During the Farm Progress Show I sat down and visited with Richard Barnes, Trellis Growing Systems, to talk about how and why he got started growing blackberries and a whole system now for other farmers. He says he started growing blackberries about eleven years ago on the family farm. Like a lot of growers, he had problems with his trellis system. So he applied for a USDA grant and got it. That kicked off the business and he started in 2007 doing mostly research until 2009 when the company started commercial operations. The feedback he’s been getting talking with farmers at the Farm Progress Show has been overwhelming. He says a lot of farmers are looking for alternative crops to enhance their existing operation. Blackberries are well suited to using land that might not be good for corn or soybeans for example. The system they’ve developed make the crop suitable for the cold weather season in the midwest. You can hear him explain all that in our video interview. Thank you to my human tripod and we did get a little breeze come through but I think it came out okay.

2011 Farm Progress Show Photo Album