More Port Woes & Making Sense of Marketing

I'm Lacy Gray with Washington Ag Today.

The port slowdowns caused by the 9 month long labor dispute between the ILWU and the PMA have caused yet more damage to ag exporters with the withdrawal of Hanjin Shipping Co., the largest shipper at the Port of Portland. In a recent announcement Hanjin stated that it would officially withdraw from the port by March 9 due to costly delays caused by the slowdowns. Port officials say it is a devastating blow to ag exporters in Oregon, Southeast Washington and Western Idaho, who will now have to re-route goods by truck to ports in Seattle and Tacoma.

Women in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska will enjoy a day of learning, networking and inspiration during the WSU Extension Women In Ag Conference February 21. Taking place simultaneously in 30 locations WSU's Margaret Viebrock says this year's conference is focused on helping women farmers make sense of marketing.

VIEBROCK: We're going to hear from a local Washington farmer on how she keeps her brand fresh and her interest and loyalty in check, and what kinds of tools and techniques she uses. And then we have a marketing guru from Seattle who's going to walk them through the steps of learning how to describe their farm, regardless of the shape or size, and use some pressure tested tools of marketing methods and creating an action plan so they can get where they want to get in terms of reacting to their customers.

To register visit womeninag.wsu.edu.

That's Washington Ag Today.

I'm Lacy Gray with the Ag Information Network of the West.