Circle Design Farmer

Growing and Producing

The American Elderberry

The American elderberry is a rapidly emerging specialty crop with excellent potential to become a mainstream crop. During the past 15 years, elderberry production in the midwestern U.S. has grown substantially, with orchard acreage in Missouri, for example, now being surpassed only by apples and peaches. 

Benefits and Challenges

Elderberries contain some of the highest antioxidant levels among all fruits and have well-documented anti-viral and brain health properties. Both the fruit and flowers from this native plant are increasingly used in a variety of high-end dietary supplement products.

However, the American elderberry remains largely undeveloped as a horticultural crop. Therefore, farmers investing time, labor, and financial resources in elderberry production are taking risks. Cultivar selection is limited to wild selections and older cultivars with limited geographic adaptation. Critical production issues such as pests, diseases, weed management, and pollination remain largely unstudied, and the fruit is laboriously hand-harvested.

Our Goals

Our project is addressing some of the most critical issues needed to propel American elderberry into mainstream production through a variety of methods:

  • Developing an economically sustainable elderberry production system powered by new cultivars
  • Significant advancement in horticultural and cropping systems
  • A deeper understanding of pollination and fruit set issues
  • Novel mechanical harvest technologies
  • Economic analysis of the entire value chain from production to marketing

Our project will also foster the development of new value-added products via food science research, including developing and testing elderberry supplements specifically for brain health. A significant outreach effort will bring this project directly to elderberry producers and processors around the U.S.

Elderberry Design Elements (7)

The development of elderberry as a viable and profitable specialty crop will help diversify U.S. agricultural production, improve farm profitability, and create numerous opportunities for producers, processors, and entrepreneurs across the value chain.

Advisory Board


Scientific Advisors

Dr. David Handley

University of Maine

Dr. Wendy Applequist

Missouri Botanical Garden

Dr. Dennis Lubahn

University of Missouri

Dr. Brent Black

Utah State University

Stakeholder Advisors

Dave Buehler

Elder Farms

Mt. Vernon, MO

Terry Durham

River Hills Harvest

Hartsburg, MO

Devon Bennett

Norm’s Farms

Purdy, MO

Mike Breckel

Ocooch Mountain Elderberries

Viroqua, WI

Dr. Jacinthe Desmarais

SURO

St-Bernard-de-Lacolle, Québec

Sylvain Mercier

SURO

St-Bernard-de-Lacolle, Québec

Sherrie Hagenhoff

Sac River Valley Elderberry and Elderflower Farm

Springfield, MO

Earnie Bohner

Persimmon Hill Farm

Lampe, MO

Phyllis Hannan

Nature’s Organic Haven

Hermann, MO

Katie Reneker

Carmel Berry Co

Carmel, CA

Project Team Members

To learn more about our project’s team members, please visit Our Partners page.

Our Partners