Blueberry News Around The World
Snapshot of blueberry related news from North and South American as well as Europe
2014 British Columbia Blueberry Harvest 24% higher than in 2013.
Favorable weather plays pivotal part in successful British Columbia blueberry season. The season is expected to end around mid-September after harvested started a week earlier than in the prior two years. The regions growers are just now starting to pick Elliots. The British Columbia Blueberry Council is expecting the 2014 harvest volume to be 68,000 metric tons. The 2013 harvest was 55,000 metric tons.
Russian Ban on US Blueberries Seen To Have Little Impact
On August 6, 2014 Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into a decree a one year ban on importation of some US agricultural and food products. Countries targeted included the US. The ban of US commodities includes tree nuts, fresh and processed fruit, prepared foods, fresh vegetables, fish, other seafood, beef, pork, poultry, milk and dairy products. According to the US Highbush Blueberry Council, the ban won’t affect US blueberry growers due to low import numbers to Russia. Currently Asia is the more robust market for US blueberries.
Amended List of Banned US Agricultural Products By the Russian Federation
Georgia Port To Begin Receiving South American Produce
Savannah, Georgia is ready to receive col South American fruit including blueberries. This program is slated to begin September 1, 2014. The cold treatment process is part of a USDA program that has blueberries, citrus, and other fruits, chilled for 17 days before entering the US. This is suppose to protect against fruit flies. The cold treated fruit is held just above freezing as it transits in cargo vessels. Cold treatment is designed to kill pests without the need of pesticides.
This is an extension of a program that started last year at Miami and Port Everglades.
July 25, 2014 Press Release On Proposed Cold Treatment Pilot Program Concerns
USDA – Noncitrus Fruits and Nuts (including blueberries)
National Agricultural Statistics Service Report
http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/usda/current/NoncFruiNu/NoncFruiNu-07-17-2014.pdf
If you are interested in some historical numbers, enjoy this USDA report, “Noncitrus Fruits and Nuts: 2013 Summary” published July 2014. This report covers blueberry data from 2011 to 2013.
USDA State Agricultural Data Search Tool
Online agricultural data research tool leads to the USDA “Quick Stats Tools” which makes it easy to drill down to specific data on commodities.
For North Carolina, start here:
http://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/North_Carolina/index.asp
For All Other States:
http://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/
For USDA Agency Reports
http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?navid=AGENCY_REPORTS
