CHERRYFIELD, Maine — The beginning of the blueberry harvest has been delayed in the Cherryfield area, which could mean a lower than average harvest for the year.
Harvesting, originally scheduled to start Monday, won’t begin until the end of the week or possibly next week, according to Dr. David Yarborough, wild blueberry specialist with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension.
“There’s still quite a bit of white berries out there,” he said Monday. To begin harvesting now would mean bringing in a lot of lower quality, unripe fruit.
So far, Jan. 1 through July 31 has been the coldest on record, and that is likely what caused the delay in blueberry growth, Yarborough said.
Berries are ready for harvest in the southern portion of Maine, but in Down East, the yields so far are “spotty,” he said, adding that “each of the fields is a little individually different.”
Yarborough said he visited six fields Monday. Three showed a good yield while the other three were poor.
“The berries just aren’t there,” he said.
Homer Woodward, vice president of operations of Milbridge-based Wyman’s of Maine, said Monday their harvest is expected to begin Wednesday.
He said he did not expect the delayed start to have any effect on the company’s season overall.
At their annual meeting on July 15, blueberry growers from around the state predicted an average to above average harvest for the year.
Assuming the harvesting is done near the end of August, as it usually is, the delayed start will mean a yield of less than the annual average of 90 million pounds, Yarborough said. But he said it was too early to predict exactly what effect the delay might have on the overall yield.
Last year’s harvest of 104.4 million pounds of wild blueberries was reported to be one of the largest ever. Yarborough said the wild blueberry crop in Maine contributes about $90 million to the state’s economy each year.