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APPEAL TRIBUNE
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2016
Life in the
Valley y
sanews@salem.gannett.com
Oregon blueberry yield topples
records, expands overseas
JUNNELLE HOGEN
STATESMAN JOURNAL
As local farmers, field hands and
migrant workers toiled in the fields this
summer picking blueberries, several
recounted a “berry glut. Blueberry
supply seemed to outpace demand, in a
competitive market where farmers vie
for U-pick stand attention and both
domestic and international markets.
Early this September, the Oregon
Blueberry Commission added weight to
first-hand recounts: The council esti-
mates more than 100 million pounds of
commercial blueberries have been
harvested across this Oregon this sum-
mer, a figure higher than any prior
yields.
“Generally there has been a steady
progression for the last 20 years,” said
Brian Ostlund, with the commission.
“Light pollination, plants reaching ma-
turity -- we’re seeing higher and higher
yields.”
Life of the blueberry
A blueberry grown in the Willamette
Valley faces a Russian roulette of life
cycles.
The standard commercial blueberry
starts its journey with water from wells
and sprinklers, dousing them in the
heat of the early spring. By May and
early June, several early varieties ma-
ture, followed by other varieties all the
way until October.
Laborers toil in the fields, hand-
picking most of the fruit destined for
fresh fruit markets. They are sold
through companies, farmers markets,
and U-pick stands, which line the roads
for eager consumers.
Machines whir and collect the ber-
ries for frozen fruit production, often
before the berries are fully ripe. The
farmers hand them off to food proces-
sors, such as Norpac, which process the
berries on conveyor belts and seal them
in airtight bags.
The berries are sold to Costco, and to
other large commercial outlets. Many
travel around the world, taking ad-
vantage of Oregon’s market share in
blueberry production with South Ko-
rea.
Markets in flux
After decades of negotiations, the
Oregon Blueberry Commission expand-
ed international trade in 2011, allowing
shipping to North Korea, one of the
most consistent large markets for blue-
berries in Asia. Now, five packers are
registered participants in the Korea
export program, including Salem-based
Pan American Berry Growers, but
several local farms and processors say
with a saturation of fruit, they are see-
ing a shifting climate.
“Korea was really strong a couple
years ago, but it has steadied,” said
Dave Dunn, the general manager of
packaging and bulk producing compa-
ny Willamette Valley Fruit Co.
The company still inadvertently
filters blueberries to international mar-
kets, after selling to resellers and bro-
kers.
Local blueberry grower Marty Nan-
neman is trying to keep it local. He
processed one-third of his blueberry
crop, about 80,000 pounds of blueber-
ries, with Willamette Valley Fruit Co.,
for frozen packaging, and sold the rest
fresh, between a fruit stand and several
companies in Bend and Eugene.
Pat Zurbrugg, of Zurbrugg Blueber-
ries in Silverton, works with Washing-
ton-based processor Columbia Fruit.
While his market is still local, he is
exploring international markets
through the processor.
Most of the more than 100,000
pounds of blueberries his farm has
SALEM STATESMAN JOURNAL
More than 100 million pounds of commercial blueberries have been harvested across Oregon this summer, a figure higher than any prior yields.
JUNNELLE HOGEN / THE STATESMAN JOURNAL
You-pick stands are one of several ways local
berry farmers market their fruit.
gathered this year were sold through
U-pick and a local fresh market compa-
ny.
Behind the record yields: Mild
heat, maturing plants
Not all local farmers share in record
crops. But several say they saw it com-
ing.
“We had many days over 90 in 2015,”
said Nanneman. “This year, for most of
the summer, we swung the pendulum.”
While two days of over-100 temper-
atures broke local heat records in early
August, the governor and county never
had to declare a drought emergency, as
was the case last year.
Statewide, the commission reports
many blueberry growers got an even
earlier start to their early varieties,
around May or early June, and finished
the growing season one to two weeks
earlier, with higher yields.
Several local farmers say their late
varieties finished producing in August,
instead of September to early October.
While the blueberry commission still
sees a trickling of late arrivals, it has
slowed nearly to a halt by early Sep-
tember, said Ostlund. However, the
high yield might have more to do with
maturing plants that are producing
more plants than mild climates.
“Blueberries were on a rocket ship
upwards for so many years, with new
dietary programs, clean eating, that
fueled their rapid growth,” said Os-
tlund. “People started saying, ‘If a little
is good, a lot must be better.’”
While the commission has yet to
tally the final results the last record
blueberry intake was in 2015, 96 pounds
of commercial blueberries, meaning
the new record would have increased
by at least 4 percent statewide.
“It’s not necessarily that we had
such a tremendous yield,” said Nanne-
man. “In the last 10 years, people that
have been planing blueberries large
scale. Acreages are just coming into
full production.”
There are three main types of blue-
berries, with assorted varieties, but it
takes three to four years for blueber-
ries to produce fruit, and even longer
ANNA REED / STATESMAN JOURNAL
Ginger Murphy, the owner of Sunnyview Blueberry Farm, walks through rows of blueberry plants in Salem.
for them to produce the maximum they
can.
“Blueberries were so popular and
strong demand, there were a lot of
plantings,” said Dunn. “Globally, we’ve
reached that point where the market
outpaces supply.”
Several farmers say this year, they
have had difficulty working with more
companies, or selling enough of their
yields, due to a market glut.
“I think we’re producing more blue-
berries than people can eat,” Nanne-
man said.
Producing in the new age
The increase in production may not
be all good news, but several farmers
say they have been more challenged to
stay at the top of their blueberry-grow-
ing game.
Instead of picking blueberries for
the fresh market by hand and using
machines for the berries to by proc-
essed for frozen food, Zurbrugg and
several other local area farmers are
now gathering their blueberries entire-
ly by machine picking.
“Because of the labor costs, we can’t
afford to hand pick anymore,” said
Zurbrugg, who still hires two to three
people during the busy summer months
just to harvest what he has.
Nanneman goes to the dire opposite,
letting the fruit sit out longer and gath-
er more sugar, in the hopes of enticing
a local following for his fresh fruit.
“The people who sell, who end up in
grocery stores in LA, Japan, Costco --
they have to pick seven to 10 days earli-
er than I do, because the berries have
to be much firmer,” Nanneman said.
“We have a very good retail following
for our handpicked fruit.”
The Oregon Blueberry Commission
is now looking to new markets in Viet-
nam and the Philippines to expand in-
ternational blueberry sales, as they
anticipate a continued, steady growth
of the local fruit yield. Meanwhile,
Japan and Singapore remain steady
markets, and the commission is trying
to open up sales in a new Asia market:
China.
Ostland said the future is bound to
get more and more competitive.
“We’ll have to see how the supply of
labor is going to be in the foreseeable
future, what demands will be placed on
the farmers, whether they’ll be able to
sell all their fruit,” Ostlund said.
Zurbrugg said for folks like him,
selling local, the challenge in the fore-
seeable future is staying in the game.
“I just hope I can keep selling them
myself,” Zurbrugg said.