SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Registration is now open for the 2025 Missouri Blueberry School.

The event, Feb. 21-22, offers updates on diseases, soil health, pruning and other issues related to commercial blueberry production.

The Feb. 21 classroom session will be at the Darr Agricultural Center in Springfield. Speakers include horticulturists from University of Missouri Extension, University of Arkansas and Missouri State University. There also will be a farmer forum.

On Feb. 22, attendees can visit two Springfield-area blueberry farms: Hoof and Harvest Farms in Rogersville and Persimmon Hill Farm in Lampe.

Interest in blueberries continues to increase in Missouri, with growers seeing them as an opportunity to produce a high-value crop on small acreage, says event organizer Kelly McGowan, an MU Extension horticulture specialist. “The 2025 Missouri Blueberry School is a valuable tool for producers to stay up to date on issues related to blueberry,” she says.

Most of Missouri’s blueberry crop is sold directly to consumers. U-pick blueberries are in high demand, and agritourism is increasingly important to Missouri’s ag economy, says MU Extension horticulture specialist Justin Keay.

“The Missouri Blueberry School brings together national and regional blueberry experts and blueberry farmers to help support the growth of Missouri’s specialty crop industry,” he says.

The Missouri Blueberry School is a partnership of MU Extension, Lincoln University and Missouri State University.

Register at http://muext.us/BlueberrySchool2025. For more information, contact McGowan at 417-874-2955 or mcgowank@missouri.edu.