Much like a lot of crops this season, a mild winter has brought an early blueberry harvest in New Jersey. But because other eastern berry-producing states have also had early harvests, there should be little overlap in production.“We started a little earlier this year, about seven days early,” said Tim Weatherbee of Diamond Blueberry in Hammonton, New Jersey. “We experienced a mild winter and a warm spring, we also had some extremely warm days. All of that pushed the season ahead.”
Florida, Georgia and North Carolina, other eastern states with sizable berry crops, have also had early seasons, so Weatherbee doesn't think any state's marketing window will be significantly affected.
“Everybody's going through the same pattern,” he said. “So it's like everything just got moved up.”
Demand has been good so far, noted Bill Nardelli, president of Nardelli Brothers, a blueberry grower in Cedarville, New Jersey. That good demand has, in turn, translated into good prices for growers.
“Movement has been good so far,” he said. “The early numbers have been good, and we've seen prices in the $16 to $17 range.” On June 14, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that prices for a flat of large blueberries from New Jersey were between $15.75 and $18.75.
Though there have been enough workers for this year's harvest thus far, both Weatherbee and Nardelli expressed concern over the state's future labor supply. As with many other growers, they see the labor issue as a potentially big problem going forward.
“We've been fortunate up to this point that we've had adequate labor,” said Nardelli. “But we see that it's an issue with all crops.” Though Weatherbee has also had enough workers this season, the threat of being short-handed has made some things difficult.
“The more acreage you have, the more labor you need,” said Weatherbee. “So it's a big issue for us. We can't accurately project what we want to do if we can't be sure we'll have an adequate labor force.” But for now, he, like growers throughout the state, is enjoying a good start to a season that could stretch into mid-August.
“Quality, size and demand are all good,” said Weatherbee. “So the season is good right now.”