Blueberry farmers are anticipating another great year, as near-perfect weather conditions will give them a chance to replicate last year’s record-setting bumper crop.
“It’s a very good crop,” said Patrick Freeman, a local farmer who is also on the board of directors for the B.C. Blueberry Council.
He is one of the 800 blueberry growers in B.C., and has had a small Pitt Meadows family farm that has less than 10 acres of Dukes and Blue Crop blueberries, producing some 3,600-4,500 kg per acre. The farm has been turned over to daughter and son-in-law Kendra and Scott Evans. The farm on 200th Street has been in the family since 1948.
Freeman said it has been almost too hot lately, with some berries getting “sunburned,” but that it is “not a big deal.”
The crops are coming off early. In each of the prior two years, producers would just begin picking now. The Freeman/Evans farm is almost finished its second pick of the early varieties, and is now getting ready for later berry types.
“On July 15 we started last year. This year, we’re already finished one variety,” said Freeman
Those who like their fruit farm fresh might notice an a shortened season for blueberries.
“We’ve got to get a lot of fruit, and then there won’t be any,” said Freeman.
Debbie Etsell, executive director of the Blueberry Council, said there appears to be a significant overlap of early and middle varieties, and she is hopeful that getting enough labour to pick the crop does not become an issue for producers.
“There’s so much fruit, all at once.”
Sunshine and mid-20s temperatures create perfect conditions. Etsell is optimistic, but won’t call this a great crop until the last picks are done. For the past three years, picking has continued into October.
“It looks like a good crop, but time will tell,” she said. “They’re nice and sweet this year, that’s for sure.”
There are always challengers for farmers.
Freeman said some producers had problems getting bee boxes onto their farms to pollinate their fruit this year. Then, some who did had hives threatened by mites.
Another issue is the push of American fruit into Canadian markets, as earlier berries from the U.S. are already being bought by Canadian markets.
It’s big business, and Pitt Meadows is a big player, worth $1 billion over the past five years. The province grows 55 million kilograms of blueberries, and Canada is the third largest producer of the fruit in the world.
U.S. and Chilean growers have won the race to Chinese markets, while Canada is still trying to export there.
At the same time, Freeman said the farm has seen five generations of his family, and doing business with locals has been critical.
“We’ve enjoyed great community support.”