There is a late-season quality gap in Southeastern U.S. blueberry production, and two breeding programs, one public and one private, have partnered to fill it.

The University of Florida blueberry breeding program and private breeder Berry Blue, a subsidiary of MBG Marketing, announced a research agreement earlier this year to develop late-season southern tall blueberry varieties. The Southeast's late harvest window, roughly June to July, is dominated by rabbiteye varieties, a native species that has not kept pace with new releases.

Ryder Godfrey, Georgia blueberry grower and MBG board member, said breeding efforts in the Southeast have focused primarily on improving early-season southern highbush cultivars. He and other Southeastern growers need better late berries. They also need berries that can be harvested by machines, as labor availability continues to decline.

“The collaboration between MBG and the University of Florida could be a game-changer for the entire blueberry industry,” Godfrey said. "It will be fun to see what the program produces."

Photography University of Florida. From left, Derrin Wheeler of MBG Marketing, Patricio Muñoz of the University of Florida, Ryan Cullen of UF, Marivi Colle of Berry Blue, Felipe Ferrao of UF and Ben Cantrell of MBG discuss a research agreement between Berry Blue and the program UF blueberry breeding program on the UF Gainesville campus.

Blueberry cultivation at UF dates back to the 1940s, when researchers began crossing northern highbush cultivars with native species of Vaccinium from Florida, resulting in southern tall bush cultivars. The program has released more than 100 varieties over the years, with an emphasis on early-maturing, low-chill cultivars adapted to Florida's climate. But the largest blueberry growers in the Southeast, Georgia and North Carolina, have higher cold needs than Florida and a later season, said Patricio Muñoz, a UF associate professor and blueberry breeder.

Several picks already in UF's improvement process would fit in the late-season window, he said. Under the research agreement, Berry Blue will provide funding and land for the trials, while UF will conduct genetic and breeding research, with input from MBG.

MBG Marketing, a Michigan-based grower cooperative, is the largest grower and shipper of fresh blueberries in the United States. MBG growers provide a steady supply of blueberries from spring through fall, starting in the southeast and moving north. UF's southern highbush releases dominate Southeastern early-season production due to their high yields, pest and disease resistance, mechanical harvestability, and excellent fruit quality and flavor. MBG's long-term goal is to provide its Southeastern growers with late-season southern tallbush cultivars of comparable quality and fill a crucial sales window with better berries, said MBG CEO Brad Moorer.

Berry Blue was one of the first private blueberry breeding companies, but today there are almost a dozen. The development of superior blueberry varieties has become “kind of an arms race,” Moorer said. Low-cost imported fruit is putting pressure on the domestic industry. Newer industries in foreign countries are not “laden with inherited genetics” like American producers are, he said.

"We're playing catch-up to some extent in the United States," Moorer said. “Major retailers tell us that consumers want American fruit, but we have to do our part. “They can’t pay higher prices for lower quality.”

Muñoz said UF southern tall bush specimens, such as Emerald, Sentinel and Optimus, are known for their high yields and fruit quality and are grown throughout the Southeast, but their harvest times do not fit the harvest window. season ends. Legacy, a late-season southern highbush variety, has decent yields, but fruit quality is poor.

Moorer expects to see a steady stream of new releases for the late-season southern highbush window in the coming years. Florida producers will have access to UF/MBG releases, but access outside of Florida will be exclusive to MBG producers. The new berries will be sold under the Naturipe brand, he said.

The MBG agreement is not a departure from UF's mission to serve Florida growers, Muñoz said, but will give the program greater resources and keep it connected to the global blueberry industry. "If we can develop higher quality, more profitable varieties, we will all benefit," he said.