The Northwest’s mild winter and warm spring has been good for blueberries. And now Washington and Oregon are on-track to harvest record crops this year.
Washington is set to harvest 110 million pounds and there’s another 100 million pounds in Oregon.
It’s not only due to the weather. Farmers have been adding a lot of acres in recent years and now those fresh acres are established enough to fruit.
The Northwest is experiencing a blueberry investment boom. Blueberry growers are getting more sophisticated and are dumping a lot of money into top-producing varieties. Some of those blueberries fruit early and some as late as October.
Most West Coast blueberries are grown in Washington, Oregon, California and British Columbia. The harvest usually begins around the Fourth of July.
But there is at least one concern for farmers this year: finding enough labor for this year’s crop.
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