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THE HIGHBUSH BLUEBERRY INDUSTRY 



Willlajn J. Lord 

 Department of Plant and Soil Sciences 



It is evident from reading the Proceedings of the North American 

 Blueberry Workers' Conference (Maine Agricultural Experiment Station 

 Misc. Rpt. 118) that a rapid expansion of the highbush blueberry indus- 

 try has occurred in some states during the last decade. On the other 

 hand, in Massachusetts and all of New England, the industry has expanded 

 slowly since the majority of the plantings are small and are being op- 

 erated by part-time farmers. To give readers some pertinent facts about 

 the highbush blueberry industry in the leading producing states, the 

 writer has included below information obtained from the Proceedings of 

 the North American Blueberry Workers Conference and from correspondence 

 with blueberry workers from these states. Since blueberry acreage and 

 production are not generally published in the USDA Crop Reporting Ser- 

 vice, such data presented below generally are the best estimate from a 

 variety of sources. 



New Jersey 



Frederick A. Perkins, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 

 reports that during the last 10 years, blueberry acreage in his state 

 has increased about 60 percent and that there are now over 8,000 acres 

 producing around 2 million trays (12 pints - 11 pounds) annually. Most 

 of the acreage is in Burlington and Atlantic counties , located in south- 

 eastern New Jersey. 



Bluecrop , Jersey and Weymouth varieties produce slightly less than 

 one -half of the total commercial production. According to Perkins, the 

 average yield in 1965 was estimated at 260 12-pint trays per acre. 



During the 1950' s, about 60 percent of the blueberries were sold 

 for fresh fruit and M^O percent were sold for processing. In recent 

 years, however, about 80 percent of the crop has been sold for fresh 

 fruit. 



Perkins stated, "New Jersey is the dominant supplier of fresh mar- 

 ket, cultivated blueberries, with the season extending from around June 

 20 to August 20. The peak of production is marketed from July 10 to 

 August 1st. Most of the berries are sold in large-city markets of New 

 York, Philadelphia and Boston, with other shipments to major cities 

 throughout the U.S." 



North Carolina 



Gene J. Galletta, Department of Horticulture Science, North Carolina 

 State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, reports the following inform- 

 ation about the North Carolina blueberry industry. 



