By Clint Thompson
Registration is ongoing for the upcoming Alabama Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association (AFVGA) annual conference and trade show on Nov. 18-19 in Gulf Shores, Alabama.
After having last year’s conference canceled amid the coronavirus pandemic, officials and industry leaders in Alabama are excited to reunite in November, says Hunter McBrayer, executive director of the AFVGA.
“We’re excited to have all of our fruit and vegetable family from Alabama and the Southeast back together again for what I believe is going to be a completely revamped fruit and vegetable growers meeting for us here in the state of Alabama, with a strong agenda, great tradeshow in one of the most beautiful places you could ask for, being in Gulf Shores, Alabama,” McBrayer said.
The two-day meeting will cover various topics pertinent to the fruit and vegetable industry across the Southeast. These include Ag labor, farm budgeting, marketing in the COVID-19 era, along with production updates on multiple fruit and vegetable crops.
“We have 32 individual breakout sessions for growers, whether they’re interested in tree fruit, be it peaches or apples; small fruits, blueberries, strawberries, muscadine grapes,” McBrayer said. “And vegetable production of course. We’ve got what I consider some of the best specialists from across the Southeast coming in to talk vegetables and growing management techniques.
“And then farm management, talking about marketing. COVID opened up so many new markets for us and really opened the eyes of people to be able to build those points of sale, those websites. They are able to get fruits and vegetables into the hands of people that, quite frankly in years past, they might have struggled to get to.”
Click here to register for the event.