USDA Offers Free Webinar

USDA Offers Free Webinar—
“Fruit and Vegetable Market News Portal Training: How to Get the Most out of USDA’s Market News Reports and Information”

WASHINGTON, Jan. 3, 2011 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture will conduct a free interactive webinar on Feb. 24, 2011, at 2 p.m. ET to help navigate the USDA Market News Portal, a storehouse of valuable market data for fruit and vegetable commerce.
Every business day, USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service collects and reports detailed information about marketing conditions for hundreds of fruits, vegetables, ornamental crops and nut products at major domestic and international wholesale markets, production areas and ports of entry. All of this information is stored in the Market News Portal and is available to the industry at no cost.
Patty Willkie, officer-in-charge of the Idaho Falls Market News office, will introduce the functions of the portal and provide practical tips to get the most out of market reports. Following a formal presentation, participants will have the opportunity to ask her questions live.
Registration for the webinar is free. The event is hosted by Red Book Credit Services and is part of an ongoing webinar series presented by USDA to keep the fruit and vegetable industries informed about the programs available to support them. Check out previous webinars in the series at http://bit.ly/fvwebinars. 
For more information or answers to questions, contact Christopher Purdy, Business Development Specialist, USDA AMS Fruit and Vegetable Programs, tel. (202) 720-3209, christopher.purdy@ams.usda.gov. Also visit www.ams.usda.gov/fv. 
WHO:             Conducted by Pattie Willkie, officer-in-charge, Idaho Falls USDA Market News office

WHAT:          Fruit and Vegetable Market News Portal Training: How to Get the Most out of USDA’s Market News Reports and Information webinar

WHEN:          Thursday, Feb. 24, 2011, 2 p.m. ET
WHERE:        For online access information, registration is required. See “RSVP.”
RSVP:            This event is free and open to the public. Visit http://bit.ly/webinar_register_fvmn. Once the “Event Information” page appears, click the “Register” link under “Event Status” and follow instructions. Upon completion, a confirmation email from Webex will be sent to the email address provided. Deadline to register is Monday, Feb. 21, 2011.