New York State has a little more than 700 acres of blueberries in production yielding about 2 million pounds of blueberries annually making it the 9th most important blueberry production state in the nation.  Increased consumer interest in dark colored fruit containing high amounts of healthful antioxidants has resulted in many more acres being planted over the past several years. This is despite the soil pH requirement of 4.5 that blueberries, a member of the acid-loving Ericaceae family require.

It takes nearly 8 years for blueberries to reach their mature production, but a well maintained planting can remain economically viable for up to 40 years or more yielding in excess of 10,000 lbs/acre. Ninety-five percent of this production is hand-picked and sold as fresh fruit with the remaining 5% going to value added products.

Highbush blueberries are grown throughout the majority of the state, but in northern NY and the Adirondacks, cultivars that are crosses between the Maine low-bush and northern high-bush blueberries result in a smaller bush that is much more winter hardy. The threat from late spring frosts remains a challenge to blueberry growers throughout the state. Blueberries have a relatively small pest complex making it a favorite berry for organic production.

For more information about blueberry production, visit the Cornell Berry website.


More Blueberries Content

Pumpkin Variety Trial Meeting (Northern Location)

October 24, 2018
1:00pm- 3:00pm
Melrose, NY

Join Chuck Bornt and Teresa Rusinek from CCE ENYCHP for our 2018 pumpkin variety trial results. We trialed 48 different pumpkin varieties of various shapes and sizes, from different companies. Come on out and see how they look!

Pumpkin Variety Trial Meeting (Southern Location)

October 25, 2018
1:00pm- 3:00pm
Kingston, NY

Join Chuck Bornt and Teresa Rusinek from CCE ENYCHP for our 2018 pumpkin variety trial results. We trialed 48 different pumpkin varieties of various shapes and sizes, from different companies. Come on out and see how they look!

Grow a Successful Agritourism Business! Managing Your Human Resource Risk From Agritourism

October 26, 2018
10:00am - 2:30pm
Highland, NY

Bringing visitors to your farm can create new income streams but agritourism can also be a source of risk to your farm business. Five lunchtime seminars will teach how to assess and manage different risks to help develop a successful agritourism business. The seminars will be followed by a panel of successful agritourism operators. In-between each seminar, participants will build on their knowledge to develop their own risk management plan. This 5-county program will be offered simultaneously in Delaware (the host county), and by Zoom technology in Otsego/Schoharie, Sullivan and Ulster Counties. The Ulster County site, hosted by Liz Higgins of the Eastern NY Commercial Hort Team, will be at the Hudson Valley Lab

Check out the Updated Labeled Insecticides for SWD

Labeled Insecticides for Control of Spotted Wing Drosophila in New York Berry Crops - Quick Guide Compiled by Greg Loeb, Laura McDermott, Peter Jentsch & Juliet Carroll, Cornell University. Updated regularly. Check it out at this link!

New Resources from CCE ENYCHP!

We are developing new ways to connect with the CCE ENYCHP team this year! We have a Youtube page located at this link. Check out videos on Table Grape Production, Pest Updates and the 20 Minute Ag Manager - in 4 Minutes series. 
The text alerts will be reserved for important crop alerts that could impact management decisions immediately. For instance, if there were an outbreak of Late Blight in the area, this would be transmitted to vegetable growers.

Farmers can choose the crop for which they wish to receive updates. Additionally they can request that Ag Business Alerts be sent to them. These alerts might include due dates for crop insurance deadlines, market opportunities etc.

Text alerts are easy to access. Just click on the link below and fill out a very short registration form. It takes just seconds to do - access to important information has never been so easy!!

Confused by the WPS (Worker Protection Standard)?

Please take note: WPS pertains to all farms-organic and conventional!  To be sure that you are complying with these regulations, please view the EPA link below:
https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-09/documents/comparison-chart-wps.pdf