BANGOR (AP) – A good crop and a poor economy caused a drop of about 40 percent in the amount blueberry growers were paid this season, growers say.

David Bell of the Wild Blueberry Association of Maine said there were strong harvests of wild blueberries in both Maine and Canada, as well as cultivated blueberries grown elsewhere. In Maine, this year’s wild blueberry crop is estimated to be 90 million pounds, compared to an average 75 million pounds.

Growers report that they received 60 to 62 cents a pound for their berries, compared with $1.07 a pound last year, Bell said.

Up until this year, blueberry prices had been growing.

In 2002, berries went for 28 cents a pound. The price rose to 45 cents in 2004 and 80 cents in 2006 before topping a dollar a pound in 2007. Last year’s value of Maine’s wild blueberry crop was $83 million, an increase of 38 percent from the year before.

The market couldn’t sustain those prices in a poor economy, Bell said.

In Maine, the decline in blueberry prices hit growers such as Mike Bailey of Columbia Falls right in the pocketbook. “I expected the price to go down a bit this year – but not this far,” said Bailey, who grows blueberries on 150 acres.

Copy the Story Link