POMEROY –The first stop on the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association’s (OEFFA) annual tour this year will be in Meigs County – the Snowville Creamery, from 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturday.

The Snowville Creamery is a small scale dairy processing plant located on Bill Dix and Stacy Hall’s 300 acre pasture-based dairy farm. Fresh grass-fed milk from the 250 cross-bred dairy cows is minimally processed and packaged on site.

Those taking the tour will join creamery owners Warren and Victoria Taylor for a walk through the pasture to observe the results of sustainable pasture management. They will walk through the low cost, fast throughput milking parlor and the creamery to learn how the milk is processed, and find out more about the benefits and challenges of bringing it to market.

The tour is free and open to the public, and no registration is necessary.

The OEFFA has offered tours over the pat 29 years to provide unique opportunities for residents to see, taste, feel and learn what sustainable food and fiber production is all about from the real experts, the farmers themselves.

Consumers interested in local foods, farmers and market gardeners wanting to learn more and network with other farmers, aspiring and beginning farmers, and anyone interested in learning more about the production and marketing techniques of sustainable farmers in Ohio, are encouraged to attend.

The 2011 Ohio Sustainable Farm Tour and Workshop series, sponsored by OEFFA, the Athens County Convention and Visitors Bureau 30 Mile Meal Project, Cuyahoga Valley Countryside Conservancy, Innovative Farmers of Ohio, the Ohio State University Sustainable Agriculture Team, and the Tecumseh Land Trust, features 40 farms and food businesses, three university research centers, and three educational workshops, making this the largest farm tour series in OEFFA’s history.

For a complete list of all farm tours, including dates, times, farm descriptions, directions, and maps, go to www.oeffa.org/farmtour/.