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2026 AMERICAN ELDERBERRY CONFERENCE
June 17-19th in Mt. Vernon, MO
Get Your Tickets Today!
Three days of education, hands-on learning and networking with top American elderberry experts...
June 17-19, 2026
2026 American Elderberry Conference
Building a Sustainable Future in Health, Agroforestry & Industry
YOU'RE INVITED
The American Elderberry Conference is a yearly event that takes place in the heart of the American elderberry farming world, right here in the Midwest! This conference brings together scientists working on the latest American elderberry research in health and lifestyle. It brings in farmers who travel in from across the globe to learn the latest techniques to increase production and build sustainably. Included also are makers and innovators, who use American elderberries in various products available on the market. The American Elderberry Conference provides valuable insight into the elderberry industry and helps connect American farmers with businesses.
Each year the demand for elderberry products grow here in the USA. Elderberry researchers, farmers and product makers are on the forefront of this industry. Working together to unite and continue to build this marketable crop. The yearly American Elderberry Conference digs deep into farming techniques and helps guide farmers to get the best yield for their acreage. This conference educates product makers building or using a processing facility, as well as creating value added products. It also brings in the latest research in areas such as American elderberry for brain health, diet and more. The conference focuses on the industry as a whole and how to build that: whether it be through product innovations, commercial farming techniques, community, marketing and more…
Click below for tickets!
Note that to attend the Farm to Table dinner you must purchase tickets to both the conference and the dinner.
HIGHLIGHTS
American Elderberry - Steps to a Healthy Future
Immerse your brain in the latest research presented in health, food science and farming.
A Strong Community: Building an Industry from Scratch
Learn from the top marketing experts in building elderberry communities across the USA and why working together matters. Hear from elderberry processors, The Midwest Elderberry Coop and the latest in an elderberry value added grant in Georgia.
Focused on Farming. American Crops for the Future
The American Elderberry industry starts on American soil with our farmers. Learn how successful producers are striving for better yields, and how the future of your soil health can be key. Hear about the latest in livestock management and agroforestry that are incorporating American elderberries into their operations.
Possibilities in Processing & Crafting an Elderberry Business
Dive into hands-on fun with lots of education in this portion of the conference! Hear from elderberry experts processing their own products, learn the proper way to process elderberries and what range of products elderberries can be incorporated into.
Schedule:
Wednesday 8am-5pm and Thursday 8am-4pm we will be at The University of Missouri's Southwest Research Extension and Education Center. Enjoy two days packed with information, lunch, snacks and vendors at the facility and we will tour their elderberry planting on Thursday. Presentations, presenters and schedule will be shared with ticket holders once finalized. Thursday evening, relax and network at the reception (more information coming soon). Friday, we will have a number of local elderberry farms available for you to tour.
Ticketing:
Tickets are $305 and include lunch on Wednesday and Thursday while we are at the Southwest Research Center facility. Friday a lunch break is included in-between tours that will be on your own to enjoy someplace in Mt. Vernon.
Reception:
The reception will take place on Thursday evening at Elder Farms. Additional tickets are required for the farm to table dinner portion of the evening. You must purchase a ticket to the conference, and to the dinner to attend. The dinner will take place from about 5-7pm and after the farm will be open to all attendees to come visit and enjoy for the rest of the evening. Cash bar will be on-site all evening as well. For more information, click into the BUY TICKETS portion of the 2026 Farm to Table Dinner at Elder Farms event found on this page.
Vendors:
We are much more limited on space this year and not sure if we'll be able to accommodate many more vendors. If you are interested, please send us an email.
Sponsors:
We are offering a number of sponsorship opportunities this year. If you would like to show your support for American elderberries, please visit the sponsorship page.
Lodging/Travel:
There are limited places in Mt. Vernon to stay, Springfield is around 30 minutes away and offers many. We are hopeful to be able to offer a lodging discount to certain places coming soon for ticket holders. The Springfield National Airport is around 30 minutes away and an economical airport to come in to.
We do have a $99 room rate deal at The Best Western Courtview in Springfield.
Call (417)- 520-6200 and let them know you're part of the River Hills Harvest Group
MEET SOME OF THIS YEAR'S PRESENTERS
Pierce Hollingsworth - Key Note Speaker
Pierce Hollingsworth is President of Hollingsworth Media, a consulting firm focused on integrated marketing, media, and strategy at the intersection of food, health, and consumer behavior. He works with organizations advancing healthier food systems, including the Advancing American Elderberry Project at the University of Missouri, Hammons Products Company, the nation’s leading producer of wild American black walnuts, and Health Friendly, a nonprofit supporting innovation in food assistance programs.
Pierce also serves as Chief Content Officer at Sifter Solutions, Inc., where he helps guide development of consumer tools such as the Scan by Diet platform and other initiatives that connect food data, retail environments, and Food as Medicine strategies. Earlier in his career, he held senior executive roles at EnsembleIQ and BNP Media, where he led marketing and growth initiatives that generated multimillion-dollar revenue expansion across major food industry media brands.
A former professor at Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, Pierce brings together academic perspective, industry experience, and strategic insight to help organizations navigate the evolving relationship between food, health, and consumer demand.
Chris Patton - Midwest Elderberry Cooperative
Christopher J. Patton, MA, MBA is the Founding director and President of the Midwest Elderberry Cooperative. He lives in Yankton, SD, but established and worked an elderberry plantation (part of Natura Farms, Scandia, MN) with Paul Otten in 2012 for 6 years. He has networked relationships with elderberry growers throughout the nation. As CEO of River Hills Harvest Marketers, LLC, Chris brings extensive knowledge about marketing shelf stable finished products made with elderberry juice for the River Hills Harvest brand throughout the Midwest and expanding nationally.
The Midwest Elderberry Cooperative (MEC) is built upon the success of our individual growers. The role of the cooperative is one as an educator in horticultural practice and quality process, research coordinator, product developer, marketer and buyer of convenient resort. In other words, our growers decide when to sell their crop to the cooperative, which must, by necessity, often pay a lower price than what a buyer might receive in direct sales to customer/consumer.
The successful development of networked elderberry grower cooperatives creates increased production and marketing of quality, certified organic ingredient elderberry products such as juice, fresh and dried flowers, and frozen and dried berries in various raw material and retail products. With restaurants, kombucha brewers, cheese makers, wineries and craft breweries, we are exploring a variety of potential ingredient products suitable for conscientious mass production that MEC can produce and sell for our members’ aggregated harvests.
Crystal Stevens - Elderberry for Your Health
Crystal Stevens is the owner and founder of Flourish Farm & Folk School. At this botanical sanctuary Crystal and her family farm a number of medicinal herbs, produce and American elderberries. She crafts herbal remedies and offers a myriad of classes and programs on her farm. Crystal has developed a line of herbal sparkling teas, tinctures, skin care products and much more. She has spoken and taught at many conferences across the country and continues to teach about the land today.
Liz Prenger - Elderberry Breeding
Liz Prenger is a research specialist with the University of Missouri’s Center for Agroforestry in Dr. Ron Revord’s nut and fruit breeding lab. Her work focuses on establishment of an elderberry breeding program at UMCA, cultivar development, and related projects, including characterization of flower and fruit phenology and development of genetic and genomic resources. Her research supports the Advancing American Elderberry project, which seeks to address issues needed to back mainstream production and marketing of the American elderberry.
Dr. David Beversdorf - Brain Health
Dr. David Beversdorf is a practicing neurologist who specializes in neurology and psychiatry. In his memory disorders clinic, he treats patients with disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Beversdorf aims to understand approaches that will decrease the risk of developing the disease. He performs neuropsychological testing, which is an in-depth assessment of skills and abilities linked to brain function. Dr. Beversdorf also sees children and adult patients at the Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders.
Thomas Ruggieri - Raw Elderberry Vinegar Production
Mr. Ruggieri will present the findings of his USDA SARE Pilot Testing of Raw Elderberry Vinegar Production Feasibility for Small Farms project. He will detail this open-source process for the production of Raw American Elderberry Vinegar. This will include winery licensing, wine production, vinegar production processes, and the health and culinary benefits of the final product. He will also discuss what has been learned marketing this native vinegar over the last 2 years.
Tom Ruggieri co-owns and operates Fair Share Farm in NE Clay County Missouri with Rebecca Graff. They have farmed her family land since 2003. For 23 seasons Tom and Rebecca have focused on improving the health of the farm’s soil through extensive cover cropping, compost and mineral applications, mulching, and animal rotations. In the fall of 2016, a commercial kitchen was constructed at the farm for the production of live-culture vegetable ferments from the crops they raise. In 2023 Tom completed a USDA Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education project evaluating the feasibility of small farm production of raw American elderberry vinegar. This project demonstrated that vinegar production is feasible and, with the assistance of the University of Missouri, that the final product has both health and culinary benefits. Fair Share Farm now also produces raw vinegars from other products, such as elderflowers, native plums, and rose petals.
EXPLORE THE TRADE SHOW
Sponsorship Opportunities
Do you want to show support for this year's American Elderberry Conference? We would be thrilled to have you as a sponsor! What will your donation be part of? With sponsorships, we will be able to better provide funding for attendees to have memorable and educational experiences. Sponsorship money will go towards helping bring in some of our keynote speakers, providing hands on projects, and ensuring we can keep our dollars local to support the Mt. Vernon community. This year we are accepting monetary sponsorships but also a chance to be a sponsor by just sharing some of your awesome American elderberry products. Click the button below to learn more!
Click below for tickets!
Upcoming Events
- 2026 American Elderberry ConferenceWed, Jun 17Southwest Research Center
- 2026 Farm to Table Dinner at Elder FarmsThu, Jun 18Elder Farms
