Conference to Look at Alternatives for Tobacco Farmers

Source from:  By LAUREN CHESNUT Register & Bee staff writer October 25, 2005 10/28/2005

The Institute for Advanced Learning & Research will host a two-day conference Nov. 1-2 on alternative uses for tobacco greenhouses as part of the institute's continuing effort to address the post-tobacco buyout concerns of area farmers. Experts from the University of Georgia, the University of Kentucky, Mississippi State University and Virginia Tech will discuss using tobacco greenhouses for vegetable production and "high tunnel" production systems for growing small fruit, flowering plants and hydroponic tomatoes and aquaculture, among other topics, according to Justin Hendrix, the institute's manager of economic development programs. Conference speakers will also discuss strategic planning in finding and selling to new customers and taking advantage of the services of local cooperative extension agents. Dr. Barry Flynn, director of the Institute for Sustainable and Renewable Resources, one of the institute's four research centers, will discuss how local growers can get in on "cutting-edge initiatives" geared toward sustaining Southside's regional farm economy. "One of the ideas behind the (Institute for Sustainable and Renewable Resources) is that there's this incredible capacity in the community for agriculture, for farming, for those related enterprises, and this is an opportunity as a community to build on those assets," Hendrix said. A separate seminar dedicated to hydroponic vegetable production will be held Nov. 3. Enditem