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

Updated January 2012 by Kimberly L. Morgan, Assistant Professor, Mississippi State University, morgan@agecon.msstate.edu

Overview
Blueberries rank as the second most important commercial berry crop in the United States, with a total crop value of $640.7 million in 2010, representing 18 percent of total U.S. berry crop value. The U.S. is the world’s largest producer of blueberries, harvesting a total of 246.4 million pounds of blueberries in 2010. An additional 169.2 million pounds were imported, with Chile providing 62 million pounds of fresh blueberries in 2008. The top 14 blueberry-producing states represented an average farm-gate value of $534 million in 2009.

Production
The lowbush species of blueberry is commonly referred to as a “wild” blueberry plant. It is one of four fruit crops that are native to North America. The lowbush is a wild crop, which means it is not cultivated or selected, although the plants are managed intensively. Maine is the leading producer of lowbush blueberries in the world. In 2010, a total of 83 million pounds of wild blueberries were utilized, and nearly all were sold for use in the processed market. The 2010 value of fresh and processed wild Maine lowbush blueberries was $50.6 million.

Cultivated varieties are established using two or three-year-old bare root or container-grown plants. Highbush (Northern and Southern) and rabbiteye cultivars require milder growing conditions compared to lowbush plants, with both types thriving in well-drained, acidic soils and benefiting from irrigation and pruning. Highbush plants bloom later and produce a larger, juicier fruit with a thinner skin which ripens in early summer. Rabbiteye varieties are native to the southeastern U.S. and are the largest of the native blueberry plants, producing a slightly sweeter fruit with a tougher skin which is tolerant of machine harvesting.

The state of Michigan is the nation’s leading producer of cultivated blueberries, which include highbush and rabbiteye varieties. In 2010, the state harvested 109 million pounds, averaging yields of 5,860 pounds per acre, with about 45 percent sold as fresh blueberries. In total, fresh and processed Michigan blueberries were valued at $134.3 million.

According to the 2008 Organic Production Survey (USDA 2010), the United States had 526 certified organic farms growing cultivated (tame) blueberries. Total production was 5.9 million pounds, with 516 farms representing total sales of $16.4 million. Washington produced more than half (55%) of the U.S. organic cultivated blueberries harvested from certified organic farms, with 2008 sales valued at $8.7 million.

Exports/Imports
In 2010, the United States exported 18,003 metric tons (MT) of fresh cultivated blueberries valued at $75.3 million and 13,856 MT of fresh wild blueberries valued at $17.2 million. Canada was the number one buyer, purchasing 88 and 94 percent of U.S. fresh cultivated and wild blueberry exports, respectively.

The United States is a net importer of fresh and frozen blueberries. In 2010, the United States imported 70,858 MT of fresh cultivated blueberries valued at $338 million. More than half of the fresh cultivated blueberries originated from Chile, which provides fresh blueberries to U.S. markets during the winter months of mid-November through January. The United States imported 5,908 MT of fresh wild blueberries valued at $5.5 million, nearly all from Canada.

Demand
In 2000, the North American Blueberry Council (NABC) voted to establish a Blueberry Order, a federally mandated marketing and promotion order. The program established a grower assessment program which is administered by the U.S. Highbush Council (USHBC). Resulting funds were invested in medical research trials which have documented the health benefits associated with blueberry consumption, specifically the antioxidant properties of the “Little Blue Dynamos.” Combined with consumer marketing expenditures, the USHBC efforts appear successful, as USDA-ERS calculations revealed an impressive increase in national per capita consumption of blueberries, rising from 0.26 pounds in 2000 to 1.11 pounds per person in 2010. In a trend initially observed in the early 2000s, average per capita availability of fresh blueberries surpassed frozen annual per capita availability, reaching 0.96 lbs. versus 0.54 lbs. frozen in 2009.

2012 Outlook
Rising consumption of blueberries prompted a flurry of new plantings, largely expected to reach full production capacity in 2012. Acreage devoted to blueberry production in North America increased from 71,075 acres in 2005 to over 110,000 acres in 2010. The majority of new plantings occurred in the Western North America region (British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and California), which nearly doubled their 2005 acreage from 22,595 to 43,088 acres in 2010. As a result of continued labor supply limitations and conflicting regulations, the blueberry industry faces added pressure to move towards mechanized harvesting, a practice previously limited to the harvest of blueberries destined for the processing markets. Food safety and traceability issues associated with fresh fruit consumption will continue to be a priority area of concern for the industry. Investment in early and late varietal plantings and high tunnel production technologies offer growers the opportunity to improve overall profitability by targeting the lucrative fresh market windows of November through March.

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

Global Agricultural Trade Statistics, Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), USDA.

Maine Wild Blueberries, New England Agricultural Statistics (Field office of NASS), 2011.

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

2008 Organic Production Survey, NASS, The Census of Agriculture, USDA, 2010.

U.S. per capita food availability, ERS, USDA, 2008.