Annual Trade Show: The NAFDMA Annual Conference is always accompanied by a trade show. The trade show connects farm direct marketers with suppliers of goods and services that are unique to our industry. Everyone benefits at our trade shows. Exhibitors gain new clients, farm marketers locate new sources, service professionals make new contacts and spread the word on product lines that offer new opportunities.

NAFDMA Web site: The NAFDMA Web site is the best place to learn about the association and is quickly becoming one of the most valued membership benefits. Our Web site provides the most up-to-date information on conferences, membership programs, contact information of members across the continent, and much more. Watch this site closely as we unveil bulletin boards, member spotlights, helpful articles, and additional members only services.

MEMBERSHIP CATEGORIES
NAFDMA provides services for all sectors of the farm direct marketing industry. One of our primary functions is to link folks together to assist all those involved in farm direct marketing to advance themselves, their businesses and the industry as a whole. NAFDMA's membership categories include:

Farm Operators: Our core group, farmers who are actively engaged in farm direct marketing through farm stands, farmers' markets, entertainment agriculture operations, and the great variety of other farm direct marketing venues.

Service Professionals: Extension, State/Provincial Departments and Ministries of Agriculture, State and Regional Associations, private consultants, and others who are dedicated to the agricultural industry.

Allied Industry Suppliers and Agricultural Media: Businesses, individuals and publications that are involved in supplying farm direct marketers with, goods, services, and information that promotes the well-being of family farms.

Farmers' Market Managers and Organizers: Managers, community leaders, and developers who promote the establishment of organized urban and rural farmers' markets.

NAFDMA MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS

Connection Circle membership (basic membership) 

NAFDMA Web site: The NAFDMA Web site is a valued membership benefit. It includes Classifieds & Questions, where members can ask questions and post classified ads, an expanded Resources list, and searchable membership list.

"Market Connection," our Members' E-Newsletter: The NAFDMA newsletter brings you the very latest news you can use. Read about NAFDMA members and their businesses, the most up-to-date association news, and other information and events of special interest to farm direct marketers.

Membership Handbook: NAFDMA's Membership Handbook will be found online. Updated yearly, this publication provides you with a contact list of the Board of Directors and current NAFDMA members. The Membership Handbook also includes the association annual minutes, annual financial report, association by-laws, and membership lists and resources.

Conference Digest: The Conference Digest provides handouts from conference sessions, trade show exhibitor information, speaker information and the list of pre-registered attendees from the annual conference.

Resource Library - Public and Municipal Education: NAFDMA has been a part of some of the industries best information on Farm Direct Marketing. Check out the library for resources to help you grow your business, including examples of Zoning Ordinances and liability insurance carriers.

Professional Association Management Company: NAFDMA contracts the management of the association to White Loaf Ridge Management Company. This professional service provides a full-time office for membership support and advocacy. Call the NAFDMA toll-free line whenever you have questions or special requests of the association.

Fellowship: Sometimes the most intangible benefit has the most value. It doesn't come to your mailbox, and you can't sign up for it. You've got to go after it.

Convention Circle membership

All Connection Circle benefits PLUS: 

Annual Convention Reduced Rate: Everyone is welcome to attend the conference. However, attendance prices at the annual conference are offered at a reduced rate to NAFDMA Convention Circle members.

Annual Bus Tours: Available only to Convention Circle Members. NAFDMA's bus tours are undoubtedly the best-kept secret in today's world of high technology. What do you get when you cram 55 like-minded farmers into one bus for three days? You get real people, real dialogue, and real knowledge and relationships that last for a lifetime. NAFDMA runs bus tours with the annual conference each year. The tours visit unique tourist destinations that highlight the culture and environment of the host regions. More important, participants visit the most outstanding farm markets in North America. They're not always the largest, the newest, or the richest. They are innovative, successful, and the most willing to share their secrets, their shortfalls, and their dreams for the future.

Annual Workshops: Available only to Convention Circle Members. NAFDMA members benefit from the size and ability of the association to attract top-name speakers with proven skills and experience. Our workshops go into the details of their subject matter for six hours. They are one of the conference highlights for those members who crave knowledge and a thorough understanding, and who recognize that their success rides on their ability to stay on the cutting edge.

Advanced Learning Retreats: Available only to Convention Circle Members. These are two-day, intensive educational retreats held at a NAFDMA member farm. The 2006 retreat was held at Saunders Farm in Ontario. The 2007 retreat will be held at Vala's Pumpkin Patch in Gretna, Nebraska.

Earl Tywater Scholarship: The Earl Tywater Scholarship Fund was established as a memorial to Earl Tywater of Earl's Fruit Stand in Franklin, Tennessee. Earl was a founder and director of the North American Farmers' Direct Marketing Association who's appetite for learning and becoming a better marketer was endless. In honor of that passion, the NAFDMA Board of Directors, in cooperation with the Tywater family, established a scholarship fund in Earl's memory. Through a scholarship application process, NAFDMA will sponsor attendance of one NAFDMA member who has never participated in a NAFDMA conference.

Members’ Choice Contests: All NAFDMA members are eligible to enter the Outstanding Brochure, Outstanding Newsletter, and Outstanding Web Site contests. They’re free to enter, and the winners receive some great publicity from the press releases that NAFDMA sends to their local media.

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