Snohomish County
John Lovick
County Executive
News release – Oct. 27, 2015
Contact: Rebecca Hover
Office: 425-388-3883
Email: rebecca.hover@snoco.org
Plant your future at Nov. 19 Focus on Farming conference
This year’s Focus on Farming conference – a perennial favorite – offers a twist and a couple of tricks up its plaid sleeve.
The largest agriculture conference in western Washington, now in its 12th year, Focus on Farming draws more than 450 attendees from across the country and British Columbia each year. This year the conference will host a breakout sister conference – Focus on Forestry.
Forestry in Washington consists of more than 7.8 million acres of private forest land. The conference’s forestry track will bring owners and others together to explore opportunities for responsible economic growth and to provide assistance to landowners.
“It’s time to bring forestry into the conference fold,” said Snohomish County Executive John Lovick. “Farming and forestry are both major economic drivers in our county, state and region. And both are all about being good stewards of our open spaces and natural resources.”
The conference will feature inspirational keynote speaker Ben Hewitt, author of four books, including "The Town That Food Saved: How One Community Found Vitality in Local Food,” and a welcome by newly-appointed Washington State Department of Agriculture Director Derek Sandison.
And if that weren’t enough, a lunchtime panel on near-term weather forecasts and their implications on farming and forestry will feature U.S. Deputy Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment Ann Mills.
“We’re honored to have Deputy Under Secretary Mills at this year’s conference,” said Snohomish County Agriculture Coordinator Linda Neunzig. “It’s affirmation that the hard work of our farmers day in and day out is recognized at the federal level.”
Focus on Farming is a one-day Snohomish County conference that brings together professionals from across the country to provide farmers with the latest agriculture education and information. Conference participants can choose from 24 farming workshops across six industry tracks or the new Focus on Forestry conference, and can peruse the latest agriculture equipment and products on display at a 17,000 square foot indoor trade show.
For more information about the Focus on Farming/Forestry conference, contact Linda Neunzig at 425-388-7170 or linda.neunzig@snoco.org. Registration and program information is available online at www.focusonfarming.org.
Event Details:
What: Focus on Farming/Forestry conference “Planting our Future”
When: Thursday, Nov. 19 (7 a.m. registration, conference concludes at 7 p.m.)
Where: Evergreen State Fairgrounds, Monroe.