The volume of Maine blueberries could be falling an 36% this season
After dealing with disease and lack of pollination, Maine blueberry growers expect a much smaller crop this season.
The state of New England is the capital of wild blueberries in the US In recent years, crop sizes have skyrocketed and prices have plummeted, bringing uncertainty to the important state industry.
The crop grew a little less than 1% last year, reached almost 102 million pounds (46 million kilograms), while prices for farmers dropped to the lowest level of the last 10 years, 27 cents per pound.
University of Maine horticulture professor David Yarborough said mummy berry disease, a disease caused by a fungal pathogen, and other factors could reduce the crop by up to 36% this summer.
Yarborough said the shortage of pollinators such as bees, lack of rain and some localized frost problems have also slowed the blueberry harvest. Another factor that influences the volume of crops is the lack of agricultural effort, possibly influenced by low prices for farmers.
The great harvests of recent years have imposed quotas for the industry due to oversupply. The US Department of Agriculture has made up to 10 millions of dollars to buy the surplus of Maine blueberries last month, in an attempt to maintain prices. USDA also did something similar in 2016.
Executive director of the Blueberry commission, Nancy McBrady, said this month that she does not see the small crop as a negative, but rather as an opportunity to begin to correct the excess supply problems of the industry. He commented that the smaller crop could provide a restart, a balance between supply and demand.
Source: Usnews.com
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