Workshop to help Valley small-acreage growers sell locally

WESLACO – The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service has planned a workshop with experts to help small-scale producers of fruits and vegetables in South Texas sell their produce to local restaurants and grocery stores.

The free workshop, “MarketReady Training: Selling to Restaurants for Local Growers,” will be held from 9 a.m. to noon Sept. 22 at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Weslaco, 2401 E. U.S. Highway 83, near the intersection of Farm-to-Market Road 1015.

The workshop is designed for local farmers, small-acreage growers, beginning farmers and military veterans.

Topics experts will discuss include restaurant sales, packing, labeling, pricing, the Young Farmer Grant Program, small farm loans and the Texas Department of Agriculture’s GO TEXAN program, said Dr. Samuel Zapata, a workshop organizer and AgriLife Extension economist in Weslaco.

“We’re conducting this workshop in the Rio Grande Valley to train local farmers in sustainable agricultural production practices and effective business planning and marketing strategies,” Zapata said.

“Whether they grow their produce in their backyard or on a few acres, this first workshop will address important issues local producers must consider in order to sell their produce directly to restaurants or other local businesses,” he said. “We’ll also provide valuable information on the different financial assistance programs available to them.”

In the last decade, the interest in local foods has exploded, said Dr. Marco Palma, a scheduled workshop speaker and AgriLife Extension economist in College Station.

“Consumers are concerned about where and how their food was produced,” he said. “In order to capitalize and participate in the local foods movement, many growers are interested in selling directly to restaurants or specialty grocery stores.”

MarketReady in the workshop title refers to a comprehensive educational program organized by AgriLife Extension to review every aspect required of growers wanting to sell to local businesses, Palma said.

“This includes everything from communication and relationship building to the nuts and bolts of being in this type of business: packaging, labeling, pricing, delivery, storage, invoicing, quality assurance and insurance requirements,” he said. “At the end of the training, participants will know what’s required to properly take the food products from their farms to the chef.”

Speakers and their topics include:

—  Palma, the MarketReady Training Program.

—  Nelda Barrera, Texas Department of Agriculture, San Juan, the GOTEXAN program and the Young Farmer Grant Program.

—  Vidal Saenz, the Cooperative Extension Program at Prairie View A&M University, farm advisor, Edinburg, farm loan application assistance.

The next workshop in the series will be Oct. 27 and focus on aquaponics.

For more information contact Jennifer Herrera at 956-361-8236 or Ashley Gregory at 956-383-1026.