'An emotional difficulty': Blueberry growers hampered by dry season, low prices

New Brunswick blueberry growers faced the driest season of the last two decades this year, with lower yields across the province as a consequence. 

"It's an emotional difficulty," said Russ Weir, who owns McKay's Wild Blueberries in Pennfield, west of Saint John. 

"It affects your whole view of the future ... you're wondering if it will be the same next year."

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Thanks to the unusually dry season, farmers are only expecting between 40 and 50 million pounds of wild blueberries across the province, about 30 million pounds less than in 2016.

"We've all had to look at our bottom lines pretty carefully," said Weir. "I know some farmers that have several fields …[who] say, 'I might have to put that field to sleep for a while because the profit isn't there.'"

It's not just dry weather that's being blamed for the shortage of blueberries this year, but also the unusually bountiful harvest in 2016. 

We have a lot of part time farmers, but we also have some full time guys that rely solely on blueberries.-John Schenkels

Last year, New Brunswick's blueberry production grew to 82 million pounds from about 20 to 30 million pounds per year a decade ago, creating an oversupply of inventory.

Demand hasn't yet caught up.

Demand isn't there

"It's almost hopeless in trying to make a profit, because the oversupply has been so large, the demand drops when that's the case," said Weir. 

"Berries are frozen in the freezer from the last year or so and they haven't moved."

As a result, the price of wild blueberries is at an all-time low.

The 200 blueberry farmers across the province typically make between 30 and 50 cents per pound for wild blueberries, said John Schenkels, chairman of Bleuets NB Blueberries.

This summer, some of those farmers are only making 20 cents per pound.

Schenkels said this could create financial difficulties for some blueberry growers, who need to make about 50 cents per pound in order to turn a profit.

"They're going to have to assess going forward what they're going to do as far as putting money back into the crop to grow next year's crop," he said. 

"We have a lot of part-time farmers, but we also have some full-time guys that rely solely on blueberries."

On the upside, Weir said there are also factors will help generate better crops, such as research that could improve the current understanding of pollination by both honeybees and bumblebees. 

He said the growing season has also lengthened into the fall, allowing blueberry plants to grow extra buds per stem. 

"It would be nice if everybody got up in the morning and tossed a few blueberries on their cereal or made an extra blueberry pie once in a while," said Weir.