Emerging Crops Webinars
Emerging Crops Accelerator
WEBINAR SERIES
2026 Emerging Berry Winter Webinar Series
Webinars will be held from noon-1pm Central Time on the days indicated below. Register separately for each webinar at the links provided. See below for speaker bios.
| Date | Topic | Speaker(s) | Registration Link | Recordings |
| January 8 | Honeyberry (Haskap): Best management practices for production, post-harvest handling and storage, as well as options for value-added processing. | Andrew Rosychuk | https://go.wisc.edu/53m9lo | https://youtu.be/Bz3yEhUnZ0c?si=_HRqhl3_OIml7cBN |
| February 5 | Day-Neutral Strawberries and Table Grapes: Updates on table grape cultivar trials and day-neutral strawberry research trials in Wisconsin. | Dr. Amaya Atucha | https://go.wisc.edu/94t653 | https://youtu.be/rj4BIu4ElzQ?si=zCbZ7rjQB9GF7Py5 |
| March 5 | Elderberries and Currants: On-farm research and development at Ocooch Mountain Elderberries and breeding updates from Savanna Institute. | Mike Breckel and Dr. Lily Hislop | https://go.wisc.edu/o2l20f | |
| April 2 | Farmer Panel: A moderated discussion on the challenges and opportunities of growing and marketing emerging berries with diversified growers from the Upper Midwest. | TBD | https://go.wisc.edu/08qw95 |
Speaker Bios
Andrew Rosychuk is one of North America’s earliest haskap growers. He farms 37 acres of haskaps on Rosy Farms in Alcomdale, Alberta, Canada. The farm is also a hub for research and apprenticeships. Andrew is also the founder of the Haskap Alberta Association and co-founder of Vitalaberry Farms, a collective of nine growers marketing haskaps.
Dr. Amaya Atucha is Professor in the Department of Plant and Agroecosystem Sciences at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Her research program addresses a broad set of questions in perennial fruit crop systems, with emphasis on crop ecology, physiology, plant nutrition, and fruit quality.
Mike Breckel farms elderberries at Ocooch Mountain Elderberries in the Driftless Area of southwest Wisconsin. He also conducts on-farm research and variety selections on his farm. In addition, Mike designs and sells high capacity rotary destemmers for commercial growers. He is a member of the Driftless Berry Growers, a collective of elderberry, currant, and aronia growers based in the Driftless Area of Wisconsin.
Dr. Lily Hislop is the elderberry and currant breeder at Savanna Institute, a non-profit based in Spring Green, Wisconsin that supports agroforestry in the Midwest. Her focus is breeding new cultivars to be disease resistant, easily harvested, flavorful, and suitable for growing in Midwest agroforestry systems. Lily prioritizes collaborative research with farmers in her program.
Watch 2023 Recordings
