By Clint Thompson
The Alabama Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association is going bigger with next year’s annual conference and trade show, scheduled for Feb. 5-7, 2025, at the Lodge at Gulf State Park in Gulf Shores, Alabama.
Blake Thaxton, executive director of the Alabama Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association (AFVGA), discusses the event which will cater to more vendors this year.
“We’re definitely continuing to grow,” Thaxton said. “We’ll have more tradeshow space than we’ve had in the past. We’re expanding that portion of the conference and trying to really bring relevant information and trying to answer the big questions like Neopestalotiopsis strawberry disease. We’re going to answer that call with a workshop. We’ll also have other good educational opportunities.
“We’re going to focus a little bit on marketing at this conference with other workshops that are going to be dedicated to wholesale marketing but also direct marketing; whether that be directly to the consumer or farm to farm marketing.
“We want to help facilitate some of those connections at the conference where the farmers help one another to market their crops to the general public.”
Registration opens Nov. 1. Those interested in attending can visit AFVGA.org for additional information or email bthaxton@alfafarmers.org. There are scheduled to be educational sessions, workshops, trade show, networking, open house farm tours and an AFVGA family luau.
“We’re excited. I think it should be another great conference; continuing to build momentum with our conference,” Thaxton said.