January 23, 2008

Indiana Horticulture Congress is on January 28-30

“The Horticulture Congress provides participants an opportunity to learn new practices and receive updates in their specified area of production,” said Peter Hirst, an associate professor of horticulture at Purdue University and chair of the Indiana Horticultural Congress.

One of the featured speakers is Jennifer Dennis, Purdue assistant professor and specialty crop marketing specialist, who will discuss how to understand vendor pricing, exploring farmers’ market pricing.

“Pricing is a difficult issue for most small businesses and is very tricky,” said Dennis. “Pricing is important because it helps to determine profit.”

If producers price to low, they may not be able to break even or acquire a profit. If they price too high, they may lose business to other businesses or vendors especially at a farmers' market where consumers can openly look at other vendors' pricing, said Dennis.

Dennis will discuss the results of a farmers’ market pricing study and how pricing is important for profit.

 “Pricing is dependent on several factors including, perceived benefit of the customer, competitors' prices, and the number of substitutes available, to name a few,” said Dennis.

Consumers also help to determine when pricing may change based on income and other demographics from that area, she said.

“Pricing may change depending on where they choose to sell their products, the number of people with similar products, and the value of the products that are being sold,” Dennis said. “For example, I have seen Honey crisp apples sold at farmers' market for $4 each with no complaints.”

Some other topics that will be presented at the Indiana Horticulture Congress will be on food safety, grants and funding sources for farmers’ markets, preparing your farm for educational tours and designing your organic system plan.

Sessions are available in nine categories. They are agritourism, human resources, organics, wine grapes, farmers’ market, botanicals, fruit, raw products and vegetables.

Other featured speakers are Chuck Hibberd, director of Purdue Extension; Greg Lang, Michigan State University specialist in genetics, physiology and management of sweet cherries; and Ramon Mira de Orduna, Cornell University researcher on wine microbiology, fermentation and food safety.

Registration costs $50 for members of the Indiana Wine Growers Guild, Indiana Horticulture Society, Indiana Vegetable Growers Association, Indiana Farm Marketing Association and Hoosier Organic Marketing Education. Non-member registration is $55. Both members and non-members can register on site.

Writer: Elizabeth Fritz, (765) 494-8402, elfritz@purdue.edu

Sources: Peter Hirst, (765) 494-1323, hirst@purdue.edu

Jennifer Dennis, (765) 494-1352, jhdennis@purdue.edu

Ag Communications: (765) 494-2722;
Beth Forbes, forbes@purdue.edu
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