The East Oregon Trade and Event Center is the site of Farm City Ag & Home Expo, Feb. 24-25, 2023.

Booths from 25 companies will line the Eastern Oregon Trade & Event Center in Hermiston when its doors open Friday for the inaugural Farm City Ag & Home Expo.

Presented by the EOTEC, the Hermiston Herald, Oregon State University Extension Service and the Hermiston Chamber of Commerce, the two-day event is 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Feb. 24-25.

Admission is free.

According to OSU Hermiston Agriculture and Extension Center Director Carlos Bonilla, the expo isn’t a typical scientific conference. It involves a different, more involved approach.

“The main focus is to get in touch with the community and also to collaborate, to create a bonding between the producers, the companies and the people,” he said.

Both days are packed with classes courtesy of the Oregon State University Extension Service. (For a complete schedule, visit www.hermistonherald.com/farmcity_expo).

The expo’s first day will focus on agriculture’s more technical aspects, with classes on weed and pest management, seed treatments and animal nutrition. Among its highlights are “Poultry Nutrition: From First Day to First Egg,” led by Purina Animal Nutrition’s Matt McElligott for expo sponsor and vendor NW Farm Supply.

“We’ll also have a booth set up that will have some Purina displays,” NW Farm Supply sales associate Delia Michael said. “We might tell people about our different feed programs throughout the store and talk about different things that we carry throughout the store.”

Another sponsor, Circle C Equipment, will display its equipment outside the center, with a smaller booth inside, where attendees can learn more about the agriculture equipment supplier.

“Part of our crew will be outside talking to people,” Circle C Equipment marketing specialist Mel Homer said. “Also making sure the kids aren’t climbing all over stuff. We manufacture and sell equipment worldwide. We’re sponsoring this to help kick the expo off so they can keep doing it.”

The second day, Bonilla said, will be more family-friendly, with activities that include a petting zoo, dancing-horse performances, hay wagon rides and live jazz and pop covers from the Hermiston-based Brass Fire Band.

“The first day is for businesses and producers,” he said, “and the second day is also a way to get involved with the families and kids, and to also work in some way with this upcoming generation.”

EOTEC Operations Manager Brian Rust described planning the expo, with its variety of learning experiences, as fun.

“I come from an ag background, so this was something I looked forward to doing when I started working at EOTEC,” he said. “There’ll be a lot of classes that will fit for a lot of local farmers, whether it’s dryland or irrigated, hay guys and wheat. There’s a little bit of something for everyone on the class side of things.”

Schedule of events

Friday, Feb. 25

9 a.m. to 5 p.m.: Food booths open.

9 a.m. to 5 p.m.: Vendor booths open.

*9 a.m.: Controlling cheatgrass with Gibberellic Acid and Pre-emergent Herbicides by Jacoby Powell, Oregon State University.

*10 a.m.: Weed Management and Soil-Active Chemistry in Fields of Fallow by Larry Lutcher, Oregon State University.

*11 a.m.: Principles of Insect Integrated Pest Management by Tim Waters, Washington State University.

*1 p.m.: Use and Benefits of Seed Treatments on Grain and Pulse Crops by Bob Kolva, McGregor Co.

*2 p.m.: Plant Disease Identification, Diagnosis, and Management by Ken Frost, Oregon State University.

*3 p.m.: Forage Biomass. under Different Alfalfa-Grass Configurations and Irrigation Regimes in the Columbia Basin by Ruijun Qin, Oregon State University.

4 p.m.: Drone demonstration and presentation by Drew Leggett, Blue Mountain Community College.

4 p.m.: Poultry Nutrition: From first day to first egg by Mathew McElligott, Purina.

Saturday, Feb. 25

9 a.m. to 5 p.m.: Food booths open.

9 a.m. to 5 p.m.: Vendor booths open.

9 a.m.: Breaking Down Compost with Amanda Woodlee, Oregon State University.

10 a.m. to 1 p.m.: Petting Zoo with Hermiston FFA Chapter, sponsored by Oregon Health Insurance Marketplace.

10 a.m. to 4 p.m.: Hay Wagon Rides, sponsored by Ranch & Home.

10 a.m.: Water-wise Lands.coping and Gardening with Cody Copp, Oregon State University.

10 a.m.: Window Covering Solutions by Sheri Brannan, Perfect Shade.

10:30 a.m.: Real Estate Market Update with Christianson Realty.

11 a.m.: Cooking on a Budget with Carolina Muniz, Oregon State. University

11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.: Live music with The Brass Fire Band.

1 p.m.: Water-wise Landscaping and Gardening with Cody Copp, Oregon State University.

1 p.m.: Window Covering Solutions by Sheri Brannan, Perfect Shade.

1:30 p.m.: Real Estate Market Update with Christianson Realty.

2 p.m.: Using Chickens as Tools with Chris Schachtschneider, Oregon State University.

3 p.m.: Pollinators: Care and Feeding with Andrea Mann, Oregon Bee Atlas.

*Five Oregon Department of Agriculture and Washington State Department of Agriculture pesticide license recertification credits available.