Insured Maine Crops - Blueberries
2012 Blueberry Insurance Policy
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Check out the Maine Wild Blueberries Blog
New Fact Sheets Available
Wild blueberry fact sheets 209, 219, 239, have been updated, mailed to growers on our mailing list, and posted on our website for viewing and printing.
Maine Wild Blueberry Crop Figures for 2011 Not Available Yet
USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service usually publishes the Preliminary Non Citrus Fruit and Nut Report at the end of January. However, because of budget cuts mandated by Congress they have delayed this report. The Non Citrus Fruit and Nut Preliminary Report will be released March 15 at 3:00 PM. So I will provide you with the North American Blueberry Crop Summary in the April Wild Blueberry Newsletter.
Finding Funds for Farmers
The Maine Department of Agriculture has produced a revised publication to help farmers find financial resources for their farm and food business. This publication will provide you with most of the banks and grant programs available as of July, 2011. Not all private or philanthropic organizations are in this publication, and not all banks actually loan to farmers. Their business development specialist contact number is 207-287-3491. The 82 page Finding Funds for Farmers publication can be found at www.getrealmaine.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/faqs.showpage/pageID/100/index.htm
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2012 WILD BLUEBERRY SPRING MEETINGS |
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| WALDOBORODate: Tuesday, March 13, 2012 Time: 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. Location: Knox-Lincoln County Extension Office, 377 Manktown Road (Manktown Road connects Route 235 and Route 1 in Waldoboro and the office is located across from the new high school) |
ELLSWORTHDate: Thursday, March 15, 2012 Time: 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. Location: Hancock County Extension Office, 63 Boggy Brook Road |
MACHIASDate: Saturday, March 17, 2012 Time: 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. Location: University of Maine – Machias, Science Bldg, Room 102, O’Brien Avenue |
Maine Wild Blueberry Crop 2010
Maine’s 2010 wild blueberry crop, as reported by the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, totaled 83.0 million pounds of which 500,000 pounds were fresh. This is less than last year’s 88.5 million pounds but still well above the five year average of 77 million pounds.
The blueberry plants in Maine came through the winter well with little or no winter injury. We did have an early spring, initially plant growth was three weeks earlier than average, consequently, we had a very early bloom and three nights of frost the second week of May. Fields that were either low-lying or further away from the coast experienced up to 75% crop loss, but many fields Downeast were in early bloom so did not receive as much damage. Pollination weather was excellent with some days at the end of May reaching nearly 80 degrees, so set was very good in fields which invested in pollinators. We did have a number of infection periods for mummy berry disease but for those that monitored their fields and applied a fungicide to prevent infection there was minimal damage, but those that did not experienced extensive damage. We did have isolated outbreaks of spanworm or flea beetle but if treated in a timely manner caused minimal damage. We had less than adequate rain in April, May, and August but adequate precipitation in June and July. Temperatures were well above average for the summer. The high temperatures put the plants under stress and more herbicide injury was observed this year than in years past. We had an early harvest, with most fields beginning at least one week early.
The Maine Wild Blueberries NAAS report may be found under Maine Wild Blueberries at http://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/New_England_includes/Publications/Special_Reports/wbrel2011.pdf
North American Blueberry Crop 2010
Wild Blueberry Crop 2010
Cultivated Blueberries
Total reported cultivated production in the United States reported by the USDA was 222.45 million pounds fresh and 138.85 million pounds processed for a total crop of 414,710 million pounds. In addition, British Columbia, Canada had a bumper cultivated crop of 90 million pounds, 56 million fresh and 34 million processed, reflecting the increase in the acreage. Michigan/Indiana had 118.6 million pounds, which represents its largest crop and is just slightly more than the 113.8 million pounds harvested in 2008. In New Jersey’s the crop was 49 million pounds, which was also slightly less than last year’s crop of 53 million pounds. The crop on the Pacific Coast (CA, OR, WA) was reported at 120.8 million pounds, which exceeds last year’s crop of 107.5 million pounds, CA increased from 24 to 28 million pounds. The Southern States (AL, AR, FL, GA, MS, NC) crop was 124 million pounds, which is considerably more than the 98.5 million pounds of 2009. The total North American crop (wild and cultivated) is 682.2 million pounds, which is slightly above last year’s crop of 677.4 million pounds. (Source of US crop data: NASS/USDA, Non-citrus Fruits and Nuts 2011 Preliminary Summary, January 2011, pages (36-37) See http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/usda/current/NoncFruiNu/NoncFruiNu-01-21-2011.pdf
Sincerely,
David E. Yarborough
Extension Blueberry Specialist
Used with permission of David E. Yarborough, Maine Extension Blueberry Specialist . For more information, see http://umaine.edu/blueberries/newsletters/
Maine Wild Blueberry Homepage
Lots of great information on production, insects, weeds, disease, management and much more from University of Maine Cooperative Extension.