North American Berry Conference: December 4-6, 2016

Important Links

Notes and Updates

  • Online Registration is now closed. We recommend that you fill out a paper registration form and send it as soon as possible by fax to 734-677-2407 or as a scan via email to jdickie@glexpo.com. Be sure to bring a copy of the form with you as well. Questions, contact Jennifer Dickie, 734-239-8027 or jdickie@glexpo.com. At the door registrations WILL be accepted. schedule-at-a-glance
  • You MUST register for BOTH the Berry Conference AND the Great Lakes Expo to attend all days of the Berry Conference. Berry Conference registration covers Dec. 4-5, and includes lunch on Monday, Dec. 5. Our sessions on Tuesday 6 are embedded in the Great Lakes Expo. Your Expo registration also gives you access to all the other Expo educational sessions and trade show on Tuesday through Thursday.(Folks who have been confused by this and simply show up at the Berry Conference Sunday or Monday will need to register as they check in)
  • Workshops are full or almost full: A waiting list has been started for the “Getting Started in Raspberry & Blackberry Production” and “Create a Food Safety Plan for Your Farm”.
  • New! A silent auction to raise funds for Research Foundations of both NARBA and the strawberry association has been added to the conference. We invite attendees to bring donations of items for the auction. These can be value added products from your farm or region, books, artwork, berry oriented crafts and clothing, or useful tools and other items.

Register now! This is a joint conference  with the North American Strawberry Association (NASGA), in association with the Great Lakes Fruit, Vegetable, and Farm Market Expo in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The Expo is a highly regarded regional meeting that attracts more than 4000 participants and 450 exhibitors. It is one of the largest trade shows for fruit and vegetable growers, greenhouse growers and farm marketers in North America! We hope to see you there! 

Here is the overall schedule (see detailed Berry Conference program information here):

  • Sunday, Dec. 4: Opening Reception at the Amway Grand Hotel.
  • Monday, Dec. 5: Joint conference with NASGA, sessions on both strawberry and caneberry topics, as well as a track focused on high tunnel production.
  • Tuesday, Dec. 6: Strawberry and Caneberry tracks are part of the Great Lakes Expo in the DeVos Convention Center. Trade show and many other sessions as well.  Note that our two workshops on Tuesday are now FULL.
  • Wednesday and Thursday, Dec 7-8: The Great Lakes Expo continues, with the trade show and lots of other sessions, but no strawberry or caneberry-specific sessions. If you register for our Berry Conference, Monday and Tuesday, you will be able to attend these days well at no additional charge.

Registration: You can register either online or on paper. Note that to attend the full Berry Conference, you need to register for BOTH the berry conference and the Great Lakes Expo (which you can do on the same form or though online registration); if you want to attend one of our workshops, be sure to register for that also.  The Berry Conference fee includes the reception, breakfast and lunch; the GL Expo fee does not include meals. The Great Lakes Expo is handling registration for our conference, but if you have any questions or issues or find yourself confused, feel free to call NARBA at 919-542-4037 or the Expo at 734-239-8027 or email info@raspberryblackberry.comor jdickie@glexpo.com.

Lodging:  Click here for hotel information.  Rooms may be cancelled until November 9 with no penalty in the most convenient hotels; those a bit further away may offer later cancellation dates.

Learn more about the Great Lakes Expo here.  You can also go directly to the full GL Expo educational program  or download the full pre-conference booklet here. The Great Lakes Expo is handling registration for our conference, but if you have any questions or issues, do feel free to contact NARBA.

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