British Columbia's blueberry harvest began sooner than usual this year, and the early crop could be lighter than last season's. Sizing may also be down for fruit from fields that were affected by high temperatures.“Last year, we started around July 4, and we began harvesting around June 14 this year,” said Gary Purewal of Purewal Blueberry Farms. “We had a pretty warm and dry spring when compared to last spring, which was kind of wet, and that really helped with pollination and the crop coming out early.” Good pollination and an early start brought good volumes of fruit early in the season, but high temperatures affected the size of fruit and quantity coming out of some fields.
“The volume from our fields is down by about 10 or 15 percent, and I've heard of other growers being down 20 or 25 percent because of the heat,” said Purewal. “About 65 percent of the blueberries grown in this region are Duke, and production for the Duke variety was down this year in our mature fields.” Last year's crop had plentiful fruit, and Purewal believes it's hard to get two big crops in a row. With fewer berries, prices have been good.
“Prices are pretty strong for the fresh market,” said Purewal. “Prices have been about 10 percent better than what they were last year at this time, and because some regions won't produce as much fruit later in the season, I think prices for late fruit could be up to 20 percent better than what they were last season.”
For more information:
Gary Purewal
Purewal Blueberry Farms
+1 604 465 1980