1. Current Status of Blueberry Production in Florida
Jeffrey G. Williamson
Horticultural Sciences Dept.
Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences
University of Florida

2. Blueberry Consumption (US)
Data: USDA-NASS

3. BLUEBERRY PRODUCTION In Metric Tons/year
Country
2006
2007
2008
USA
162,658
165,289
199,127
Canada
82,530
77,400
94,551
Poland
4,940
5,226
7,857
Lithuania
6,623
4,392
4,400
Germany
6,088
5,818
4,116
Romania
4,000
Netherlands

4. CULTIVATED BLUEBERRY 2009 Harvested Acres
Florida

5. BLUEBERRIES IN FLORIDA
Year
Harvested acres
Yield: lb/acre
Grower price $/lb
Production value ($) x 1000
2006
2,600
2,690
4.7
32,900
2007
3,000
5.0
39,000
2008
3,270
5.3
51,940
2009 *
3,200
4,220
5.4
72,900
* Estimate

6. Changes in Florida blueberry production statistics during the 5-year period from 2007 to 2009
2007
2009
Harvested acres
2,600
3,200
+23
Yield/a (lbs.)
3,000
4,220
+41
Production (1000 lbs.)
7,800
14,100
+80
Mean Price ($/lb.)
$5.00
$5.40 +8
Industry value ($1000)
$39,000
$72,900
+87
Source: USDA, NASS.

7. 2009 PRODUCTION VALUE CULTIVATED BLUEBERRY

8. Winter Chill Unit Accumulation

9. Average Price Per Pound of Berries (US dollars)
Source: USDA, NASS, 2007.

10. Blueberry prices and shipments -
earliness is critical for profitability 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
4/7
4/14
4/21
4/28
5/5
5/12
Date
Berry price ($/lb.) 20 30 40 50 60
Berry harvest (10,000 lb. units)
Average price per pound (US$)
10,000 lb. Units
5/26

11. Harvest Costs Picking costs per flat $4.62
Packing costs per flat $2.00
Packing materials per flat $1.50
Broker fee per flat $1.80-$2.00
Upkeep and maintenance $1.50
Total costs per flat* $11.42-$11.62
*Many growers believe $12.00 per flat ($3.24/lb) is the approx. break even point. A flat weighs approx. 3.7 lbs.

12. Early Challenges Low productivity and high production costs
Few cultivars of commercial quality
Few pesticides available
General lack of knowledge
Insect and disease management
Freeze protection
Pollination requirements
Site selection and managing mineral soils for blueberry production

13. Florida’s future in blueberries World acreage distribution
Source: Cort Brazelton, Brazelton Ag Consulting & U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council © 2008
© 2008 Fall Creek Nursery, Inc. 13 13

14. Competition from other production regions
California
Chile
Mexico
Southern Europe
Mediterranean and Northern Africa
Florida?

15. South American blueberry production 2007
Hectares
Production (million kg)
Harvest period
2003
2005
2007
Chile
2,108
4500
10,889
35.0
Oct.-Mar.
Argentina
700
2789
4452
8.8
Sept.-Jan.
Uruguay --
556
0.6
Peru 16
0.01
Aug.-Oct.
Brazil 81
0.02
Columbia 4
0.002
April-July
Total
2808
7289
15,998
44.43
Source: Cort Brazelton, Brazelton Ag Consulting and U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council, 2008

16. Blueberries in California
Southern coastal region – evergreen production, difficult to cycle plants into our production window
Southern interior region – very high yields, slightly later than Florida

17. Blueberries in Mexico Evergreen production
Most cultivars tend to ripen some fruit in fall.
May be difficult to cycle plants into Florida’s production window.

18. How does Florida stay competitive?
Market development
Maintain a distinction based on quality
Increase World-wide consumption
Production efficiency
Increase yields and reduce inputs
Increase plant survival and longevity of plantings
Mechanize harvest ?

19. Blueberry Economics 101

20. Blueberry Establishment Costs
Ronald P. Muraro
UF/IFAS CREC
Jeffrey G. Williamson
UF/IFAS Horticultural Sciences Department

21. Solid-Set Sprinkler System 2,000 Drip-Fertigation System 1,500
Estimated Solid-Set and Drip Irrigation System for Southern Highbush Blueberry Plants in Florida, 2009
$/Acrea
Well 12”
1,000
Pump and Motor
1,450
Pipe and Fittings
1,250
Solid-Set Sprinkler System
2,000
Drip-Fertigation System
1,500
Miscellaneous
150
Installation
300
TOTAL IRRIGATION INVESTMENT
7,650
a Based on 20 acres.

22. Year #1: Estimated Establishment and Maintenance Cost for Southern Highbush Blueberry Plants in Florida, 2009
LAND PREP
$/Acre
Stumping, Pushing, Burning,
Rotovate-Harrowing and Choppinga
2,000
Preplant Weed Control
(2 qts Glyphosate XTRA plus Application) 20
Triple Super Phosphate (150 lbs) 56
Bedding 65
Breaking Aisles 43
Ditching and Drainage
115
Milled Pine Bark (350 cu $11/cu yd)
3,850
Total Land Prep
6,149
Planting (2.5’ x 10’ – 1,740 plants per acre)
5,174
a Range from $300/acre for improved pasture to $1,200/acre for light
wooded area to $2,000/acre for heavy pines.

23. Site preparation

24. Site preparation

25. Site preparation

26. Year #1: Estimated Establishment and Maintenance Cost for Southern Highbush Blueberry Plants in Florida, 2009
Production Cultural Operating Costs
$/Acre
Fertilizer (control release fertilizer )
406
Weed Control
122
Pest and Disease Control (insecticides
and fungicides)
415
Other Direct Costs (pruning, irrigation,
operating interest)
1,316
Total Operating Costs
2,259
Fixed Costs (Equipment & Irrigation
Depreciation, Overhead & Management)
3,379
Total Operating and Fixed Costs
5,638

27. Year #1: Total Estimated Establishment and Maintenance Cost for Southern Highbush Blueberry Plants in Florida, 2009
$/Acre
Land Preparation
6,149
Planting (2.5’ x 10’ – 1,740 plants per acre)
5,174
Production Cultural Operating Costs
2,259
Fixed Costs
3,379
Total Establishment and Maintenance Costs
16,961

28. Machinery Costs (Tractors, sprayers, mowers, trucks, etc.) 1,974
Summary of Estimated Establishment for Producing Southern Highbush Blueberry Plants in Florida, 2009
Investment Costs
$/Acre
Machinery Costs (Tractors, sprayers,
mowers, trucks, etc.)
1,974
Irrigation Costs
7,650
Total Investment Costs
9,624
Establishment Costs
Establishment & Maintenance Costs
16,961
Total Investment and
Establishment Costsa
26,585
a Does not include a value for land.

29. Cumulative Cash Flow and Breakeven Year for Southern Highbush Blueberry Plants in Florida, 2009
Total Investment and
Establishment Costs
$/Acre
Year #1
(26,585)
Net Revenuea
Year #2
3,751
(22,834)
Year #3
9,531
(13,303)
Year #4
16,117
2,814
a Flats marketed (3.7 lbs): Year #2 = $18/flat; Year #3 = 1,330
@ $17/flat; Year #4 = $16/flat.

30. Blueberry Cultivars
The University of Florida’s blueberry breeding program is over 50 years old.
Virtually all of the cultivars grown commercially in Florida were released by Dr. Paul Lyrene during the past 15 years.

31. Cultivar improvement Early southern highbush cultivars
Poor commercial quality and/or poor field survival
Current cultivars
Higher yielding
Improved berry size and quality
Earlier ripening
Improved disease resistance

32. Cultivars grown in Florida
Primary cultivars - Emerald, Jewel, and Star (N. Florida only).
Secondary cultivars - Windsor, Primadonna, Springhigh, Snowchaser.
New cultivars - Sweetcrisp, Scintilla, Farthing.
Obsolete cultivars – Sharpblue, Misty, Gulfcoast, Springwide, Sebring.
S. Florida – Emerald, Jewel, Primadonna, Snowchaser, Scintilla?

33. Emerald Released 2000. Early flowering.
First harvest is a few days before Sharpblue.
Normal season in Gainesville: April 20 – May 20.
High yielding potential.

34. Emerald in California

35. Emerald in California

37. Jewel Released 1999. Ripening begins about 7 days before Sharpblue.
Harvest season: April 20 – May 20.
Leafs well.
Fruit quality is excellent but berries remain tart until fully ripe.
High yield potential.
Very susceptible to rust leaf spot.

38. Primadonna Vigorous, upright growth. Requires excellent soils.
Tends to be more evergreen than Star or Jewel.
Early ripening.
Excellent berry quality.
Concentrated harvest.
Sets a heavy crop but leafs poorly and is susceptible to Dormex injury.
Winter pruning may be required.

39. Primadonna

40. Scintilla Ripens 10 days before Star. Attractive, firm, berry.
Open fruit clusters.
Mechanical harvest potential?
Low yield – early bloom? Dormex injury?
Seems to evergreen well.

41. Scintilla

42. Snowchaser Very low chilling req. Exceptionally early ripening.
Early flowering (fall).
Good evergreen tendency.
Berry size slightly smaller than average.
Good scar, firmness and flavor.
Slow to attain fall dormancy.
Higher than average susceptibility to stem blight (damage from freeze injury?).
Fall bearing?

43. Snowchaser

44. Florida Cultivar Availability
Florida Foundation Seed Producers
John Beuttenmuller

45. Water Quality
Most deep wells in Florida have high Ca and Mg carbonates.
Growers often inject acids into irrigation to maintain the soil pH in a range between 4.0 and 5.5.
In areas with high salinity, special considerations must be given:
Long-term effects of high salinity in blueberry are unknown
400 to 550 ppm TDS is OK
1500 ppm TDS has caused damage in blueberry
Irrigate often to avoid drought stress
Fertilize often at low rates (avoid sodium and chloride ions)
Irrigation should be sufficient to move salts below the root zone
Avoid wetting foliage

46. Blueberry pests and diseases
Stem blight
Root rot
Algal stem canker
Blossom blight
Leaf spot diseases
Pests
Birds (cedar wax wings)
Blueberry gall midge
Thrips

47. Blueberry stem blight

48. stem blight
Severe dieback up top
Roots look fairly healthy

49. Section of a stem of a plant that died from stem blight shows pecan colored discoloration

50. Discoloration under the bark at the crown of plants with dieback.
stem blight

51. Poor soil drainage = Phytophthora root rot.

52. root rot
This is a low spot in the field, and water was standing in the grass when the picture was taken.
Phil Harmon, University of Florida

53. Phytophthora Root Rot
Phytophthora root rot is a major cause of blueberry plant death.
The best control is well drained soils were blueberries are grown.

54. root rot Inoculations reproduce the symptoms observed in the field.
healthy
root rot
inoculated

55. Above ground symptoms may include reddening of leaves.

56. Brown mushy roots and crown suggest Phytophthora cinnamomi is causing root rot

57. algal stem canker
Cephaleuros virescens

58. algal stem canker
Cephaleuros virescens

59. algal stem canker
Cephaleuros virescens

60. blossom blight

61. gray mold

62. Rust

63. Septoria leaf spot

64. Phyllosticta leaf spot
Gloeosporium leaf spot aka anthracnose

65. Flower bud development on Misty defoliated in September (left) and December (right)

66. Before planting

68. Newly planted blueberry field in Polk County, FL

69. Pine Bark Culture

70. A new blueberry field being prepared for planting in Florida

71. Raised beds and ditches to correct soil drainage

72. Very few roots were located in the underlying soil

73. Root system was easily separated from underlying soil

74. Excavated Blueberry Plant

75. Plants established in spring, 2006.

76. Pine bark bed, Dec. 2007

77. Bark incorporated, Dec., 2007

78. Plant canopy volume

79. Berry yield per plant

80. Pine bark bed

81. Incorporated -2008

82. Preliminary conclusions and observations
Plant growth after 3 years was not different among all pine bark treatments.
Lateral movement of water from micro-sprinklers was limited in pine bark beds.
Higher irrigation rates were needed on pine bark beds than in the bark incorporated treatments to thoroughly wet the root zones.

83. Bark incorporated + ground cloth

84. Blueberry irrigation

85. Low-volume and overhead dual irrigation system

86. Blueberry irrigation
Root zone coverage is critical in pine bark culture where lateral water movement is limited.

87. Winter/spring freezes are the greatest threat to consistent production from year to year.
Overhead irrigation is a requirement.
Thorough coverage
Continuous application
Adequate application rates
Minimum temperature
Crop development
Wind speed
Water vapor content of air

88. How much is enough?

89. Benefits of Dormex (hydrogen cyanamide) for Florida blueberries
Earlier fruit harvest (7 to 10+ days)
Slight increase in fruit size
Slight increase in yield
Reduced plant stress from poor leafing and over cropping

90. Dormex advances vegetative bud break

91. Dormex
Greater leaf surface area earlier during fruit development results in earlier berry ripening and larger average berry size.

92. Dormex advances berry harvest
Q ***
Q ***
L ***
L ***

93. Effect of Dormex on total berry yield

94. Potential disadvantages
Cultivar-specific response.
Plant injury (burn) from improper rate, timing, or unusual environmental conditions.
Dormex injury can reduce plant yields.
Erratic response in central and south-central Florida.

95. Conclusions Florida’s blueberry industry continues to expand.
Fruit are grown exclusively for the early-season fresh market (April – May).
Early harvest during the lucrative early market window is critical for profitability. Berry prices drop quickly in late May.
Many inputs are needed to grow blueberries in Florida.
Establishment and production costs are high.
As of 2009, prices remained strong.
The 2010 season was late. Large volumes of fruit came in quickly. Prices were significantly below historic levels.
Many of the early challenges have been overcome; its now a matter of efficiency and profitability.

96. Sources of Information

97. Thank You!
Questions?