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Wild
Blueberry Newsletter |
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January 2008 Maine’s 2007 wild blueberry crop, as reported by the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), totaled 76.85 million pounds of which 350,000 pounds were fresh. This was only slightly higher than the 2006 crop of 74.6 million pounds, but is 9.7 million pounds above the five year average. We had a wet fall and a mild winter, but winter injury was seen in some fields, on up to 30% of the stems, which eliminated any possibility of a large crop. The dry weather during pollination increased the potential crop and reduced any loss from mummyberry disease and blossom blight disease, the latter which was not observed this year in the fields. We did have numerous outbreaks of flea beetle which devastated individual fields, if they were not detected and treated in a timely manner. For precipitation at Blueberry Hill Farm, in April we had 16.4 inches (with about 10 inches coming from one storm at the beginning of April), in May we had 3.93 inches, and in June we had little precipitation - 2.75 inches. In July we had 3.27 inches and in August only 3.25 inches, so except for April no month had the four inches of rain per month needed for a good crop. Despite all the furor over the bee decline, bees were available if you were willing to pay the higher price. We had 65,050 honeybee hives brought into the state for pollination, and the weather was conducive for good pollination. The cool temperatures delayed development and the lack of moisture resulted in smaller size fruit. For more information, see Maine Wild Blueberries – January 25, 2008. http://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/New_England/Publications/Special_Reports/index.asp Maine’s contribution to the total North American blueberry crop was 14%.
The wild blueberry crop in Canada was 105 million pounds, which is slightly above the five-year average of 97.3 million pounds. Quebec’s crop was 44 million pounds. Despite the winter kill and frost, which both contributed to the reduction in yield, the crop was only slightly below its five-year average of 47 million pounds. Injury was uneven with some fields being severely affected and others with much less injury. The crop in Nova Scotia was well below average for the second year in a row at 26.4 million pounds compared to its five-year average of 32 million pounds. Both winter kill and cold and wet weather during pollination, reduced the crop set and increased losses from Monilinia and Botrytis disease. In contrast, the crop in New Brunswick was 26.1 million pounds which was the largest blueberry crop harvested in the Province and above the five-year average of 22 million pounds. The crop increase was attributed to the increase in the number of acres coming into production, which is expected to continue to increase the average crop. The lack of winter kill, good pollination weather, an adequate supply of bees, and ample summer rainfall all contributed to the bumper crop. Prince Edward Island had a crop of 8.3 million pounds, which is close to an average crop. Crop figures for Newfoundland were not available but it is assumed they had a less than average crop of 0.5 million pounds, the decrease is attributed to the lack of labor to harvest the crop. The spring wild blueberry meeting will be held on March 19th in Waldoboro and March 20th in Ellsworth from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. The Machias spring meeting will be held on March 22th from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Details on the locations and program will be included in the February 2008 Wild Blueberry Newsletter. Sincerely, |
