Washington and Oregon are national blueberry powerhouses, but their utilized production and value dropped in 2023, according to a USDA report released last week.

A return to form could be in the works this season, but a potential record crop in Georgia may spoil prices.

Alan Schreiber, Washington Blueberry Commission executive director, and Bryan Ostlund, Oregon Blueberry Commission administrator, said alternating cold and hot weather hampered pollination last season.

Washington’s 137 million pound utilized crop in 2023 was down 22% from 2022. Its value of $78.4 million was off 57% as the average price per pound plummeted from $1.04 to 57 cents.

Oregon’s harvest of 129 million pounds was a decrease of 23%. The value of Oregon’s blueberry utilized production was $146 million, down 24%. The average price per pound held steady, dropping two cents to $1.14.

“I didn’t think it would be possible we could see that kind of drop in one year,” Ostlund said.

Schreiber said 2023 looks like a blip for the Northwest’s blueberry industry’s upward trajectory. “We’ve never had a tens of millions of pounds reduction,” he said.

Good crop ahead?

Oregon’s blueberry industry has estimated its harvest potential at about 175 million pounds but Mother Nature consistently depressed yields.

“We’ve had five kind of tough years in a row with heat domes, hot weather and ice storms,” Ostlund said.

He’s concerned as rainstorms transitioned into hot weather in early May. Rains can ground pollinators, and extreme temperature swings or sustained, unseasonably hot weather shut down plants’ pollen production.

“We’re at a critical stage right now. All eyes are on what could happen as we get through the full bloom season,” Ostlund said. “It looks like a good crop. It looks like a heavy crop.”

In late May, Oregon growers should have a better idea. In Washington, temperatures likely won’t get high enough for long enough to cause problems, Schreiber said.

“It’s too early in the season to say, ‘Oh, this is going to be a bin buster,’ but the signs so far point to a positive outcome,” he added.

Georgia on the rise

Georgia’s huge harvest could complicate matters for the West Coast, said Kasey Cronquist, president of the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council.

“We’re definitely in the middle of a potential record breaking crop in Georgia, and last year’s crop in Georgia was large,” he said.

Last year’s utilized harvest in Georgia was 99 million pounds, according to the USDA. Cronquist said the industry is expecting at least 100 million pounds out of Georgia in 2024.

“It’s already having an overall impact in the market. You can see it in the pricing,” he said.

While Oregon growers focus on fresh berries, which provide higher prices, Washington typically dominates the frozen fruit aisle — and Georgia’s overabundance likely will have greater impact on that side of the market.

A nice Northwest harvest points to a big year overall, but that can create problems if the industry isn’t set up right, Cronquist said. “We’re facing a need to drive consumption and consumer demand,” he added.

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California’s utilized blueberry production increased slightly in 2023, hitting about 641,300 hundredweight in 2023, according to a May 7 USDA report. Its value was roughly $25.6 million, up 24%. U.S. blueberry production dipped 4.4% to 642.2 million pounds in 2023, and the value of production also decreased 6.1% to $1.03 billion.