Maine Wild Blueberry Production Statistics
Updated September 2022
Prepared by Lily Calderwood, PhD and David E. Yarborough, PhD
Extension Wild Blueberry Specialists
and Brogan Tooley, Research Assistant
This Fact Sheet Contains:
- Historic to Present Maine Wild Blueberry Production and Value 1924-2021.
- Current Maine Wild Blueberry Production and Value.
- Maine Wild Blueberry Production Statistics by County.
Historic to Present, Maine Wild Blueberry Production and Value 1924-2021
Figure 1. 1924-2021 Maine wild blueberry production and statistics. Source: 1924-1989 Maine Department of Agriculture (1924 to 1928 includes imported berries), 1990 to 2022 New England Agricultural Statistics Service and the Wild Blueberry Commission of Maine based upon aggregate tax records.
Current Maine Wild Blueberry Production and Value
Table 1. 2012-2021 Maine wild blueberry production and value statistics. Source: USDA & NASS. 2022. USDA/NASS, National Agricultural Statistics Service. QuickStats Ad-hoc Query Tool. Available at https://quickstats.nass.usda.gov/ (verified Sept. 2022).
|
TOTAL |
USE |
PRICE |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Harvested | Weight | Weight/Area | Fresh | Processed | Fresh | Processed |
| acres | million, lbs | lbs/acre | % of total weight | $/lb | |||
| 2021 | 21,000 | 103.8 | 5,000 | 1.0% | 98.9% | 2.30 | 0.750 |
| 2020 | 20,700 | 47.4 | 2,290 | 1.5% | 98.5% | 0.82 | 0.600 |
| 2019 | 20,500 | 77.9 | 3,800 | 1.6% | 98.1% | 1.19 | 0.461 |
| 2018 | 18,800 | 50.4 | 2,681 | 3.1% | 96.7% | 1.05 | 0.455 |
| 2017 | 17,000 | 67.8 | 3,988 | 0.5% | 99.3% | 2.20 | 0.249 |
| 2016 | 23,100 | 101.8 | 4,409 | 0.4% | 99.4% | 0.79 | 0.270 |
| 2015 | 22,400 | 101.1 | 4,514 | 0.5% | 99.4% | 1.90 | 0.460 |
| 2014 | 22,800 | 104.4 | 4,579 | 0.6% | 99.4% | 2.00 | 0.600 |
| 2013 | – | 87.9 | – | 0.6% | 98.5% | 1.95 | 0.750 |
| 2012 | 18,110 | 91.1 | 5,030 | 0.5% | 99.5% | 2.25 | 0.750 |
Current Maine Wild Blueberry Production and Value – Graphed
Figure 2. Maine wild blueberry production price by use, fresh or processed between 2007 and 2021. Source: USDA & NASS. 2022. USDA/NASS, National Agricultural Statistics Service. QuickStats Ad-hoc Query Tool. Available at https://quickstats.nass.usda.gov/ (verified September 2022).
Figure 3. Maine wild blueberry harvested acres and production (lbs/A) in 2012 and 2014-2021. Source: USDA & NASS. 2022. USDA/NASS, National Agricultural Statistics Service. QuickStats Ad-hoc Query Tool. Available at https://quickstats.nass.usda.gov/ (verified September 2022).
Maine Wild Blueberry Production Statistics by County
Table 2. Wild blueberry fruit bearing acres by county (every 5 years), with state totals. Source: USDA & NASS. 2019. USDA/NASS, National Agricultural Statistics Service. QuickStats Ad-hoc Query Tool. Available at https://quickstats.nass.usda.gov/ (verified May 2021).
| County | 1997 | 2002 | 2007 | 2012 | 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ANDROSCOGGIN | (NA)* | (NA) | (NA) | 1 | (NA) |
| AROOSTOOK | (NA) | (NA) | (NA) | (NA) | (NA) |
| CUMBERLAND | 246 | 141 | (NA) | (NA) | 41 |
| FRANKLIN | 92 | 135 | (NA) | (NA) | 23 |
| HANCOCK | 3839 | 3162 | 5812 | 2717 | 4,496 |
| KENNEBEC | 97 | (NA) | 122 | 35 | 23 |
| KNOX | 1647 | 1494 | 1398 | 776 | 1,345 |
| LINCOLN | 396 | 309 | 286 | 299 | (NA) |
| OXFORD | 242 | 168 | 115 | 147 | (NA) |
| PENOBSCOT | 139 | 119 | 95 | 111 | 82 |
| PISCATAQUIS | 233 | 133 | 221 | 96 | (NA) |
| SAGADAHOC | (NA) | (NA) | (NA) | 12 | 12 |
| SOMERSET | (NA) | (NA) | 24 | 3 | (NA) |
| WALDO | 609 | 391 | 380 | 199 | 498 |
| WASHINGTON | 17861 | 16844 | 14222 | 13668 | (NA) |
| YORK | (NA) | (NA) | 7 | 32 | (NA) |
| State Total | 25,429 | 23,000 | 22,747 | 18,110 | 20,023 |
*NA are counties/years where data are withheld to protect individual operations.
Figure 4. Maine wild blueberry, fruit bearing acres (every 5-years) in eastern coastal counties, Lincoln to Washington where a majority of Maine’s wild blueberries are grown. Source: USDA & NASS. 2022. USDA/NASS, National Agricultural Statistics Service. QuickStats Ad-hoc Query Tool. Available at https://quickstats.nass.usda.gov/ (verified September 2022).
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