Progress report for ONC24-138
Project Information
Honeyberry is an exciting new perennial crop for growers throughout the North Central Region for fresh fruit and processing markets. Over the past 10 years, breeding programs in North America have released a number of cultivars that are far superior to what was previously available. As a result, we are seeing increased adoption from growers. However, as with many emerging crops, significant hurdles make adoption risky. Growers report dramatic differences in yield, growth habit, and flavor among cultivars and cite a lack of reliable information about cultivar selection and best management practices.
This proposal seeks to build a public-private partnership between growers, university researchers, plant breeders, and SeedLinked, a variety trial management platform (B corp). SeedLinked is an innovative, two-sided platform designed to crowdsource variety performance data from growers and share collective knowledge through an open-source search engine. SeedLinked has proven to be a powerful tool to inform growers and breeders of annual crops but has not yet been utilized for perennials. This project aims to crowdsource performance data on honeyberry cultivars from a large network of commercial growers, and test and optimize SeedLinked for use with perennial crops using honeyberry as a pilot.
This proposal has two main objectives:
- To crowdsource performance data on honeyberry cultivars (ranging from pre-commercial to commercial) from a large network of commercial growers, university researchers, and plant breeders; and to make those insights freely available to all stakeholders.
- To test and optimize SeedLinked’s crowdsourcing model and information sharing platform for use with perennial crops using honeyberries as a pilot.
Cooperators
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Research
Existing honeyberry growers from around the North Central SARE region were recruited to participate in this collaborative trial with SeedLinked. Growers were required to have at least two different cultivars and at least five plants of each variety that were producing fruit. No other criteria were required. Some were home gardeners, others were commercial growers. 38 growers initially expressed interest in participating in the project. Growers were convened virtually in spring 2024 for an overview of the project and a tutorial of the SeedLinked platform. Growers were asked to create an account on SeedLinked and create a new trial by adding the cultivars they were growing on their farms and gardens. Throughout the growing season, growers were asked to enter performance data on the cultivars they were growing, including for traits such as yield, flavor, plant stature, berry size, disease resistance, and fruit relative maturity. Each trait was scored on a 1-5 scale, with scores being relative to the other cultivars they were growing. Growers also uploaded photos and comments and engaged with one another through SeedLinked's community feed social networking feature. Growers were also encouraged to provide feedback on the functionality and user experience of the SeedLinked platform, so that this feedback could inform platform improvements before the following growing season. UW-Madison Extension hosted a field day at a honeyberry farm in Winona, Minnesota in June 2024 to tour the farm, facilitate networking, and participate in a cultivar tasting using the SeedLinked. At the end of the growing season, growers were convened virtually to view the results of the trial and discuss their experience using SeedLinked. Feedback was gathered and is being used to improve the platform for use with honeyberries and, as a result, perennials more broadly.
We had 31 growers create an account on SeedLinked. Slightly more than half of these growers submitted data. These growers submitted a combined total of 471 data points (i.e. ratings for different traits), 35 images, and 184 comments. This data was compiled and results were made public on SeedLinked. The data on honeyberry cultivar performance is helping to build collective knowledge on the performance of honeyberry cultivars in different regions of the Midwest to help inform grower choices. Growers also shared feedback on the user experience of SeedLinked, which was compiled and is currently being used to make improvements to the software platform before the start of the 2025 growing season.
Educational & Outreach Activities
Participation Summary:
In April 2024, Steffen Mirsky from UW-Madison Extension and Nico Enjalbert of 
SeedLinked hosted a webinar with all interested participants to go over the project and learn how to use the SeedLinked platform, including how to create an account, add their cultivars, submit ratings, upload photos, and enter comments. Steffen and Nico provided technical assistance to growers throughout the season to help them navigate the platform and answer any questions. Two "office hour" meetings were held to help answer questions.
In June 2024, a public field day was held at Blue Fruit Farm in Winona, MN. About 45 growers, including many of the participants in this project, convened for a tour of the honeyberry orchard, a discussion of the SeedLinked project, a cultivar tasting with SeedLinked, and peer to peer networking.
In October 2024, all growers and project partners convened over Zoom to look over the results from the 2024 growing season and discuss the user experience of the SeedLinked platform. Feedback was collected to help guide platform improvements over the 2024-2025 winter.
Learning Outcomes
More peer to peer support/networking
Greater knowledge about the performance and flavor of honeyberry cultivars
Project Outcomes
This project has built a community of honeyberry growers and facilitated peer to peer networking. With data from the 2024 growing season, the project has also begun building a database of performance-based information on SeedLinked that will help inform grower selections of honeyberry cultivars in the future. The project is also informing improvements to the SeedLinked software platform that will make it useful for other perennial crops after this pilot project. All of these outcomes will help support aspiring and existing honeyberry growers and increase adoption of this promising new fruit crop that will bring more diversity and resiliency to farms in the Upper Midwest.