Ag News
Georgia blueberry growers suffer second straight year of crop loss
Posted on May 16, 2018 at 0:00 AM
Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black hosted a conference call on May 15 to connect Georgia blueberry growers and agricultural industry representatives with USDA Undersecretary Bill Northey to discuss recent loss assessments for the 2018 blueberry crop.
According to University of Georgia Extension, overall losses of both highbush and rabbiteye varieties could exceed 60 percent. This would be the second consecutive year of significant loss for Georgia blueberry growers.
“One tough year is a hard pill to swallow,” Black said. “But there is no denying the financial strain that will be endured by these families due to this second consecutive year loss.”
Unlike a devastating freeze that hit the growing region March 15-16, 2017, after a mild winter, the 2018 losses are not directly attributed to one catastrophic freeze event.
“We had another warm February leading many of our plants to enter full bloom,” said blueberry farmer and Georgia Blueberry Commission member Russ Goodman. “Then March brought back-to-back weeks of freezing temperatures that damaged some fruits and blooms, followed by a cool, cloudy and windy April.”
The unseasonable weather did not allow blooms to fully recover from cold injury and hampered pollination efforts, because it is difficult for honeybees to fly in those conditions. Compounding the loss is competition from imported fruit during the Georgia marketing window.
“There is an approximate four-month window for fresh Georgia blueberries,” Commissioner Black said. “Unfortunately, Georgia growers are forced to contend with imported blueberries from Mexico which do not have the same input, regulatory and labor costs.”
In 2014 Georgia produced 95 million pounds of blueberries. Last year’s crop was 30 million pounds, with similar losses expected for 2018 after original expectations for this year’s crop were around 120 million pounds.
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