02/02/09 Spokane Ag Expo starts tomorrow

Washington Ag February 2, 2009 The 2009 Spokane Ag Expo and Pacific Northwest Farm Forum gets underway tomorrow and runs through Thursday. All the equipment exhibits will be in the Spokane Convention Center Complex. Pacific Northwest Farm Forum events, including seminars, will all take place in ground floor meeting rooms at the adjacent DoubleTree Hotel this year. Show manager Myrna O'Leary says there are displays and seminars of interest to both large full-time farmers and smaller part-time producers. O'Leary: "We used to do the Country Living Expo. We decided to combine the two because we were kind of duplicating things, like with the exhibitors. Last year was our first year which was real successful. Even with the major snow storms that week we got a lot of the small farmers that did come to the show. Phone calls I have been receiving the last few weeks since the ads have been on TV, I think we are going to have a good turnout again." The opening session of the Farm Forum will include a presentation by Dr. Art Douglas, Professor Emeritus, Atmospheric Science Department, Creighton University. O'Leary: "He has been here every year I think but one year since the shows began. He will give his Northwest weather forecast that the farmers are always looking forward too." Wednesday will see speakers from the cattle industry and Thursday there will be a crop marketing seminar "Selling Your Crops in a Volatile Market with presenters Mike Krueger of MK Commodities and James Bower of Bower Trading. Admission to everything, just ten dollars. I'm Bob Hoff on the Northwest Ag Information Network.