NWC News Desk

Specialty ag producers think local at Nov. 14 food summit

Posted October 20, 2014
By NWC News Desk

POWELL, Wyoming — Regional specialty crop producers are invited to learn more about creating a regional food hub during a Big Horn Basin Food Summit Friday, Nov. 14, in the Yellowstone Building Conference Center at Northwest College in Powell.

A regional food hub would provide aggregation, storage, packaging, value-added processing, distribution and marketing services to help farmers and ranchers gain entry into new and regional markets that would otherwise be inaccessible. This event will provide a forum for collaborative discussion on establishing a regional producer-owned food hub cooperative in the Big Horn Basin and how it would function.

The daylong food summit schedule includes presentations on specialty crop insurance and financing options, getting started with commercial production in a greenhouse, understanding food safety liability issues, introduction to GAP (Good Agricultural Practices) training and certification, plus a USDA Rural Development grant writing workshop.

Registrations are accepted through Friday, Nov. 7. The $25 cost includes lunch.

More details and registration options are available online or by calling Remy Cline, Big Horn Basin Food Hub coordinator, at 307-254-9177.