What the storm left

“The storm it passed through almost targeted the blueberry region of North Carolina. Like a hail storm, it became widespread. I know of at least 1,200 acres that will be completely phased out, ”said Lee Kimball of Wilmington, North Carolina-based Somerfield Farms LLC.

However, Kimball points out that, like a tornado, there may be a path of destruction that spans an entire soccer field, but then 600 feet away, there is fully intact production with no damage, which is what is being done. watching in North Carolina.

Hit and miss

“Some growers appear to have missed the storm entirely, but others were either completely wiped out or lost a significant amount,” says a source at Redondo Beach, CA-based Gourmet Trading Co..

In terms of affected areas, the White Lake region, a major blueberry growing area, appeared to be the most affected. “There are mostly bulldozed farms around the White Lake area. But producers north of this area or more southeast of this area seem to be very lucky, ”says the Gourmet source. Other affected areas include Ivanhoe and Elizabeth Town.

The general consensus for North Carolina is that there is a 20-30% acreage loss in the state. “What remains to be seen is what other percentage will be lost when they start packing. We had a small percentage of our acreage that would be a loss. The rest of that fruit was undamaged and we look forward to a solid harvest, ”says Kimball.

Notably, though, there was also a late Easter frost that damaged crops, says Brenda Park of the North Carolina Blueberry Council in Greenville, North Carolina. “Between these two events, several of our growers were really affected, suffering losses between 25% and 95-100% of their crop,” says Park. “On some of our largest farms, this equates to over a million pounds of blueberries lost. The losses are still being assessed, so we don't know the full impact yet."

Returning to realistic expectations

“What resonates with most growers is that while North Carolina will see some type of volume loss, their bloom and pollination season was so great that they were projecting to have the biggest crop since 2015,” says Gourmet's source. Trade. "The loss of fruit due to the storm just pushes them back to a more realistic projection for this season."

Blueberry market

As for the timing of the season, it started for North Carolina late last week. “But the high temperatures are coming this week and that will push the berries. By the end of this week, there will be full production, ”says Kimball, adding that Somerfield has added more than 200 acres to its organic production in North Carolina this season with new varieties. Full production will end around July 4.

What does this mean for the market in the meantime? “We believe that the market will strengthen and stabilize due to the amount of fruit that will not be available. That will show during the first two weeks of June. It will reassert itself, ”says Kimball.