Like us on Facebook

Keynote speaker: Karen "MiMo" Davis

Join us on Friday, January 12 at 9:00am for our welcome and keynote address, featuring Mimo Davis speaking about "Finding Your Niche for Farming Over the Long Haul". ​
Mimo’s gift of growing great tuberose, ranunculus and lisianthus is matched only by her talents as a teacher. Through her work with Extension and as a Regional Director of the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Farmers, Mimo shares her vast horticultural knowledge with other growers and new flower farmers from across the country. Prior to founding Urban Buds with Miranda, Mimo operated Wild Thang Farms for more than a decade. Located in Ashland, Missouri, her farm was considered the largest cut flower farm in the state at that time. She also worked at the Missouri Wildflowers Nursery where she specialized in native plants. Before finding her true calling as a flower farmer, Mimo’s first career was as a social worker in New York City. While her life in the Big Apple is far behind her, Mimo still knows and appreciates the emotional healing power of flowers. Mimo holds a Master’s Degree in Horticulture from North Carolina A & T University in Greensboro, North Carolina (2008).


​

NEW! FARM-TO-TABLE DINNER

Picture
The option to purchase tickets for our Farm-To-Table Dinner is available for our 2024 conference. This dinner will be held offsite at a venue in St. Joseph, Missouri.  The idea came as the Agritourism Workshop committee began planning and it was decided that this would be a great way to culminate the days trainings by offering a dinner experience that might be worth considering for existing agritourism operations as an added-value option.  Tickets can be purchased for the dinner by clicking the button below. More information about the Chef and menu coming soon.
Win a Free 2025 Conference Registration!
We want to hear about your conference experience. Complete the conference survey and you will be entered in a drawing for a free 2025 Friday & Saturday registration. Link will be made available after the 2024 conference.  

the conference

Great Plains Growers Conference (GPGC) is a great local conference for commercial fruit and vegetable producers from Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota and other Midwest states providing research-based information, from both vegetable research specialists and local growers, to help your farms grow and thrive.

2024 Track Topics Include:
  • Business Development/Marketing 
  • Tree Fruits
  • Small Fruits
  • Vegetable Production
  • Integrated Pest Management
  • Organic/Regenerative Agriculture
  • Greenhouse/Hydroponics 
  • High Tunnels
  • Cut-flower production 
  • North-Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Farmer Forum 
  • Forest Farming
​

NEW! Workshops OFFERED

  • Agritourism
  • Worker Protection Standards/Produce Safety
  • Farm to School Grower Training
  • Specialty Corn
  • Beekeeping

Workshops will be held on Thurs., Jan. 11th prior to the regular conference, attendees must register for workshops separate from the conference registration.

the trade show

The Trade Show will provide opportunities for vendors to show and discuss with you current product offerings, including the latest seeds, supplies, equipment, and grower information. 

Conference partner

The NCR-SARE Farmers Forum gives farmers, researchers, and educators the opportunity to share results from their on-farm grant research projects with other growers. The grant projects are supported by North Central Region-Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (NCR-SARE), a USDA-funded program that supports and promotes sustainable farming and ranching by offering competitive grants and educational opportunities.

Conference organizers

This conference is organized by Extension professionals from the following universities: