The blueberry season is turning out to be a difficult one this year in the Haut-Saint-Laurent Valley, as most producers from the region have seen their production fall by an average of 50%.
This problem is explained by a period of intense freezing this past winter, in January and February. The cold attacked the plants due to the lack of snow, which turned out nasty. In certain cases, the buds froze, and in other cases the roots were affected and the plant was thus ruined.
This situation prevailed as much for the blueberry in flower clusters, which is especially cultivated in the region, as for the wild blueberry. Laurent Lussier, the president of the Haut-Saint-Laurent Valley Association of producers of blueberries in flower clusters, said that the problem is even more shocking in the region of Rigaud and Covey Hill where two blueberry producers lost about 90% of their harvest.
Himself the owner of a blueberry grove on rang Savary in Saint-Antoine-Abbe, Lussier acknowledges having lost about 50% of his crops. He will spread out over a period of five weeks instead of six or seven. He owns about 5,000 blueberry plants.
« It’s a year to forget and we hope that next winter will be milder, » Lussier hopes.
With these losses, it goes without saying that the prices of blueberries on the market have increased in many places. « The prices have risen because of the rarity of the fruit. It’s too bad but we have to adjust according to the offer, » maintains the president/producer.
Similar problems with other producer
Elsewhere, the blueberry grove operated by Benoit and Mario Faille on Route 202 in Franklin has also sustained the repercussions of last winter’s freeze.
In a telephone interview, Mario Faille believes he lost at least 40% of his harvest of blueberries in flower clusters, from a total of 4,000 plants.
«The cold wave did not help us and the buds were attacked», he said. «However, the blueberries that resisted are very good and we are currently in the busy period of picking them.» He added that the prices of blueberry crates are on the rise this summer. Public picking is available.
It’s the same story in Soulanges where Francois Cuerrier and Catherine Vandersmissen own the St. Thomas blueberry grove in St. Zotique on 69th Avenue. Cuerrier confided to this newspaper that he lost half of his annual harvest of blueberries in clusters because of the intense cold, even if the plants are protected by a wooded area.
«This is our fifth harvesting period and it’s our worst year ever», lamented Cuerrier who owns 4,000 plants. However, even if the season turned out to be difficult, he specifies that his prices are the same as those he advertised last year. For example, it costs $35 for a crate of blueberries. Public picking is also possible.
Translated by Dan Rosenburg
