When the Mid-South Farm and Gin Show launched 67 years ago, a prime objective was to provide attendees an opportunity to learn from industry experts, university researchers, and others. That tradition holds today, according to Tim Price, executive director of Southern Cotton Ginners Association and show manager.

“We know attendees face myriad issues day-to-day and year-to-year, and we’re proud to provide various platforms for farmers to learn and engage with experts on those issues, he says. At the 67th Mid-South Farm and Gin Show, March 1-2, at the Cook Convention Center in downtown Memphis, Tenn., farmers will have several opportunities.

Friday, March 1 — Ag Update Seminar, 8:30 a.m., Cannon Center Stage. K. Michael Tate, National Cotton Council chairman, Huntsville, Ala., will cover cotton issues. Joe Nicosia, senior head of cotton and merchandising platforms for Louis Dreyfus Commodities and executive vice president of Louis Dreyfus Commodities LLC, Cordova, Tenn., will provide an outlook for U.S. and world cotton. Also included in the morning seminar will be the Ag Market Network broadcast March monthly cotton teleconference, consisting of a panel of experts including Dr. O.A. Cleveland Jr., global cotton market analyst; Jarral Neeper, president of Calcot; Kip Butts, senior cotton analyst for Informa Economics; and Pat McClatchy, executive director of The Ag Market Network. The show will discuss the latest outlook for cotton prices. The panel will make marketing suggestions as well as answer questions from the audience. The program will be rebroadcast at agmarketnetwork.com.

Related:Mobile app helps navigate Mid-South Farm and Gin Show

Saturday, March 2 — Ag Update Seminar, 8:30 a.m., Cannon Center Stage. Richard Brock, Brock Associates, Milwaukee, Wisc., will give grain market outlook/marketing strategies and projections for 2019. His unique perspective draws standing-room-only crowds.

Mid-South Independent Crop Consultants Roundtable, 11 a.m., Rooms 202 & 203. Independent crop consultants from each of the five Mid-South states will have a roundtable discussion on issues facing their profession and issues facing Mid-South agriculture, as well as suggestions on how to address these issues.

Special Rice Marketing Educational Seminar, 1:30 p.m., Rooms 202 & 203. Milo Hamilton, co-founder and senior agricultural economist of Firstgrain, Inc. Good rice marketing involves a knowledge of the global situation for rice trends in price and stocks. This special workshop is broken into two distinct sessions: how to assess global rice conditions and their impact on your local price trend and one to assess what is a high or low price in your area at any point in time. Will you survive or thrive in 2019?

Educational Exhibits — Mid-South land grant universities, the Extension Service, and state agencies will have special educational exhibits on the mezzanine level of the show. “These outstanding exhibits will include the latest research in biofuels, biotechnology, and other innovative research topics,” Price says.

Southern Cotton Ginners Association Annual Meeting —In addition to the educational seminars available at the show, the SCGA annual meeting, to be held Thursday, Feb. 28, at 1:30 p.m. in the Venetian Room of the Peabody Hotel, will feature updates on research and new opportunities for the cotton and cotton ginning industries. Featured speakers include: Dr. Jane Dever, Texas A & M, Lubbock; Kater Hake, vice president of agricultural and environmental research for Cotton Incorporated; and Jay Mahaffey, Monsanto Learning Center manager and science fellow, Scott, Miss.

Attendees will want to download the Farm and Gin Show mobile app, which includes information on all the seminars, as well as interactive maps of the more than 400 exhibitors spread throughout the Convention Center. Price notes that the 2019 show is being held in the midst of a renovation in the convention center, and “attendees will want to use the maps to make sure they have access to every exhibit, throughout the convention center and surrounding sidewalks and streets.”

The app can be accessed and downloaded at Apple and Android app stores. It’s sponsored by Delta Farm Press, Helena, and Syngenta.

The Mid-South Farm and Gin Show is co-sponsored by the Southern Cotton Ginners Association and Foundation and Delta Farm Press. Show hours are Friday, March 1, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday, March 2, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. More information is available at farmandginshow.com.