Maine seeks federal relief for blueberry growers
Courtesy / Ted Axelrod, Axelrodphotogaphy.com
Maine Agriculture Commissioner Amanda Beal is seeking federal relief for blueberry growers in the face of global trade tensions. Maine is the world's top producer of wild blueberries.
With Maine’s wild blueberry growers facing increasingly tough conditions, Maine Agriculture Commissioner Amanda Beal has appealed to the U.S. Department of Agriculture to include the berries in its Market Facilitation Program.
Established during fall 2018 to help growers affected negatively by foreign nation trade retaliation, the program will provide $14.5 billion in direct payments to producers in 2019, according to a news release.
But wild blueberries are not included on the program’s crop list.
This week, Beal sent a letter to USDA Undersecretary Bill Northey, asking for wild blueberries to be added to the list.
In the letter, dated July 8, Beal wrote:
“Maine’s iconic wild blueberry crop has been threatened by declining prices for farmers in recent years and the situation has been exacerbated by global trade tensions. Maine is the only state in the U.S. that grows wild blueberries on a commercial scale. The industry is comprised of growers and processors who have worked hard to produce this healthy and delicious commodity for over 150 years.
"Faced by economic pressures and reduced prices, many growers have drastically cut back on harvesting their crop within the past two years and will continue to do so this coming crop season. Some have left the business altogether, a huge blow to local communities and economies in rural Downeast Maine. The reduction in acreage has precipitously dropped the supply of wild blueberries on the market.”
For these reasons, she said, wild blueberry growers would be well served by being included in the program.
Between 2013 and 2016, the production of Maine and Canadian wild blueberries increased dramatically, with the total 2016 production increasing by 87% over 2013.
The resulting oversupply drove prices down drastically for Maine growers. Despite this, exports to China of frozen Maine wild blueberries were slowly and steadily increasing, Beal explained.
“However, the China market effectively evaporated in early 2018,” she wrote. “Reliable and open access to foreign markets is a critical factor in enhancing global demand for Maine wild blueberries and driving positive price growth.”
The Maine wild blueberry industry has received assistance from USDA in recent years through its “Bonus Buy” program, which helped reduce the oversupply of 2014-2016 berries. Similarly, USDA has purchased frozen wild blueberries through its Food Purchase and Distribution Program.
However, neither program directly financed the growers themselves, Beal wrote. The Market Facilitation Program will allow for direct compensation.
The USDA initiated its second Market Facilitation Program this year to assist farmers hurt by trade disruptions prompted by foreign tariffs on their products, according to a news release.
The USDA is authorized to provide up to $16 billion in relief, which is in line with the estimated impacts of the retaliatory tariffs on — and non-tariff barriers to exports of — U.S. agricultural goods.
Fruit farmers included in this year’s program include cherry, cranberry and grape producers.
Payments are expected to help farmers absorb some of the additional costs of managing disrupted markets, to deal with surplus commodities, and to expand and develop new markets at home and abroad.
Payments will be made in up to three tranches, with the second and third tranches evaluated as market conditions and trade opportunities dictate. The first tranche will begin in late July or early August, as soon as practical after Farm Service Agency crop reporting is completed by July 15. If conditions warrant, the second and third tranches will be made in November and early January.
Over the past few years, Maine’s blueberry industry has been dealing with price drops, unaccommodating weather, diseases, foreign competition and reduced crop size.
Maine is the world's top producer of wild blueberries, at up to 100 million pounds a year, which brings $250 million into the state, according to the Wild Blueberry Commission of Maine.
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