8084 or joys@engr.uga.edu. The workshop agenda is online at www.agp2.org/sust_ag/.

Dan Rahn is a news editor with the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

Experts/Sources:
Joy Schomberg
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