Having an extremely efficient and effective tool to Because of their rapid growth, the cooperative, which is 25% of the total purchase of processing equipment Potential to serve smaller growers who want to just harvest and not de-stem or sanitize their elderberry harvest long term. Nevertheless, we have recurring nightmares about elderberry season that go something like this: were surrounded by giant bowls full of ripe elderberries on the stems. Before steam juicing elderberries, we cut off the large base stems that hold up the berry clusters. Good news: a steam juicer can cut your elderberry processing time down from multiple hours to a few minutes. Agroforestry on the Farm: Elderberry | Small Farm Sustainability In today's post, elderberry growing expert Rodger Lenhardt of Norm's Farm in Pittsboro, North Carolina gives us an inside look into the exciting and booming world of elderberry growing, processing and marketing. One California farm in the Central Valley destems their elderberries by placing the entire cymes, immediately after harvest, into large plastic bags, then putting the bags into stacking crates inside a freezer. Year 1 establishment cost is estimated at $11,891 per acre. Harvesting consists of removing entire cymes and later removing berries from the stems (destemming”). Add the sugar (use more if you like your fruit sweet) and cook the combination until the liquid . In this article, well show you how! As you probably know, you dont want to eat anything other than flowers or fully ripe elderberries since other parts of the plant contain cyanogenic glycosides, which are poisonous. 2010; Byers et al. You can find all of our elderberry - River Hills Harvest - Facebook 12 Steps to Make Elderberry Wine (Step-by-Step Guides) biologically-friendly method of soil disturbance for planting in open field When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Due to the effectiveness of ultrasonic cavitation, ultrasonic extraction can release the complete amount of bioactive phyto-nutrients from the botanical raw material. The slaughterhouse cleaning company that was found to be employing more than 100 children to help sanitize dangerous razor-sharp equipment has continued to lose contracts with the major meat producers since the investigation became public last fall. In addition to hand-pulling elderberries, weve tried two other methods to remove elderberries from their stems: With some elderberry varieties, you can hold the base of a freshly cut stem of raw elderberries and smack it back and forth against the inside of a 5-gallon bucket, forcing the berries to drop off the stems (at least most of the berries). (no-till culture), but kill the cover crop before planting with elderberries In our case . Elderberries can also be used as a natural food colorant and as dye for textiles. first method. The first method is one With the UIP16000, Hielscher offers the most powerful ultrasonic extractor worldwide. Thats because elderberries send up a bunch of new canes each year. Markets and processing facilities for elderberries and elderflowers are not well established in Florida. Ultrasonic extraction is based on the generation of acoustic cavitation, which produces shear forces and turbulences in the extraction liquid. After variable harvest and postharvest costs are subtracted, remaining revenue (on-tree revenue) is estimated at $10,343 per acre in Years 6 to 20. Market research estimates sales of elderberry as a food or supplement ingredient totaling $113 million in the United States in 2019 (Grebow and Krawiec 2020). 2020. MEC seeks financial assistance in the form of grants from Minnesota and Wisconsin based food cooperatives, business, associations and foundations to assist in the purchase of share harvest and cultivation equipment. Cost and return estimates are based on a 3-acre elderberry orchard following organic standards. Such equipment is cost-prohibitive for small home producers though. 33 (13): 1734. and use: Primary and secondary tillage in one pass, to double dig and Food safe, quality elderberry production requires that the harvested crop be de-stemmed and sorted, properly sanitized, packed into sealed food grade plastic buckets at the standard weight of 25 lb. Jarnagin, D., A. Sarkhosh, J. Popenoe, S. Sargent, and K. Athearn. A steam juicer sounded to us like a perfect tool for quickly processing elderberries (with stems still attached) into elderberry syrup. 2016: Minnesota Elderberry Cooperative becomes Midwest Elderberry Cooperative with grower members in Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota. Adding interest, taxes, and insurance on these assets sums to a total annual fixed asset cost of $6,099 per year ($2,033 per acre). Use your seedless, cooked berries in desserts, sauces, or jams, or try our pure Elderberry Extract to skip the fuss. Budget summary for a mature elderberry orchard. Its good to note that while a small crop of elderberries may be produced in the plants first year, the most productive harvest time for elderberries will be after the plant matures, often in its third year after planting. Because of concerns about toxicity of fresh berries and how rapidly the berries and flowers can deteriorate without freezing, drying, or other processing, there is little market for fresh products. Estimated annual operating costs for orchard management. Commercial elderberry operations have expensive equipment to help process elderberries. Batch and Continuous Ultrasound Assisted Extraction of Boldo Leaves (Peumus boldus Mol.). But when harvested and prepared correctly, elderberries are safe to eat and offer loads of immune boosting benefits. Berry cymes were frozen whole then destemmed by hand. Based on these budget estimates, our analysis shows a payback period of 17 years, an internal rate of return of 3%, and a net present value slightly under break-even. Risk is an inherent part of agriculture, and profit is not guaranteed. Firm that hired kids to clean meat plants keeps losing work MECs founding steering committee consisted of five producers with experience in elderberry production, marketing, plant propagation, and cooperative marketing. from erosion, and feeding the invisible microflora below the surface. Extra-fine granulated sucrose has a high water retention rate that gives elderberry gummies structure. If you have a lot of elderberries, one great way to use them up is in by making wine. ElderBerry Juice is sold in 500 stores. Anyway, thanks for this welcome information. Kaiser, C., and M. Ernst. Gross revenue reaches a plateau averaging $15,135 per acre in Years 6 to 20. Even if we plow, disk, or till it favorite weed control machine for practically any vegetable or Again, our pick was the Cook N Home 11 quart steam juicer which has a 5 star rating across thousands of reviews. After all, farming is at the root of everything we do! Set in a sunny place outside for three days. 2010. In addition to their collaboration on Tyrant Farms, Aaron and his wife, Susan (aka "The Tyrant"), are cofounders of GrowJourney.com, which focuses on providing free educational resources for gardeners and small farmers interested in no-till organic food production. A few other folks recommended the freeze-first method, which were not fans of. All ultrasonicators are designed, manufactured and thoroughly tested in our headquarter in Teltow near Berlin, Germany. Friendly Reminder: Friendly Reminder: Elderberries require careful processing before consumption; as astringent, raw berries can cause upset stomach and illness. Linear scale-up based on established process parameters makes it very easy to increase the processing capacities from smaller lots to fully commercial production. Vernon, MO: University of Missouri Division of Plant Sciences Southwest Research Center. locations so that the cooperative may provide processing services to growers Elderberry Wine A bottle of wine from last year's elderberry harvest. Alberte. Agroforestry Market Analysis: Black Elderberry and Ginseng for Oregon's Aaron is the former farm manager at Oak Hill Cafe & Farm, a no-till, permaculture, farm-to-table restaurant & farm located right down the street from his alma mater, Furman University, in Greenville, SC. Profitability depends partly on finding efficiencies and ways to reduce labor requirements and costs. As well, we offer elderberry processing equipment, cuttings and more! MEC used it to purchase an Henceforth, we will look forward to ripe elderberry season without a hint of dread! We recommend that new growers prepare their own budget estimates of expected costs and returns. abundant suckering, and heavy foliage, if the first year does not retard growth "Total Phenolic, Anthocyanin Contents and Antioxidant Capacity of Selected Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis L.) Accessions." www.RiverHillsHarvest.com The most common type is Sambucus nigra, also known as European. Note that you must do this lightly. We generally dont drink a lot of juice, so elderberries might be the only thing we use our steam juicer for. Rising demand for elderberry products suggests good profit potential for growers who can obtain higher yields or higher value from processing and marketing, or who can find ways to lower costs without sacrificing yields. Especially the flavonoids give elderberry products their exceptional antiviral properties. $13,675.The