N.S. blueberry growers gather again
/by Dan Woolley
The Wild Blueberry Producers Association of Nova Scotia (WBPANS) recently held its first field day since 2019 and the disruption of COVID-19.
About 120 people showed up at John Cameron’s blueberry receiving station in East River Saint Marys, Pictou County, on July 19.
WBPANS executive director Peter Burgess told the growers gathered together that there have been some big investments made in wild blueberry research of late. As an example, he said, work is now underway on a modelling program focused on Blueberry maggot control.
He added that this year’s growing season has been decent, but that weeds are also flourishing and growers have been challenged in accessing pesticides due to supply chain issues.
Burgess said that wild blueberry prices have been generally good during the last couple of years, although there are ongoing price fluctuations. He noted that demand for this year’s crop looks positive and he expects prices will be “very good.”
Neri Vautour, executive director of the Wild Blueberry Association of North America (WBANA) in Canada, was similarly optimistic.
Vautour said markets are strong and yields should be good. “But not a bumper crop,” he cautioned. “Most of the crop will sell quite well. There will be little going into storage.”
He said the WBANA is looking at finalizing a strategic plan and will retain a marketing consultant.
Vautour noted that the WBANA in Canada successfully defended the Canadian wild blueberry industry from a potential U.S. tariff threat. That was after former president Donald Trump’s trade representative Robert Lighthizer asked the U.S. International Trade Commission to examine the Canadian industry’s export practices to see if there was any injury to American growers.
The WBANA in Canada enlisted some American allies, including noted University of Maine wild blueberry expert Dr. David Yarborough, who spoke on behalf of the Canadian industry.
Hugh Lyu, a wild blueberry specialist with Nova Scotia’s Perennia Food and Agriculture Inc., also spoke at the July 19 field day.
“Luckily, we did not have major frost damage,” said Lyu, adding that there was also little winter damage to wild blueberry plants heading into the current growing season.
A mild spring and warm soil temperatures spurred plant growth, he noted.
Lyu added that wild blueberry growers had good pollination weather and there was very little herbicide damage observed this year. As well, there was little insect pressure in the spring. Nevertheless, Lyu urged growers to “check your maggot traps.”
He did caution that there will be high weed pressure this year as last summer’s humid weather decreased the efficacy of herbicide applications. However, he said, “We are doing a good job on weed management.”
As for this season’s anticipated yields, Lyu remarked, “Everything is working very well this year.”
Prior to the receiving station meeting, growers took buses on a field tour. The first stop was at John Cameron’s Aigas Farms for a demonstration of an electronic weeder that Dr. Scott White and Dr. Travis Esau of Dalhousie University’s Faculty of Agriculture are evaluating as a treatment in wild blueberries.
The “Weed Zapper” was designed and is built by Old School Manufacturing LLC in Orrville, Ohio.
It’s a two-wheeled cart towed behind a tractor. It carries an electrical generator in a box powered by the tractor’s PTO. The generated current is fed into a bare copper rod mounted just below the frame at the cart’s rear.
The electrified copper rod brushes across the tops of the weeds in the field. According to the manufacturer, the electrical current is sufficient enough to destroy the weeds’ cellular structure down to the roots.
The next stop on the tour was a large field in College Grant owned by the MacLean brothers. Tour participants examined a weather station, installed as part of the Nova Scotia agriculture department’s Farm Weather Station Assistance Program. There are 22 such weather stations in fields across Nova Scotia, providing data to growers so they can better manage their land and crops.
The 2022 WBPANS field day was the first held in many years in the region at the corner of Pictou, Guysborough, and Antigonish counties. There are more than 2,000 wild blueberry acres in production in this region, with growers selling the fruit to three major processors: Oxford Frozen Foods, Jasper Wyman and Son, and Millen Farms.
