GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The 2021 Great Lakes Fruit, Vegetable & Farm Market Expo was held in-person last week at the DeVos Place in Grand Rapids; this was considered a special success since last year’s event had to be held virtually due to the pandemic. This event has been organized yearly since 2001 by the Michigan State Horticultural Society and the Michigan Vegetable Council after they combined each organization’s conferences. The organizers describe the combined show as one of the largest annual gatherings of fruit and vegetable growers and farm marketers in North America.

Since 2009, the Michigan Greenhouse Growers Expo has been held concurrently with the Great Lakes Fruit, Vegetable and Farm Market Expo. This expanded the overall program to include education sessions and trade show exhibitors for greenhouse growers. This part of the event is sponsored by the Metropolitan Detroit Flower Growers Assoc. and the Western Michigan Greenhouse Assoc. Attendees at this event only had to pay one fee for both conferences. The Expo was attended by 3,600 people from 40 states and seven Canadian provinces. There were 70 plus education sessions and workshops over a three-day period this year; and 450 exhibitors in an expanded tradeshow.

In addition to the main event, the annual Farm Market Bus tour was back for 2021, which was held on December 6, the day before the Expo. Participants visited new markets in different areas of west Michigan. The tour provides an opportunity for growers to network with other farm marketers, while learning how other growers get their products onto the tables of consumers using creative and unique marketing strategies. Discussions were held onboard the bus, presented by Michigan State University (MSU) educators. At the conference education sessions were presented by MSU educators, educators from other land grant universities, as well as by people from the private sector. Sessions at the conference offered credits for Michigan and Ohio private and commercial pesticide applicators and certified crop advisors.

“I think the sessions are really important so that farmers can build on their own good information, and add on to what they know does and doesn’t work for their own farms,” said Julie Grossman of the University of Minnesota, a 2020 Expo session speaker. “The Great Lakes Expo has a rich history built around our fruit and vegetable community,” said Angie Sommers of the Wilbur-Ellis Company. “Wilbur-Ellis is proud to be part of that narrative. The interaction gained with new and existing customers is instrumental to our business and the Expo is a great way for us to revisit old friends as well as cultivate new relationships.”

The Expo also typically puts on a trade show, and did this year as well, with several hundred exhibitors. These included farm equipment companies, seed companies, nurseries, fertilizer and farm chemical manufacturers and suppliers, packaging equipment and container companies, and greenhouse-specific suppliers. The trade show also included an area for exhibitors offering products specifically for farm markets. Many state and federal agencies also exhibited, with the goal to update attendees on current programs and regulations. The three-day conference wrapped up on Thursday, December 9.