The USU Extension is excited to be hosting their first annual Small Farms & Sustainable Homesteads Expo on April 8 and April 9 on the campus of USU Eastern inside the Jennifer Leavitt Student Center.

“What we’re doing is having some target programming to really help those people with a large truck garden or kind of small farm that they want to diversify. We’re trying to hit that middle ground with this program,” said Extension Assistant Professor, Steven Price. The expo is set to run on Friday, April 8 from 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm and then again on Saturday, April 9 from 9:00 am to 1:30 pm, again, held at the USU Eastern Jennifer Leavitt Student Center. On Saturday, breakfast & lunch will be provided. There is a $40.00 registration fee to attend.

There will be many different classes and demonstrations for guests to enjoy such as budgeting for backyard businesses, E-commerce and marketing, Food Safety, Cut Flower production, DIY low-cost high tunnels and Bee Keeping. “Bee keeping is really taking off in our area. It’s an awesome hobby. It’s easy to get in to, not cheap to get in to, but to kind of take it to the next level as a backyard business there are some key considerations that you have to make. So we will be talking about how to get in to that and how it works,” stated Price. Officials hope to meet some backyard businesses that would like to be a part of the local Farmer’s Market held during the summer months.

The local Farmer’s Market has grown in recent years with individuals selling their items from produce, baked goods to arts & crafts. “I think that there is going to be an increase, potential, to have backyard agriculture product businesses in our area. As we see more people coming in, we see more people driving through, people want to eat local. People care about knowing where their food comes from more and more. I can see that, I feel like this is going to play an increasing role in our area,” stated Price. They hope by talking about E-commerce and marketing at the expo that it will get folks excited to be a part of the local Farmer’s Market this summer.

To register for the Small Farms & Sustainable Homesteads Expo contact the USU Extension Office at (435) 636-3235 or stop their office at 751 East 100 North, Suite #1700 in Price.