Ag marketing workshop planned

A Buy Fresh, Buy Local campaign is underway for tri-county growers and ranchers to promote their products to consumers.

The Northern California Regional Land Trust hosts a workshop Wednesday in Orland to share tips on direct marketing for farmers in Glenn, Butte and Tehama counties.

This free event runs 3-6 p.m. in the Glenn County Farm Bureau building, 831 Fifth St.

It will feature discussion on how to develop marketing materials to create a regional brand identity for agricultural products from this area, workshop officials said.

Buy Fresh, Buy Local Program coordinator Noelle Ferdon said this is the first time the land trust group has planned such a workshop in Glenn County.

The Buy, Fresh, Buy Local effort is nationally known and is the product of the Community Alliance of Family Farmers which is collaborating with the land trust group, she said.

Ferdon will speak about the marketing program while a Glenn County grower and a Tehama County farmer plan talks on direct marketing that has helped their businesses grow.

Jamison Watts , executive director of the land trust group, will review what that organization does as well, Ferdon said, since it works to preserve farm land.

The three counties grow a variety of crops including olives, nuts, grains, dairy products, fruits, vegetables, beef, pork, wool and more.

“We have such an incredible bounty,” Ferdon said. “This is the perfect place for something like this.”

She added plans call for a tri-county catalog or food guide to be printed this year of different places that sell local agricultural products.

They include restaurants, stores, shops, farmers’ markets, you-pick farms, produce stands, and more, Ferdon said.

A similar catalogue is published for Humboldt County, the Bay area and the Central California Coast, she said.

“We are increasing the opportunity for distribution,” Ferdon said. “We want to help farmers access other markets such as farmers’ markets, restaurants, institutions like school districts and hospitals.”

For more information, call 894-7738 or visit the Web site www.landconservation.org, on the Buy Fresh, Buy Local, North Valley program. The Community Alliance of Family Farmers Web site is www.caff.org.