Nov 22, 2019

North American Raspberry & Blackberry Conference set for St. Louis, Missouri

The North American Raspberry & Blackberry Association Conference will be held on March 3-6, 2020 in St. Louis, Missouri at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel.

The North American Raspberry & Blackberry Association (NARBA) conference starts on March 3 with “Fundamentals of Caneberry Production” workshop, followed by an opening reception. On March 4, a full-day bus tour will visit Eckert Orchards, a large, well established direct market farm;  the Mascoutah, Illinois, distribution center of North Bay Produce, a major berry marketer; and the Danforth Plant Science Center, which focuses on basic plant science discovery and technology development; food security crop improvement and sustainability and next-generation/sustainable bioenergy.  

On March 5-6, the conference will offer speakers, educational sessions, scientific poster display, a trade show, and many opportunities for informal networking. Multiple tracks of breakout sessions will cover a wide variety of topic areas including pest and disease control, tunnel production, plant management and pruning, new varieties, economic trends affecting the berry industry and more.

Speakers will include berry breeders John Clark (University of Arkansas), Chad Finn (USDA-ARS, Oregon) and Gina Fernandez (NC State University) and Courtney Weber (Cornell), horticulturist Bernadine Strik (Oregon State University), entomologist Dr. Hannah Burrack (NC State University) and Donn Johnson (University of Arkansas), and economic analyst Roland Fumasi (Rabobank Research).

Links to registration forms, details about the program, and information about accommodations and travel may be found at https://www.raspberryblackberry.com/2020-north-american-raspberry-blackberry-conference/  Exhibitor inquiries are welcome.

NARBA, a nonprofit membership organization of growers, researchers, and others in the caneberry industry from more than 35 states and 6 countries. Its mission includes providing education and support to growers, promoting caneberries to the publicand supporting research (through its allied North American Bramble Growers Research Foundation.

Its annual conference moves around the country each year; other recent conferences were in Savannah, Georgia and Ventura, California. To learn more about NARBA, visit http://www.raspberryblackberry.com/about-narba/