07/10/08 Bountiful Blueberry Crop

Bountiful Blueberry Crop. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report. It appears to be another record breaking year for Oregon blueberry growers. A projected 50 million pounds of production continues an upward trend that mirrors consumer's interest in better eating according to Bryan Ostlund of the Oregon Blueberry Commission. OSTLUND: Everything from issues with child obesity, school lunch programs, baby boom population rapidly moving into some retirement years, health issues. Michigan is the number one producer of blueberries with Oregon and New Jersey in the number two position. Ostlund says the rapid increase in blueberry production should continue for the time being in Oregon. But at some point, there will be a slowdown. OSTLUND: I certainly don't see blueberries slowing down any time soon. Consumer demand has remained very, very solid. But there's a lot of plants in the ground. So what the future holds- I think common sense says that we're going to pushing a lot into the supply in the next several years. Existing growers have been planting more acres and the industry has seen quite a number of new growers. OSTLUND: We have certainly seen expansion of existing farms, those growers who have been here for many, many years who have the good firm understanding of what it takes to produce quality fruit. But we also see farms that have been on the periphery kind of watching the industry and suddenly jumping in. Oregon just seems right for growing blueberries. OSTLUND: It's all the gifts that mother nature gives us- perfect climate, great soils, our yields per acre here are as high or higher than anywhere in the world. Just a perfect condition for a really nice quality fruit. That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.