JONESBORO, Maine — Blueberry growers anticipate an average to slightly above average season this year, as long as there’s enough rain over the next few weeks.
“The crops look really good, but they’re in desperate need of rain,” grower Bill Malay of Cherryfield Foods said Wednesday during the annual meeting of growers from around the state, which was held at Blueberry Hill Farm in Jonesboro.
“We’d all like to see a little bit of rain,” Homer Woodard of Wyman’s, based out of Milbridge, said.
What kind of wild blueberry harvest the growers will experience depends on how much rain falls between now and the end of the season, which typically runs from the end of July to end of August, according to Dr. David Yarborough, a blueberry specialist with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension.
“If you tell me what the weather’s going to be like, I’ll tell you what the crop is going to be like,” Yarborough, who organized and moderated Wednesday’s meeting, said.
The main issue growers noted was an inconsistency of crop from one field to another.
“Some fields look fantastic, and other fields didn’t have that good a blossom,” Lincoln Senate, a grower from Machias, said. He said he believes the situation is similar all over Down East.
Kermit Allen of G.M. Allen in Orland also described his crops as “inconsistent.” Some fields appear to have little or no yield whereas others appear to have a good yield, he said.
“I think pollination is a little spotty compared to what it has been,” Todd Merrill of Ellsworth said.
Growers were uncertain of the cause, though some speculated the long winter and heavier than usual snowfall had an impact, damaging some plants.
“I think last fall we had real issues with the plants hardening off,” Yarborough said, referring to the plants going dormant.
The heavy rains in May also produced a lot of weeds, Merrill said.
Temperatures are still dipping down into the 50s at night, Yarborough said, which “delays development” of the berries.
Last year’s harvest of 104.4 million pounds of wild blueberries was reported to be one of the largest ever. A typical season yields about 90 million pounds, according to Yarborough.
Washington County is Maine’s leading producer of wild blueberries, contributing to about 80 percent of the state’s production.
Yarborough said Wednesday the wild blueberry crop in Maine contributes about $90 million to the state’s economy each year.