“Our season started pretty well. At the beginning of the season, our blueberries were selling fast, but now that the market for blueberries is bloated, it’s averaged out. Prices for non-organic blueberries are good as well,” said Gerry Barfield of Countryland Farms, LLC. “Our organics have done really well—all the rain in Florida has helped us out there. The prices for our organic blueberries are real good,” said Barfield. He continued, moving onto the growing conditions for blueberries. “That’s been great. We had a good spring and summer, with enough sunlight and rain,” said Barfield.
“The winter temperatures in Florida were a little warm, so growers down there couldn’t start their blueberries on time. That also affected a lot of growers in my area as well. Our farm wasn’t really affected. We were able to start our blooms a little early,” shared Barfield. “We began growing on time and our harvest started on time as well.”
According to the Southeast Farm Press, Georgia never got its usual late-winter frosts in 2016, which led to a warmer-than-usual spring. Because of the early warmth, bushes began producing their fruit too early. As a result, individual blueberries were smaller than normal. In a normal Georgia winter, the cold weather, freezes and frosts help to thin the fruit out, which helps the remaining blueberries to grow to a larger size.
Contact:
Gerry Barfield
Countryland Farms, LLC
Tel: 229-392-5371