The Michigan Farm Bureau and Michigan State University Extension both contend that the 2016 blueberry crop in Michigan's Great Southwest is truly prodigious. Essentially, it is shaping up to be a banner year thanks to a bumper crop. Farm Bureau Associate Horticulture Specialist Kevin Robson says his visits bear out the numbers and MSU's Mark Longstroth contends that it's possible the blueberry industry could break the record of 117-million pounds.
Robson recently visited Mike and Bob DeGrandchamps' blueberry brambles just south of South Haven. He says that with the farms there situated less than a mile from the temperate shore of Lake Michigan, the DeGrandchamps' blueberry bushes were bursting with fruit midway through the harvest season.
Bob DeGrandchamp told Michigan Farm Bureau President Carl Bednarski he's got "a great blueberry crop this year — a great one." He added, "Pollination was good, we've gotten nice rains and they're sizing up well."
DeGrandchamp estimated that at the start of August they were about half-way through the blueberry harvest with several productive weeks remaining before the bushes were exhausted according to Robson.
The DeGrandchamp Farms comprises approximately 220 acres of blueberries and another 42 acres of cranberries. He was showing the MFB President 75 year old blueberry bushes that towered eight feet above the ground with "branches drooping to the ground from the weight of so much fruit."
Longstroth says the bumper crop follows a couple of low-yield years. He shows figures pegging the 2013 crop at 114 to 117 million pounds, plunging to just 96-million in 2014 and 73-million last year. The average for the region falls typically between 90 and 100-million pounds, and he puts this year's yield as on track for about 101-million with the potential to actually break the record 117-million.
The DeGrandchamp Farms are a test site for Michigan State University's blueberry variety research breeding program, putting the farm on the cutting-edge of new hybrid varieties.
According to the Farm Bureau's Robson, Michigan and Georgia are "neck-and-neck in leading the nation in blueberry production. There's still time to get fresh blueberries at local farmers markets, roadside stands, and u-pick fields. Get some before the season is over.
