Washington State Horticulture Annual Meeting

Did you know farmers have professional development opportunities? Not all farmers take advantage of them,  but the two in this house sure do. Bill has been attending the Washington State Hort annual meeting since he started farming 23 years ago. I've been attending since I began farming full time 3 years ago. Before that, I attended professional development for teachers. It has been interesting for me to compare the two types of professional development.

Under the sub-heading of similarities, both meet at convention centers with different sessions offered in different rooms. Experts in both fields present with varying levels of success. Meeting etiquette for both farmers and teachers expects all cell phones turned off. They both break daily for an hour lunch. Topics from the mornings presentations usually dominate the lunch time conversation for both farmers and teachers.

The differences would include more men in the farming field and more women in the teaching field. The restroom is always available to me at these farm meetings since I'm in the minority. Teachers will always choose the Olive Garden for lunch with everyone paying their own way. Farmers will always choose any pub/restaurant that makes a hearty sandwich and serves micro brews with the fieldman in the group buying lunch for everybody. Farmers turn off their cell phones or set them to vibrate. Teachers totally forget about their cell phones until they start ringing. The most important difference for me is that my attendance at teaching sessions included background and understanding. Some of my farming session attendance has lacked that, so for example if Bill leans over to say, "write that down," what I write might not be what he hoped for. On the flip side, some sessions are just so simple for even a beginner like me. Professional development for teachers would have that as well.

I have to say the WSU researcher, Matt Whiting has amazing side burns and hair these days. I found it distracting. Not that I'm distractable at these sessions, but I think he has kind of a rock star '80s thing going on. 

Hey, let me share with you some of the highlights of the sessions:

Agribusiness Risk and Opportunity in the Current Global Economy (Michael Swanson Wells Fargo)

• The apple industry needs to unite and organize to reduce redundancy, competition and inefficiency.
• The impact of the economy on farming is that we've had the best 5 years and we should appreciate the volitility.
• A farmer needs to be both a crop manager and financial engineer
• US biofuel policy has had a big impact on price of ag products and land
• Biggest US trade partners -under NAFTA
• Mexico
• Canada
• Price volitility will be extreme, working capital per unit will need to increase, margin management will be key
• More companies looking to be global causing more volitility
• 3 billion people differential for population growth predictions

Strategic Planning: How to Position Your Orchard for the New Global Economy (John McQuaig)

• 8 Keys to the Summit Parallel Peaks - recommended book (his by the way)
• Analogy to mountain climbing
• Vision - shared vision creates power and consistent decision making
• Strategy
• Structure
• The above are inside influences on the farm including: Products & Services; Marketing & Sales; Culture; People-housing; Systems & Procedures; Finance - Review dept/capital
• More analogy to mountain climbing...this guy really preferred to talk about mountain climbing! 

More highlights later with info on the trade show! We didn't win the Rears Sprayer or the John Deere Gator. Carnsarnit!