Like other farmers in the South, blueberry growers have had to contend with late freezes, snowfall and destructive storms. Compared to previous years, “2019 (has) turned out to be pretty good crop-wise,” despite the current drought, said Mike Bruorton of Superior Berries Co. in Fargo, Georgia.
With the harvest now under way, Bruorton’s primary concern is getting a decent price for his berries. According to him, imports from countries with lower labor costs and less stringent food safety regulations have undercut the market value of blueberries.
Between the late-1980s and the year in which Georgia surpassed traditional blueberry powerhouse Michigan, blueberry acreage across the state grew from 3,500 to 20,000 acres.
Leslie Tumbleston, who with her husband owns Champney’s Blueberry Farm in Ravenel, says South Carolina has also made strides in blueberry production since they planted their first trees in 1995.
“We had to go to Georgia to get all of our information,” Tumbleston recalls. “But over the past five or six years, we now have a great extension agent.”
Although Tumbleston doesn’t anticipate having enough berries this year to sell to corporate clients, Champney’s operates a popular u-pick program, with the fields kept open from dawn to dusk on certain days. “Our berries aren’t as large as they usually are, and they could be sweeter,” Tumbleston says. “But we have decided we are blueberry snobs because we have maybe a higher expectation than others.”
Source: postandcourier.com
