• Date: Tuesday, June 9 and Wednesday, June 10, 2009
  An additional 1 day workshop will be held on June 11 for those who wish to explore conference topics in more depth.
• City: Des Moines, Iowa, USA
• Place: Renaissance Savery Hotel, 104 Locust St., Des Moines, IA 50309
• Hours: Tuesday from 8am until 5:30pm and Wednesday from 8:00am until 3pm

The overarching goal for the conference is to be a solutions-based conference on the state-of-the-art in the traceability of bulk commodity goods.

Attendees will learn and discuss:

1. Reasons, risks, and rewards of adopting traceability in their business operation.
2. Standards, legislative actions, and other factors which may affect business operations.
3. Tools and management strategies which could assist in the incorporation of traceability protocols and management of quality in agricultural commodity products.

Audience:

Target audience will be regional in scope, with the majority of attendees coming from one of three agricultural arenas:

• Livestock
• Grains/Seeds
• Fruits/Vegetables/Nuts

From each of these arenas, the target populations include:

• Policy makers
• Processors/handlers
• Retail professionals
• Regulatory officials
• Suppliers
• Educators.

Conference content and agenda will be directed towards addressing four questions.

1. Why adopt traceability?
2. What are the risks and/or rewards of traceability?
3. What factors (standards, legislative actions) will affect my business?
4. What management and related tools are available to assist me in meeting traceability goals?