In this installment of the ‘Agronometrics in Graphs’ series, Sarah Ilyas reviews the state of Florida blueberry season. Each week the series examines a different horticultural product, focusing on a specific origin or theme and visualizing the market factors driving change.
Florida’s blueberry season is in full swing from early March through early May. Over the past 20 years, the state’s cranberry industry has grown rapidly, with more than 5,200 acres of land dedicated to growing these berries.
Florida ranks eighth in the country in blueberry production and boasts the first US-produced blueberries to hit the domestic market. Most of the blueberries grown in Florida come from Hendry, Alachua and Putnam counties, as well as some counties in the Panhandle.
The blueberry harvest is just days away for some Florida growers. Location will determine when growers begin harvesting the fruit, believes Doug Phillips, blueberry extension coordinator at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS).
“Some locations will start picking up in early March, depending on the location. Some of the South Florida farms that didn’t have a lot of damage from Hurricane Ian tend to start earlier than the rest of the state,” Phillips said. .
Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics. Agronometrics users can view this graph with live updates here.
Blueberry ripening has been accelerated by the warm temperatures recorded in recent weeks.
“With these warm temperatures, everything is going well. Before, growers thought they were a week and a half to two weeks behind the normal season. But I think temperatures of between 28°C and 32°C that we are having has made things go pretty well.It depends on the warm temperatures continuing.Of course, in South Florida (Hardee, DeSoto and Highlands counties), things may be a little later than normal just for some of the hurricane damage.
But I’m seeing a lot of green fruit in a lot of varieties now. I think it’s going to be a very good season just looking at the blooms we’ve had and the fruit I’m seeing now. I expect it to end up being a relatively typical season calendar-wise with the warm temperatures we’re having right now,” Phillips said.
On the other hand, David Zierden, a climatologist at Florida State University’s Florida Climate Center, warns that high temperatures, especially in northern Florida, might spell trouble.
“Record-breaking temperatures are likely to be reached in some areas of the state.”
Florida has been on a warming trend for the past 10 to 15 years, Zierden says, so these freakish February temperatures follow that trend. Florida experienced its fifth warmest year in 2022, according to NOAA. Zierden expressed concern that the state might see negative consequences in the coming months due to these high temperatures.
“We’re in the middle of the Florida dry season, but we’ve been dry for longer than normal, we’ve had little rainfall, and little is coming,” he said.
Lack of rainfall can accelerate the onset of drought. According to the most recent report from the US Drought Monitor, northern Florida and a portion of the Southwest are experiencing moderate drought. Coupled with abnormally high temperatures, a dry season can dehydrate plants and lead to wildfires. Below average rainfall is expected to continue in the coming months.
The state received abundant rainfall during the 2022 hurricane season, which has so far averted a more severe drought. “Hydrologically speaking, the state is not bad. But we are going through a hot, dry winter, so if the summer rainy season is less than robust, we might start to see some problems,” Zierden said.
Inflation along the supply chain is one of the biggest obstacles facing Florida blueberry growers. “Labor rates have increased 16% for our harvesting equipment, in addition to a 50% increase in fertilizer costs, so our costs continue to rise and with consumers who have less potential to buy at higher prices, our margins are being squeezed,” says Michael Hill, co-founder and CEO of H&M Farms.
The executive agrees that the sector is in a difficult situation and considers that, in order to increase demand and improve their margins, they must ensure that local customers have access to high-quality fruit.
Over the past two years, production costs have increased by 40%, while sales prices have been flat or even down due to increased volume from Mexico and Peru.
All things considered, Florida is expected to produce around 20 million pounds during the six to eight week peak period. It is a similar volume to last year; however, with so many new varieties being planted, the current volume will consist of fruit with better genetics.
Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics. Agronometrics users can view this graph with live updates here.
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All prices for US domestic products represent the spot market at the point of shipment (ie, packing house/climate warehouse, etc.). For imported fruit, the price data represents the spot market at the port of entry.
You can keep track of the markets daily through Agronometrics, a data visualization tool created to help the industry make sense of the vast amounts of data professionals need to access to make informed decisions. If you found the information and charts in this article helpful, please feel free to visit us at www.agronometrics.com where you can easily access these same charts, or explore the other 21 commodities we currently track.