By Malinda Geisler, content specialist, Ag Marketing Resource Center, Iowa State University.

Revised May 2011.

Overview
Oregon is the predominant source of cultivated blackberry production. According to the USDA, Oregon raised more than 48 million pounds of blackberries in 2010. The value of fresh and processed blackberries that year was $35.5 million. Per capita blackberry consumption in 2008 was 0.1 pound.

According to the 2008 Organic Production Survey (USDA 2010), the United States had 348 farms certified organic to grow blackberries and dewberries. There were 332 farms with sales totaling $4.6 million.

Blackberries are classified based on growth habit. There are erect varieties, semi-erect and trailing. The erect varieties do not need trellised if they are properly pruned. Semi-erect and trailing blackberries require trellising. A bramble is a term used to describe blackberries and raspberries. Both species derive from the genus Rubus.

Sources

Fruits and Tree Nuts, Economic Research Service (ERS), USDA.

Noncitrus Fruits and Nuts, National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), USDA.

2008 Organic Production Survey, NASS, USDA, 2010.

U.S. per capita food availability, ERS, USDA.
 

Other Links

• 2008 Kentucky Blackberry Cost and Return Estimates, University of Kentucky - This online blackberry budget provides estimates for all aspects of production, harvest and marketing.
• Berries, Cornell University - This Web site provides links to other berry resouces.
• Blackberry Budget Program, North Carolina State University, 2009.
• Blackberry Packaging and Produce Auction Prices, University of Kentucky, 2000 - This research study examined price sensitivity for blackberry packaging.
• Brambles – Production Management and Marketing, Production management and marketing, Ohio State University - This online document reviews the management, pests and marketing of blackberries and raspberries.
• Enoch’s Berry Farm, Fouke, Arkansas - This farm has three acres of blackberries and three acres of blueberries for you-pick. The farm also sells plants and root cuttings. Enoch’s Berry Farm is licensed by the University of Arkansas to propagate the school’s patented varieties.
• Gillam Farms, Judsonia, Arkansas - This family farm consists of more than 500 acres of fruits and vegetables. Main crops consist of blackberries and blueberries.
• Growing Blackberries & Raspberries in Kentucky, University of Kentucky Cooperative Service, 2005 - This online guide covers site selection, marketing, disease and pests.
• High Tunnel Raspberries & Blackberries, Cornell University - This online guide features research results from ongoing high tunnel projects in the Northeast United States.
• Hurst’s Berry Farm, Sheridan, Oregon - Established in 1980, the farm includes 450 acres of production in Mexico so it can be a year-round source of fresh berries. The operation, which specializes in the wholesale distribution of fresh berries, now ships and packs berries from some of Oregon’s top growers. All berries shipped throughout the United States and world are packed in clamshells.
• North American Raspberry & Blackberry Association - A professional association dedicated to the advancement of the raspberry and blackberry industries.
• Northwest Berry & Grape Information Network - This Web site is sponsored by Oregon State University, the University of Idaho, Washington State University and USDA-ARS.
• Oregon Berry Packing Company, Hillsboro, Oregon - This family-owned business supplies berries to premium wholesale distributors. In addition to blackberries, the company also markets black raspberries, blueberries, fresh berries and frozen strawberries.
• Oregon Raspberry & Blackberry Commission - This commission promotes raspberries, blackberries and other caneberries.
• Organic Culture of Bramble Fruits, Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural America (ATTRA), NCAT, 2003 - This publication addresses the production and marketing of organic blackberries and raspberries.
• Raspberry & Blackberry Production Guide for the Northeast, Midwest and Eastern Canada, Natural Resource, Agriculture, and Engineering Service, 2008 - This for-purchase guide provides information for all aspects of blackberry culture.
• Small Fruit, Tree Fruit and Berry Pathology, Cornell University - This Web site provides links to other berry resources.

Links checked May 2011.