Networking with Fellow Growers One Big Benefit of Attending Joint Commodity Conference

The 23rd Annual Joint Commodities Conference gets underway Thursday at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel and Conference center near Research Triangle Park near Durham. John Fleming, Tyrell County soybean farmer says he goes every year:

“In my experience is to be able to talk to some of the university researchers. If I have a question throughout the growing season, I can contact them and ask them a question about what they work with just about every day in their specialty. So, there’s a knowledge base there that I really don’t have access to on the farm.”

Brian Foster, Halifax County soybean and cotton grower says that he and his brother look forward to seeing other growers from across the state:

“That really draws me, or my brother really. We don’t get to see them on an everyday basis and it’s a good time to go.”

Foster says that he finds networking with other growers to be a learning experience:

“Yeah, you can learn from each other as much as you can from any of the what’s going on there as far as what the meetings are, the production meetings are.”

Fleming says that the tips that he picks up at the conference are often beneficial:

“Not all of it is implemented on our farm, some of it is, a lot of stuff doesn’t really pertain to our farm.But, if I can find one thing that can save me money or raise my yields, that basically makes the trip worthwhile.”

As far as networking with other growers, Fleming says the more growers that attend the better the conference would be for everyone:

“Commodity conference is one of those things that the more people that show up, the more the bigger network you’d have and the more I think people would get out of it. I wish there would be some more participation outside of the directors of the different boards…different commodity groups. You know that’s always one of the goals is to increase participation. But, I think it’s good now, it could always be better if we could get more people to come, it just increases the network.”

The 23rd Annual Joint Commodities Conference gets underway with registration at 8:00 am Thursday at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel and Conference Center near Durham. Registration is free to all for both days, Thursday and Friday.

Follow our coverage of the 2012 Joint Commodity Conference on this radio station all week and at SFNToday.com.