Mar 31, 2020

Jim Jedele new president of North American Raspberry & Blackberry Association

Jim Jedele, who operates Berry Hill Farm in Dexter, Michigan, was elected president of the North American Raspberry & Blackberry Association on March 6 at the association’s annual conference, held March 3-6, 2020 in St. Louis, Missouri.

Jedele has served as a regional representative on the North American Raspberry & Blackberry Association’s (NARBA) Executive Council, its board of directors, since 2016. He has served on the conference planning committee both for this most recent meeting and its 2016 conference in Michigan. Among his priorities as president are making sure the organization stays close to its members and their needs, improving both the financial support for the Association’s Research Foundation and the quality and practicality of the research projects that the Foundation funds.

“Serving on the NARBA Executive Council (EC) has given me the opportunity to work with growers, marketers, and researchers from across the U.S., and in Canada and Mexico,” Jedele said. “Our members include small farms selling locally by pick-your-own or farmers markets to large commercial growers marketing nationwide and internationally.  As president of NARBA, I look forward to representing the caneberry industry and supporting research on managing pests and disease, new growing methods and  breeding new improved varieties.”

At Berry Hill Farm, Jedele has been raising raspberries since 1985. The farm currently has three acres of red raspberries, black raspberries, and blackberries and offers U-pick to the public July through October.

The North American Raspberry & Blackberry Association is a non-profit membership organization of growers, researchers, and others in the caneberry industry from more than 35 U.S. states, Canada, Mexico, and several other countries.

Its mission includes providing education and support to growers, promoting caneberries to the public, and supporting research (through its allied North American Bramble Growers Research Foundation).

For more information, visit http://www.raspberryblackberry.com or email [email protected].

Reprinted from the Sun Times, Chelsea, Michigan