Friday, August 12, 2022
CapitalPress.com
3
2022 FARWEST SHOW
‘Best plants and the best growers’
By MOLLY CRUSE
Capital Press
PORTLAND — This
year marks the 49th anniver-
sary of the Farwest Show, the
largest nursery and horticul-
ture show west of Texas.
The show typically attracts
more than 5,000 visitors and
400 exhibitors each year.
Last year, however, the
COVID pandemic and
accompanying public health
mandates decreased atten-
dance by 26%.
“We’re still coming out
of the pandemic,” said Allan
Niemi, director of events for
the Oregon Association of
Nurseries, which produces
the show. “Our goal this
year is to just provide a solid
experience for our attend-
ees, for our exhibitors, and to
get our footing back on track
coming out of the pandemic.
We want to give people a
safe environment and get
reconnected with the indus-
try and with their fellow hor-
ticultural folks.”
The show will take place
Aug. 24-26 at the Ore-
gon Convention Center in
Portland.
Elizabeth Peters, vice
president of The Peters Com-
pany, has been attending
the Farwest Show since her
introduction to the nursery
industry 14 years ago. Peters
will be one of the many pan-
elists at the show this year.
Her panel will include shar-
ing strategies that business
owners and industry pro-
fessionals can apply to their
organizations.
“I’m excited to come
back,” Peters said. “The show
is just magical. You have the
best plants and the best grow-
ers. They prepare for months
ahead of time to get this plant
material that’s perfect to take
to the trade show fl oor. But
I think what is most striking
about the show is the people.
It’s not about just showing up
for the plants.”
Which is fi tting as this
year the Farwest Show team
has been working hard to
create an environment that
invites reconnection, and
opportunities for learning
and networking.
On Wednesday, Aug. 24,
the “Emergent Networking”
event will take place, which
encourages the next genera-
tion of industry professionals
to meet, connect and share
advice about succeeding in
horticulture over appetizers
and complimentary bever-
ages. This is followed by a
“Happy Hour” during which
the exhibitor booth awards
will be announced.
The following day, the
show is hosting the “Women
in Horticulture” networking
event for the 10th consec-
utive year. This is followed
by a “Pub Crawl” around
Portland.
In addition to spotlight-
ing nursery growers and pro-
Oregon Association of Nurseries
The Farwest Show attracts buyers from around the nation.
ducers, the show also fea-
tures speakers such as Lloyd
Nackley, an associate profes-
sor of nursery production and
greenhouse management at
Oregon State University. He
will present his research on
how nursery producers can
adapt their growing strate-
gies to extreme weather.
“You can come learn
about product, but you can
also come and learn about
the science-based produc-
tion, too,” said Nackley.
“The production systems in
Oregon are innovative, and
people like coming out and
seeing that and learning from
the growers and hopefully
learning from us, too. There
are a lot of academics that are
involved, not just myself, but
breeders, pathologists, ento-
mologists, who come in and
share the science side, which
is a neat aspect of the show.”
Nackley will also lead one
of the innovation tours at the
North Willamette Research
& Extension Center.
The keynote speaker this
year is Greg Bell. He is a
nationally known motiva-
tional speaker and will speak
Wednesday, Aug. 24, at
11 a.m.
“No matter what specifi c
sector you come from, he will
hit the mark,” said Heather
Cyrus, the events and edu-
cation manager at OAN.
“Whether you’re a garden
center owner, or you’re out
there planting plants, he’ll
have a message that will res-
onate, that you can take back
to your team.”
According to Niemi,
although the nursery indus-
try “thrived” during the pan-
demic due to the many peo-
ple taking up gardening and
landscaping, he believes Bell
will be a welcome presence
at the Farwest Show.
“Everyone has felt a lot of
new pressures,” said Niemi.
“So that’s one of the reasons
why we chose Greg Bell. He
has very strong, motivational
aspects to him, but he’s also
very grounded in applying
that toward business. We
hope that will help people
navigate the new waters that
we are coming out of and
into the foreseeable future.”
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