Raspberries are the most widely grown bramble crop in New York planted on over 450 acres in all regions of the state. Both floricane (summer bearing) and primocane (fall or ever-bearing) raspberries are grown and yellow, purple and black fruited cultivars in addition to the popular red raspberries make up the tasty crop. Ninety percent of the estimated 1.1 million pound annual raspberry crop is sold for fresh market and the remaining 10% is used to make value added items including preserves, juice additives and fruit wine.

Blackberries are closely related to raspberries and are grouped together with them in the 'Bramble' category of berry crops. Blackberries differ from raspberries in that the receptacle within the berry fruit is eaten along with the berry. For raspberries, the receptacle is left on the plant, leaving a hollow berry for consumption. Blackberries are also a more tender plant, successfully grown on 450 acres in more temperate regions of the state including Long Island, the Hudson Valley, the Finger Lakes region and fruiting districts near the Great Lakes.

All bramble crops need well drained soil as they are susceptible to soil borne diseases particularly Phytophthora. Potential growers should be aware of cane diseases and other pest problems, as well as the fact that raspberries and blackberries have an extremely short shelf life after harvest, making adequate post-harvest cooling essential. Brambles are often trellised adding to the production costs which can average about $4000/acre.

High tunnel production of raspberries and blackberries has been increasing throughout New York State thanks to research done by the Cornell University Department of Horticulture. This type of protected culture allows growers to extend the productive season of raspberries, extend the potential production sites of blackberries throughout the state and allows growers to produce a much higher quality fruit.

For more information about bramble culture, visit the Cornell Berry website.

More Raspberries / Blackberries Content

Berry Crops Field Workshop

August 29, 2017
5pm-7pm
Stephentown, NY

These workshops are directed at the commercial berry grower.
Monitoring for pests, designing an effective pest control program, understanding cultural and chemical SWD management strategies and general troubleshooting will all be part of this workshop.
There will be plenty of time for questions and discussion.

Best Management Practices for High Tunnel Nutrition and Soil Health

September 13, 2017
5:00 PM - 6:30 PM
Poughkeepsie, NY

Soil tests, foliar tests, foliar feeds, fertigation, managing for yield...long term soil health in a high tunnel isn't a simple process. It can have a lot of components and require a fair amount of analysis. Cornell Cooperative Extension, partnering with NOFA-NY in a New York Farm Viability Institute funded project, have been working to identify long-term soil health and fertility best management practices. We will share what has been learned.

Welcome Jim Meyers: New Viticulture Specialist!

Jim has been working with wine grapes for 10 years, first as a Viticulture Ph.D. student at Cornell then as a Research Associate. Prior to coming to Cornell, Jim studied Chemistry and Biology (B.S. West Chester University of Pennsylvania), Computer Science (M.S. Brown University), and had a successful career as software technology entrepreneur. This background is reflected in his viticultural research which has focused on computational tools for mapping canopy and vineyard variability, quantifying relationships between variability and fruit chemistry, and optimizing efficiency of vineyard operations. As an Extension Associate, Jim will continue some of these research activities while also looking for new projects that provide targeted benefits to appellations in Eastern New York. Jim will kick off his new appointment by visiting growers at their vineyards to gather first hand knowledge of the sites and to discuss vineyard operations, goals, and challenges. Building a complete catalog of vineyards in a territory that runs 300 miles along the Route 9 corridor may take a little while, but Jim feels that the effort will lay a solid foundation for future program activities while also clearly differentiating the needs of each appellation.

New Resources for Berry Crops

White Rot Update

Earlier in June I sent a garlic sample to the diagnostic lab hoping that I was wrong. The sample was covered in small black sclerotia, the size of poppy seeds, and white fungal hyphae crept up the stem. The results, unfortunately, matched the field diagnosis: White Rot. Within a couple days additional calls came from up and down the Hudson Valley as well as one in Western NY with similar suspicions. These samples have also gone to the lab for verification, but it looks like the latest pest to move back into the state is this nasty fungus.