Funding Provided by USDA AFRI and USDA AMS
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2019 National Direct Agricultural Marketing Summit
Oct. 7-9, 2019, Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois
About the 2019 National Direct Agricultural Marketing Summit
The Summit provides a unique networking opportunity for direct agricultural market practitioners to form new partnerships and learn new business strategies that can improve the performance of their farms and businesses.
The Summit features resources to assist market managers, direct marketing farmers, and agribusinesses as well as practitioners or technical assistance providers in understanding and enhancing direct marketing efforts. Summit attendees represent diverse backgrounds from public and private sector representing farmers, academics, entrepreneurs, service providers, mission-focused investors, business operators, community practitioners, students, consultants, and government employees from state and Federal agencies.
The Summit focus on “Entrepreneurship Opportunities Across the Food Value Chain” focusing on direct to consumer markets, local food systems and value added technical assistance. Experts and resources from the public and private sector will be highlighted throughout the 3-day event. This year’s conveners include:
- USDA Agricultural Marketing Service
- Farm Credit
- MarketMaker and the Global Food Agricultural Network
- University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture
- Illinois Farm Bureau
- Agricultural Marketing Resource Center at Iowa State University
- Farmers Market Coalition
Summit will be held at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois ( a northwest suburb of Chicago – https://www.rosemont.com/desconvention/ October 7-9, 2019.
Download 2019 National Direct Agricultural Marketing Summit Presentations
Monday October 7 – Pre-conference workshop organized by AMS for Farmers Market and Local Food Promotion Program grantees
AMS Summit Presentation – Creating Opportunities for American Farmers and Businesses
Farmers’ Market Promotion Program – Amelia Moore – Ecology Center
Bernie Wiesen – Cornell Cooperative Extension
Bobby Wilson – Metro Atlanta Urban Farm LLC
Jason Grimm – Iowa Valley Resource Conservation and Development
Local Food Promotion and Farm to School: Boulder Valley School District – Laura Smith
Lee Branch Farmers Market Expansion Project – Birmingham, Alabama
Lodging
Summit has reserved room blocks at two hotels to serve the Summit lodging needs. Both hotels are directly across the street from the convention center
Click on Hotel to go directly to booking page.
In-House Reservation Agents:
Doubletree:
Alex Csercse at 1-847-928-7663
Alex.Csercse@hilton.com
Embassy Suites:
Iesha Clark at 1-847-928-7629
Iesha.clark@hilton.com
Double Tree
In-House Reservation Agent
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Group Name: |
AG Marketing Summit |
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Group Code: |
UAC |
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Check-in: |
05-OCT-2019 |
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Check-out: |
11-OCT-2019 |
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Hotel Name: |
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Chicago O’Hare Airport – Rosemont |
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Hotel Address: |
5460 North River Road |
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Rosemont, Illinois |
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60018 |
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Phone Number: |
1-800-756-5505 |
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In-House Reservation Agent: |
Alex Csercse at 1-847-928-7663 |
Embassy Suites
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Group Name: |
AG Marketing Summit |
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Group Code: |
UAC |
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Check-in: |
04-OCT-2019 |
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Check-out: |
12-OCT-2019 |
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Hotel Name: |
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Hotel Address: |
5500 North River Road |
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Rosemont, Illinois |
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60018 |
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Phone Number: |
1-800-315-1061 |
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In-House Reservation Agent: |
Iesha Clark at 1-847-928-7629 |
Event Highlights
ALL EVENTS WILL BE IN THE CONVENTION CENTER UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED
8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Pre-Conference Workshop Sessions
Convention Center (DES) North Ballroom
1:00 PM
Summit Registration Opens
Convention Center (DES) North Ballroom (2nd floor)
5:30 PM
Posters set up for attendee viewing throughout Summit
6:00 PM – 7:30 PM
Welcome Reception (Embassy Suites Grand Ballroom)
Welcoming Remarks – Convening organizations.
Tuesday October 8, 2019
Registration Desk Hours: 8:00 – 3:30 PM
Curbside consulting is available throughout Tuesday & Wednesday. Participants can schedule
a 30 minute appointment to receive technical assistance from direct agricultural marketing
professionals.
9:00am - 10:00am
Welcome and Summit Introduction
Invited-Lt. Governor Julianna Stratton
Invited-State Director of Illinois for USDA Rural Development Doug Wilson
Illinois Farm Bureau Representative and USDA Representative Remarks
10:00am
Networking Break
10:15 AM – 11:30 AM
Opening Plenary Session – “Business Planning and Success Stories Across the Food Value Chain”
Gary Matteson, Vice President Farm Credit Council (Moderating)
* Mac Condill, The Great Pumpkin Patch
Session includes virtual business tour of featured businesses and discussion of business
benchmarks to evaluate profitability. The video will provide the audience with a sense of the
scope and scale of the operations.
11:30 AM – 1:00 PM
Summit Networking Lunch
Raghela Scavuzzo, Associate Director of Food Systems Development – Illinois
Farm Bureau
* Moderating discussion Table Topics and Common Goals
1:00 PM – 1:45 PM
Concurrent Break-Out Sessions (Session 1)
1. Technology and Innovation
2. Community Impact
3. Business Development
4. Feasibility
5. Direct to Consumer
6. Institutional Sales
7. Training and Public Services
8. Resilience
2:00 PM – 2:45 PM
Concurrent Break-Out Sessions (Session 2)
1. Technology and Innovation
2. Community Impact
3. Business Development
4. Feasibility
5. Direct to Consumer
6. Institutional Sales
7. Training and Public Services
8. Resilience
2:45 PM – 3:15 PM
Networking Break includes Poster Session - Authors will be present at their posters to discuss their programs and impacts.
3:15 PM – 4:00 PM
Concurrent Break-Out Sessions (Session 3)
1. Technology and Innovation
2. Community Impact
3. Business Development
4. Feasibility
5. Direct to Consumer
6. Institutional Sales
7. Training and Public Services
8. Resilience
5:30 PM
Summit Awards Banquet (Embassy Suites Grand Ballroom)
Reception & Dinner (ticket required)
- Farm Credit MarketMaker Innovation Award presentations
- Farmers Market Coalition Gus Schumacher Award
- Summit Special Recognitions
Wednesday October 9, 2019
8:30 AM
Plenary Session – “Innovative and Successful Marketing Strategies Across the Food Value Chain”
Ron Rainey, Professor and Center Director – University of Arkansas
- “Creating Markets and Capturing Value Across the Supply Chain”, Minh Tsai – Hodo Foods Inc.
Discussants will highlight successful marketing strategies used to grow market share and
customer satisfaction from two different business perspectives. Presentations seek to identify
strategies to improve marketing across the food value chain.
9:30 AM
Table Topic Share-Out
Courtney Long, Program Manager – Farm, Food & Enterprise Development
Iowa State University Extension and Outreach
* Discussing Next Steps and Actions from the Summit
10:00 AM
Networking Break
10:30 AM – 12:00 PM
Closing Plenary Session – “Taking the Next Steps in Direct Marketing”
Ken Keck, Director (Marketing Services Division), USDA-Agricultural Marketing Service (Moderating) - with invited panelists
- Danny Murphy- Business Development, MightyVine
- Jim Carbine—CEO, Local Foods and Butcher & Larder
- Brianna Pero—Director of Strategic Sourcing and Sustainability,
FarmersFridge
Session will highlight opportunities for collaboration through multiple value-added activities and discuss ways to strengthening marketing approaches by connecting with customers.
12:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Summit Adjourns
Post Conference Tour for attendees registered for the event (Ticket required).
* Post Conference TOUR – 42
* Curbside Consultants - 9 (AMS has 2)
Want to learn more about what you could be doing if you attend the Summit?
On Monday (October 7) there will be technical assistance workshops that cover food safety, the MarketMaker partners meeting, FMLFPP grantee training, and sessions for farmers market managers. The Welcome Reception will provide a fantastic opportunity to visit exhibitors, view Summit posters and network with the collection of food system experts and practitioners from around the country.
The conference starts on Tuesday morning (October 8) and runs until Wednesday (October 9). Click here for more detail about the overall sequencing of events:
Download Program Agenda
In addition to the plenary sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday, we have 24 interactive breakout sessions that the conference planning committee selected based on an open call for presentations. Click here to see who will be presenting at the break-out sessions and their topics:
We have approximately 30 organizations from across the United States that will be sharing the results of innovative projects they have undertaken. The poster session will provide a unique one-on-one networking and information-sharing opportunity. Click here for a list of poster presenters:
POST-CONFERENCE TOUR
Attendees are invited to participate in a post conference tour of Local Foods (http://localfoods.com) The tour will depart the convention center immediately following the conclusion of the Summit for an interactive discussion, guided tour and lunch at Local Foods facility located on Willow Avenue. Transportation is provided and we will return participants to the convention center by 4:00 p.m. Attendees will learn about Local Foods mission as well as marketing and distribution practices.
The post-conference tour is a ticketed event ($45) with limited seating. We anticipate that this event will sell-out early so please register early to reserve your seat.
MarketMaker and the Global Food Agricultural Network, MarketMaker is a national network of states that connect farmers and fishermen with food retailers, grocery stores, processors, caterers, chefs, and consumers. It is an ever-growing partnership of Land Grant Universities, Departments of Agriculture, and food and agricultural organizations investing in a coordinated effort to build a virtual infrastructure that brings healthier, fresher, and more flavorful food to the average consumer. MarketMaker was created at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2004 and is licensed to Global Food and Ag Network, LLC. MarketMaker is hosted and maintained by Global Food and Ag Network, LLC, and is guided by an advisory board made up of representatives from among participating partner states.
As a land grant institution, the mission of the Division of Agriculture is to strengthen agriculture, communities and families by connecting trusted research to the adoption of best practices. The Division serves diverse agricultural sectors, with a wide range of plant and animal enterprises throughout Arkansas as well as national and international collaborations and engagements. The Division provides support to aid Arkansas national leadership in the production of major commodities including rice, broilers, cotton, catfish, turkeys, soybeans, feed grains, beef and timber, as well as locally important enterprises such as hay, fruits, vegetables and other specialty crops.
The mission of Agricultural Marketing Resource Center (AgMRC) is to provide independent producers and processors with critical information needed to build successful value-added agricultural enterprises through the www.agmrc.org electronic resource information website. Resources and events provided through the efforts of AgMRC are also intended to support independent producers and processors that are submitting Value-Added Producer Grants (VAPG). AgMRC strives to serve a national value-added agriculture audience through its web platform and relationship with other land-grant universities and other technical assistance providers from across the country.
The Farmers Market Coalition (FMC) is a national, member-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicating to strengthening farmers markets through education, networking and advocacy. Now in our 11h year of operation, FMC has completed more than 4,300 hours of technical assistance to farmers markets, providing assistance in project development and evaluation, research, and training. Our website features comprehensive guidance for new and experienced market managers, in-depth analysis of federal regulations, guides to offering SNAP at markets, a farmers market resource library, an archive of professional development webinars, and multiple programming opportunities. FMC regularly presents and hosts workshops at state and regional conferences, in addition to planning and implementing training webinars. FMC specializes in measuring and communicating farmers market impacts, working to quantify and highlight their ability to stimulate local economies, preserve rural farmland and livelihoods, increase access to fresh food, support healthy communities, activate civic meeting places, and promote sustainable farming practices.
Curbside Consulting
Curbside Consulting Registration Here
SUMMIT ATTENDEES:
The National Direct Agricultural Marketing Summit is excited to offer curbside consulting throughout the 2019 Summit. Participants can register for 30-minute slots with various technical service providers to get direct assistance. Topics for curbside consulting include grant writing, technology, website development, branding, business planning and more.
Look for the curbside consulting registration table at the Summit to schedule an appointment. Appointments will be scheduled and confirmed on-site as an added benefit to Summit attendees.
CONSULTANTS:
If you are interested in providing consultations—sharing your expertise with the Summit attendees one-on-one, please contact Celise Weems at 501-671-2344 (cweems@uaex.edu). She will share the benefits and the registration process for Summit Consultants. Summit consultants agree to be available throughout the Summit and to meet with each scheduled appointment for the allotted time. Consulting along with promotional information for their firm/organization will be listed in the conference program and on the Summit website. While they do not have to register for the conference, consultants must be registered and approved to participate in the Summit’s curbside consulting activities.