UMaine Extension 2022 Wild Blueberry Conference Series Recordings

The UMaine Extension 2022 Wild Blueberry Conference Series was a free, online webinar series offered Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4:00 – 6:00 PM, from February 1 – March 17.

All sessions were recorded and archived on this page, see index below.

Index of Conference Series Recordings

YouTube videos for the following dates:

Pesticide Credits were available for some webinars. For questions regarding pesticide credits, email: lily.calderwood@maine.edu.

Would you like to be a sponsor of this event in the future? Email: lily.calderwood@maine.edu.

Tuesday, February 1
Wild Blueberry Weed Management (1PA Credit)

Dr. Lily Calderwood kicked off the conference with a talk covering the basics of wild blueberry weed management for both conventional and organic growers. She also discussed the impact that heat and humidity have on herbicide efficacy and some research results.

1PA credit was available to live viewers. No PA credits are available to later viewers of this recording.

Thursday, February 3
H2-A Program: Finding Labor

This session explored how and when to apply for migrant labor through the H2-A Federal Department of Labor program.

  • Dr. Lily Calderwood, UMaine Extension Wild Blueberry Specialist
  • Julie Kramer and Steve Chapman, Maine JobLink Program
  • Joe Young, New England Apple Council

Tuesday, February 8
Improvements to Fresh Pack Lines for Quality and Food Safety

Producing and marketing fresh-pack wild blueberries has numerous challenges including the use of specialized equipment, limited time for product harvest and processing, and issues of shelf-life and shrinkage, just to name a few. Hear from several growers (Courtney Hammond, Everett Worcester, and Brian Powers) and two food scientists (Dr. Jen Perry & Dr. Rob Machado) about some of the common as well as uncommon management practices, equipment usage, food safety SOPs and other practical knowledge of getting fresh wild blueberries to market.

  • Courtney Hammond, Lynch Hill Farm
  • Everett Worcester, Worcester’s Wild Blueberries
  • Brian Powers, Hart’s Clary Hill Farm
  • Dr. Jen Perry, Associate Professor Food Microbiology, UMaine School of Food & Agriculture
  • Dr. Rob Machado, Assistant Extension Professor & Food Scientist, UMaine Cooperative Extension

Thursday, February 10
Expanding into Value-Added Markets

New products and new markets have been arising for a few years now among both large and small scale wild blueberry growers in Maine. This session features a farm that makes several dried fruit leather products (Kate Mahaffey, Slow Rose Farm), an organic wine producer (Joe Appel, R A S Wines), a farm that makes dried wild blueberry powder, tincture, and more (Ashley Field, Fields Fields Blueberries), and a multi-product facility (Stuart Littlefield).

  • Kate Mahaffey, Slow Rise Farm
  • Joe Appel, R A S Wines
  • Ashley Field, Fields Fields Blueberries
  • Stuart Littlefield, Cultural Creations, Artisan Distillery, Littlefield’s of Maine, BIOACTIVE LLC

Tuesday, February 15
Disease Management Update (1PA credit)

Dr. Seanna Annis discussed the basics of disease management in wild blueberry and shared her most recent findings on managing disease in wild blueberry for both conventional and organic wild blueberry growers.

1PA credit was available to live viewers. No PA credits are available to later viewers of this recording.

  • Dr. Seanna Annis, Associate Professor of Mycology, Associate Extension Professor

Thursday, February 17
Marketing Skills, Building Websites, and Wild Blueberry Weekend Experience

Dr. Joline Blais from the New Media department at UMaine teaches a course called Designing Websites for Community Partners. She and her students would like to open up the opportunity to collaborate with wild blueberry growers to build grower websites where you can sell your berries and other products. In this session, she shared examples of websites they have made in the past and listened to what growers would like to have on their websites. During this session, you could have signed up to join the Wild Blueberry Website Initiative to get sales going on your own website for FREE.

Ron Howard of Brodis Blueberries in Hope finished this session by sharing their experience with the first Wild Blueberry Weekend.

Tuesday, February 22
Spotted Wing Drosophila Update (1PA Credit)

Graduate student Ben Johnson and Dr. Phil Fanning shared their most recent findings and knowledge on the invasive SWD, a fruit fly pest of wild blueberry.

1PA credit was available to live viewers. No PA credits are available to later viewers of this recording.

Thursday, February 24
Modern Wild Blueberry Production

Bruce Hall, an agronomist at Wyman’s of Maine, shared their current methods and philosophies around growing wild blueberries.

Tuesday, March 1
Business Management with Maine Farmland Trust

MFT has launched the first Wild Blueberry Business Management course which is currently underway. Alex Fouliard shared learnings from this course, MFT’s work with wild blueberry growers, and led a FarmCalc demonstration in an effort to assist with economic sustainability within the industry.

Thursday, March 3
Calderwood Team Research Update

Dr. Lily Calderwood shared her team’s most recent research results on multiple projects including phenological tracking of wild blueberry, dual-use solar, cold storage for fresh pack berries, mulching for moisture management, and nutrient management.

Tuesday, March 8
Pollinators! (1PA Credit)

Dr. Phil Fanning discussed wild blueberry honey bee and bumblebee pollination in addition to the importance of our native pollinators in Maine wild blueberry production.

Thursday, March 10
Wild Blueberry Commission of Maine Update

Eric Venturini, Executive Director, shared an update of Commission activities and Bruce Hall, Chair of the Wild Blueberry Commission Advisory Committee, shared the role of this committee on research activities with the UMaine researchers.

Tuesday, March 15
Drought and Water Management in Wild Blueberry

Dr. Yongjiang Zhang, plant physiologist, shared his recent findings on climate change, drought, and water management in wild blueberry.

Thursday, March 17
Certifications Panel

Eric Venturini facilitated a panel on certifications available to farmers including MOFGA Organic, Bee Better Certified, Non-GMO Project, and Certified Naturally Grown.