SMALL FRUIT UPDATE | WEEK 28 |  

JULY 7, 2021

Uncooled Vintage Raspberry in Willamette Valley, OR 7/5/21. Photo by Julie Pond

WHAT'S INSIDE
INDUSTRY RESOURCES Tom Peerbolt
NORTHWEST BERRY FOUNDATION

GROWER RESOURCES

INDUSTRY NEWS
Update on Health and Work Issues—Tom Peerbolt

Many of you have been aware of my struggles with health issues over the past couple
PEST MANAGEMENT of years. Most of the attention has been around my back operation of about a year
and a half ago which was pretty much a complete success. However, Anna and I have
SFU SPONSORS been presented with a new challenge. I’ve been diagnosed with Idiopathic Pulmonary
Fibrosis, a relatively rare lung disease. This certainly impacts my work capacity going
forward and coping with it needs to take precedence over other work and life issues.

I’ve been gradually stepping back from the challenges of running both Peerbolt Crop
Management (PCM) and the Northwest Berry Foundation (NBF) the past few seasons
and that trend will accelerate. Fortunately, I have very capable people more than up to
the task. Julie Pond and Jason Myer have been with me for many years. Elisa Ford
joined us this past year as the administrator for the NBF. Alex Roberts also joined us
about three year ago when Anna retired to take over as the bookkeeper for both PCM
and NBF. Abby Clayton-Gearing has also joined the team bringing new and needed
design and technology skills to NBF.
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Best of times/worst of times. There’s a lot of satisfaction associated with past work
Small Fruit Update is and the incredibly competent team now in place. There’s also always that resistance
produced once a week
to change. And that’s just the way it is. Thanks to all of you who have supported our
work in the past. Please continue to do so!
during the growing
season and bimonthly
With much appreciation.
outside the growing
season (Oct - Feb)
Northern Washington, Whatcom & Skagit Counties (7/5) From Lisa Wasko Devetter, Small Fruit Horticulturist, WSU NWREC, Mount
Vernon
Raspberries: In Whatcom county, the progression of damage ranges so that it gets worse the further east you go in the
county. 'WakeHaven' fruit looks like it fared the worse when exposed to the heat in my opinion, but some 'Meeker' fields
are also certainly showing the effects of the heat. I see more 'WakeHaven' in the eastern portion of the county, so the
damage is likely associated with location effects (i.e., eastern Whatcom was hotter than western Whatcom). 'WakeField'
appears less impacted due to canopy shading of the fruit. Damage in the form of sunburned berries or burned laterals can
be seen most on row ends or on the west side in fields with a north-south orientation. Alot of the early, exposed fruit is
damaged. However, alot of the later fruit that was shaded or still developing looks promising. Let's hope the fruit that
comes on later comes off the plant easily and is of good quality.

Blueberries: The pattern of damage observed for raspberries in Whatcom LeafCounty is similar
Sun Scorch for blueberries.
Blackberry. Photo byWeTomsee the
Peerbolt
same pattern in Skagit County, as well. Plants further east in the counties are more affected and plants in a north-south
orientation have the most damage on the western side of the rows. Early-fruiting cultivars are most impacted, with some
growers reporting a 70-100% crop loss. 'Aurora' and 'Reka' has also been hit hardest based on my observations, although a
few 'Bluecrop' and 'Jersey' fields are in rough condition. 'Duke' is also showing damage across Whatcom County in the
form of sunburned berries and some necrotic leaf tissue. Fields closer to forested hedges and/or with lots of ground cover
in the alleyways and around fields look better off, likely from the cooling effects of the plants. Fields that also tend to have
good air circulation also look a bit better off. Few growers in northwest Washington have evaporative cooling systems, so
assessments on their efficacy in the region cannot be robustly made.

I've noticed botrytis creeping in. Growers should keep an eye on opportunistic diseases and manage them accordingly
given we have a lot of susceptible fruit out there.

I've had a few growers ask about disaster relief. Hopefully that will be an option for those growers hit the hardest.

'WakeHaven' (in eastern Whatcom County) and 'Duke' Blueberry

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NWBERRYFOUNDATION.ORG PAGE 03
 Blueberry Bud Development

DUKE STARTED HARVEST 6-22-21

PATR I O T BLUEJAY DUKE DRAP E R TOP S H E LF LIBE R T Y AURO R A LAST C A L L CALY P S O

WEEK 27 7/2/21
WEEK 26 7/2/20
WEEK 26 6/28/19
WEEK 26 6/30/18

PATR I O T BLUEJAY DUKE DRAP E R TOP S H E LF LIBE R T Y AURO R A LAST C A L L CALY P S O

NWBERRYFOUNDATION.ORG PAGE 04
 Grower Resources

REGIONAL FIELD REPORTS

Northern Washington, Whatcom & Skagit Counties (7/5) From Tom Walters, Walters Ag Research, Anacortes, WA

Raspberries: Damage to Raspberry fields has been really variable in the fields I’ve seen. Later varieties especially seem
mostly OK, with just a bit of leaf scorch and fruit sunburn. On the other hand, early varieties like Cascade Premier and
Wakehaven were very hard hit, with sunburnt fruit taking the grade down to purée at best. Fortunately, fruit on the
harvesters is looking much better, and it looks like IQF will begin very soon.

Badly sunburnt fruit has not released, and is just drying on the plants. It certainly helps the appearance of fruit in the flats,
but it also gives a home for Botrytis and SWD. One grower already showed me a field with spot mold, mostly starting in
sunburnt areas. A good time to keep up on pest and disease control programs.

Some of the fields are putting good growth on again, but others are not, which is very bad news. Maybe these were not
able to keep up with the high water demands in the heat, and can’t recover with a full fruit load. I’ve seen small fruit in
some, but not all, Wakehaven fields.

Blueberries: Blueberries I’ve seen are all over the map for damage. Some of the badly damaged fruit falls off easily, which
is great, but it will be a challenge to sort out the less catastrophically damaged fruit. Fruit sizing may be a big issue as well,
as damaged plants struggle to recover.

British Columbia, Fraser Valley (7/5) From Chuck Mouritzen, Southwest Crop Consulting, Chilliwack, BC

Raspberries: Damage to raspberries has been quite severe especially on the west sides of the fields on north-south
running plantings. Early varieties like Rudi and Squamish were quite badly burnt as was Wakehaven and Cascade Premier
of which we only have small plantings at the moment. Fruit is starting to clean up as the pick progresses in the early
varieties. Meeker is starting to be picked but there is considerable heat damaged fruit to pick through first. Most Meeker
plantings were vegetatively thin and as such were prone to heat damage. Size on all varieties is disappointingly small. As
has been mentioned growers should be alert to SWD and botrytis issues with so much spoiled fruit hanging on.

Blueberries: Vary in heat damage depending on location but the Chilliwack, Abbotsford, Matsqui, Sumas prairie area took
some heavy hits in Dukes, Reka, Aurora and Calypso. I am also seeing less damage in fields where inter-row areas had
living green,functioning cover crops or heavy weedy grass growth. This seemed to buffer the heat to some extent. But
west sides of the rows were again taking the brunt of the impact. With our polllination issues up here and the losses due to
heat we will be looking at substantial reductions in crop yields this season. There has been some limited starts to
machining in Dukes over the past weekend.

Western Oregon, Willamette Valley (7/6) From Julie Pond, PCM, Portland, OR

Caneberries: All caneberries that had more than just sunburn were fried to the receptacles/stems they were on. While
some of that fruit fell off, the majority are just stuck on plants. Black raspberries are especially concerning as they already
have release problems but growers are going through fields daily and still only getting a pallet of fruit coming off entire
fields. Machinery is being adjusted but is also causing lots more beat up canes than normal.

Day Neutral Strawberries: are rampant with Lygus Bug. Honestly, this is also the case in raspberries and I've even seen
Lygus in blueberries this week! Not sure on the effects they would have in blueberries but worth noting.

Raspberries: Raspberries have had their first SWD showing up. First or second instar but I'd say we are into the second
generation with those critters now. Perhaps the heat drove them under the canopies that were being cooled vs staying in
the native habitat they had originally been harboring in but is now too dry. Some organic blueberries have also been noted
to have had the stray SWD larvae found at the processor level.

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 Examples of blueberry fruit damage casued by record-breaking heat. Photos by Tom Peerbolt

British Columbia, Fraser Valley (7/6) From Jason Smith, Fraser Berry Farms, Abbotsford, B.C., Chilliwack, BC
Blueberries: Valor and Draper seemed to get through heat damage the best even in areas with significant damage to Duke
etc. In fact haven't heard of any damage on Valor to date. Some of the BC trial varieties held up quite well too. West of
Abbotsford, central Valley, damage is significantly less with many reporting zero. Western Aurora minimal, maybe 2-3%
damage at best. The more foliage the better the plants faired. Even Duke in Abbotsford area planted east west a lot less
damage than north south plantings. Fruit size affected in some fields east of central Valley. Many others not as bad as
initially thought it would be. Agree with Chuck about grass in middle of rows and do see difference in field with double drip
line on trellising wires compared to single drip lines down middle of plants.

Yes there's damage and growers it has affected range from 10-40+% but still a lot of the valley with minimal impacts
except maybe a bit on size.

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Regional Monitoring

June 10, 2021

VIEW FULL REPORT SIGN UP HERE

REGIONAL MONITORING
(This is a repeat of last week’s information as the new report wasn’t received in time to include in this week’s edition.)

Welcome to this week's Agragene Regional SWD Report.

We have so far been barrelling through this season with low numbers of SWD and little sign of their
populations being able to build coming out of the winter months. However, given the nature of SWD,
we know that their populations will build, it is just a matter of when. This past week has given us the
first indication (albeit, very preliminary and based on a single set of data) that we might be seeing
the start of population growth this year. There are ample food sources and emerging hosts in the
environment right now, which -along with weather conditions returning to an ideal state for SWD-
makes it highly probable that their populations have an active biological imperative to procreate.

Location Total SWD

SAUV I E I S LAND 3

BANK S 0

FORE S T GROVE 1

CORN E L I US 0

HILL S B O RO 2

YAMH I L L 0

DUND E E 1

MCMI N N V ILLE 0

WILS O N V ILLE 1

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 Industry News

Survey: How do you get your blueberries pollinated?

As part of a USDA-funded project to improve blueberry pollination, a research team across the US is trying to get a
better understanding of how blueberry growers get their fields pollinated. In addition to the fieldwork being conducted
at blueberry farms in MI, OR, WA, and FL, we want to learn about pollination practices from blueberry farms across the
US. Whether you have 1 acre or 1000 acres, are a U-pick or large scale commercial farmer, please fill out the short
survey below.

COMPLETE SURVEY

PODCASTS OF THE INDUSTRY

The Business of Blueberries: A podcast from the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council hosted by
Kasey Cronquist and Rod Cook.
KICKING OFF SEASON TWO: WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE BUSINESS OF BLUEBERRIES?

NEWSLETTERS OF THE INDUSTRY

California Blueberry Commission Newsletter - Issue #36

Understanding the Impact of the Pacific Northwest Heat Wave on Oregon Blueberries External

FEATURED LINKS
Berry Bake: Northwest blueberry, raspberry, blackberry crops roasted from the heat wave (7/2, NPR)

Oregon farms seek emergency aid for heat, drought (7/6, Capital Press)

Japanese beetles found in large numbers in Central Washington (6/30, Capital Press)

Skagit Valley farmers cope with early-season heat with lasting impacts (7/4, Skagit.com)

Work really sucks when it’s hot (7/1, The New Republic) Making the case for labor unions.

Heat hits yields on niche black raspberry volumes (7/6, Fresh Plaza)

WEATHER/WATER
(Southern Oregon) Heat wave hits some crops, not others
READ MORE
(7/2, Capitol Press)

Roasted on the vine: Heat dome threatens NW berry harvest

READ MORE
(7/2, NPR)

NWBERRYFOUNDATION.ORG PAGE 08
MEXICO
Mexican blueberry exports to the U.S. increase in 2021
READ MORE
(6/29, Agronometrics)

SHIPPING
Container ship prices skyrocket amid ongoing supply chain bottlenecks
READ MORE
(7/6, Fresh Fruit Portal)

LABOR
Oregon farmworker advocates ask for extreme heat rules after laborer dies
READ MORE
(7/2, Growing Produce)

Chile: More than half of Chilean fruit producers facing serious labor shortage
READ MORE
(7/6, Fresh Fruit Portal)

NORTH AMERICA
North America New Jersey blueberries meet strong 4th of July demand
READ MORE
(7/2, Fresh Plaza)

TECHNOLOGY
Drones that control insect pests? Yes it’s a reality
READ MORE
(7/2, Blueberries Consulting)

Robotic cultivator eases hoeing dilemma

READ MORE
(6/30, Capital Press)

Indoor AgTech Innovation Summit grows with this hot sector

READ MORE
(7/1, The Packer)

Strawberry-picking robotics startup Traptic begins commercial deployment

READ MORE
(7/1, Fresh Plaza)

INDIA
The USHBC announces expansion plans in India
READ MORE
(6/25, Economic Times)

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 Pest and Crop Management
Please note that our Pest and Crop Management section will return in
the near future.

Industry Calendar

JULY 2021
Caneberry Field Day View Agenda
07
WEDNESDAY, 1:00-5:00 PM

Washington Blueberry Commission Meeting

12
MONDAY, 10AM. CONTACT ALAN SCHREIBER FOR MEETING LINK AT (509)226-4300

Washington Raspberry Field Day

14
WEDNESDAY, JULY 14TH 1-3PM AT THE HONCOOP FARM: 9696 NORTHWOOD ROAD, LYNDEN, WA.

Blueberry Field Day View Agenda

15
THURSDAY, 1:00 – 5:30 PM (END TIME IS APPROXIMATE AS DEPENDS ON LIST OF SPEAKERS/PRESENTATIONS)

AUGUST 2021
NASGA 2021 Summer Tour in Portland, OR
17 - 18
REGISTER HERE

SEPTEMBER 2021
Washington Red Raspberry Commission Board Meeting
15
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2021, 1PM -5 PM

OCTOBER 2021
Washington Blueberry Commission Meeting
12
TUESDAY, 10AM. CONTACT ALAN SCHREIBER FOR MEETING LINK AT (509)226-4300

The Small Fruit Update is published by the Northwest Berry Foundation, a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit. Our mission is to support the northwest small fruit
industry through education, research and information access. The SFU is made possible through the generosity of our sponsors and readers like you. Donate
today, and together we can help our berry growing community thrive.

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NWBERRYFOUNDATION.ORG PAGE 10
 THE SMALL FRUIT UPDATE
WEEK 28 | JULY 7, 2021

This is the sole industry publication, For more information or requests please
gathering grower and producer news, contact:
and regional field reports to unite,
stabilize, and strengthen the Northwest Abby Gearing,
berry growing region (Canada and US). SFU Designer & Editor
abby@nwberries.org
Production is independent of
government and commercial control Tom Peerbolt,
and made possible by the following NBF Director & Editor
commission & councils. tom@peerbolt.com.