Berry farmers are seeing the fruits of rain out in their fields.
Many say the dry conditions leading up to these latest showers, in a way, helped — especially with blueberries and raspberries.
9&10’s Cody Boyer and photojournalist Jeff Blakeman checked in with Northern Michigan berry farmers out in their fields.
They have more details.
———————————————-
"We are in the middle of a very odd year," says Duke Elsner, MSU Extension Small Fruit Educator in Traverse City.
…Odd because frost wasn’t a widespread issue for small fruit farmers.
It was the battle between dry and wet conditions.
"We’ve had some super good things, like a relatively droughty year is fine if you can irrigate because you get really nice fruit quality," Elsner says. "If you can’t irrigate, it’s been a terrible year for people."
Elsner says blueberries and raspberries are thriving now, thanks to our recent rain.
"The crops themselves are growing pretty well," Elsner says. "We did not have a serious frost issue in the spring. We had good pollination weather and we’ve had good crops."
The MSU Extension says unlike last year, frost didn’t quite affect blueberries, raspberries, or strawberries as much.
On farms like at Buchan’s Blueberry Hill, it’s turning out to be okay.
"We have seven different varieties on the farm and they are all blue."
That sea of blue is what farm owner Ben Buchan’s looks for.
…A much different picture than last year.
"Last year was a killer. even before the August 2nd storm," Buchan says. "Frost, we got kind of a mummy-berry disease out there in blueberry patch. When you freeze the blueberry plants at the wrong time, it makes them very susceptible to this fungus and this fungus went crazy out there. This year, everything looks fantastic. The fruit looks great. The only complaint i have is it’s been hot. everything is ripening at once."
His goal, like many others, is to keep picking until September.
"We’re hopeful," Buchan says. "Bring your own buckets. Come out and pick!"
———————————————–
A Different Threat
MSU Extension small fruit educator, Duke Elsner, says the combination of heat and rain are helping most fruit farmers get back on their feet after last year.
Another newer threat is impacting farmers at the insect-level.
"This is probably the third year or so that we’ve dealt with a tiny little fly called the spotted wing drosophila," Elsner says. "It’s related to the native fruit fly that everyone sees in huge numbers in the fall, but this one can generate numbers earlier in the year."
Elsner says farmers are accustomed to dealing with the typical species of fruit fly that attacks fruit post-harvest.
The spotted wing drosopohila (SWD) works differently.
"It can infest fruits while they are still on the bush in the field whereas our native ones attack stuff after we harvest it, so it’s a completely different ballgame," Elsner says. "Spotted wing drosophila is a very difficult insect to manage. It really loves blueberries and raspberries."
…And it’s hitting home-gardeners first.
Elsner says applying pest spray earlier is one way to tackle the bug before it gets to ripening fruit.
5430 "It’s a non-native insect. It’s an invasive one that came here from Asia," Elsner says. "If people are not spraying a very carefully timed applications, they can easily destroy 30, 45-percent of a crop in a raspberry field."
The SWD also is known to attack cherries.
© 2023 - 910 Media Group
