Upcoming Events

Reservations required, call for registration form. Seating is limited Credits: We have been approved for six Category 05, 06, 17, 18, 23, or 25 credits. “Any update training credit assignment appearing on this program agenda is subject to the approval by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. Changes to the program may result in adjustments to the credit assignment at the discretion of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.”

The 2012 Woodland Owners Conference will provide information to woodland owners to learn about and gain practical skills they can use in caring for their woodlots. Topics for this year’s conference include: Wildlife Habitat Improvement: Providing Cover, Small Woodlot Forestry, Communicating With Neighboring Woodland Owners to Accomplish Objectives, Mitigating Creek Damage: Steps to Stay Out of Trouble, and Forest Health Update 2012

The Strawberry / Bramble School 2012 covers everything you wanted to know about strawberry, raspberry, and blackberry production in one intensive day. The school features growers who will share their experiences in plasticulture and day-neutral strawberry production.

Learn how you can accept mobile payments and make it easier for customers to pay for your local food. This webinar will provide information on the tools available to accept mobile payments for farm markets, farmers markets, roadside stands, and agritourism businesses. The webinar will share information about current tools and applications available to allow you to accept payment via smart devices. We will also share highlights about future trends in the payment industry.

This workshop offers a combination of educational presentations, panel discussions with successful food entrepreneurs, and a highly-interactive learning environment, to address the new practices that are required, as well as voluntary ways to proactively address the business risks that come with selling food to the public.

Whether it’s growing and drying herbs, making jams or jellies, baking bread and cakes, or packaging gourmet dinners for one, food-related businesses are becoming increasingly popular as a way to earn a living (or to supplement your income). The cook’s creative flair may be combined with business practicality in a way that other enterprises may lack.

The third annual “Local Food Showcase", will unite Western PA food producers with consumers and food industry professionals. A full spectrum of locally produced foods will be represented including fruits, vegetables, meats, eggs, cheese, baked goods, sauces and salsas.

Get connected with the food industry’s new online mobile web app. Make it easy for the increasing number of mobile users to find your farm, farmers’ market, winery, retail store, restaurant or other food business. Benefit from the latest technology available to you free through the growing national MarketMaker network.

Anyone can say anything about a business or product at any time. Social media provides more outlets for sharing that message. This webinar will provide tips and best practices for developing and maintaining a reputation in the social media world. It’s important to respond to positive and negative feedback, but responses need to be carefully considered. Learn more in this webinar.

The MarketReady Producer Training program addresses market development risks and relationships small farmers must manage as they develop supplier relationships with restaurants, grocery, wholesale and foodservice buyers. This program covers transactional business issues that will prepare producers selling dairy, fruits, meats and vegetables to successfully engage in these markets.

Keeping track of one or more Twitter or Facebook accounts can be tedious. Thankfully, there are several tools that can be used to monitor what’s being said about any topic or to post information for multiple accounts. This session will describe computer-based tools such as HootSuite and TweetDeck as well as mobile apps that can be used to manage a company’s social media presence.

The MarketReady Producer Training program addresses market development risks and relationships small farmers must manage as they develop supplier relationships with restaurants, grocery, wholesale and foodservice buyers. This program covers transactional business issues that will prepare producers selling dairy, fruits, meats and vegetables to successfully engage in these markets.