Florida Classic Growers Inc. of Dundee- FL looks to start harvesting Central Florida fields the last week of March.
The shipper expects to have blueberries through the month of April and into the first week of May.
Freezing temperatures in January may have delayed the start of the harvest about a week later than normal, but the outlook for the crop remains good.
With berries from Mexico and Chile expected to fade at the end of March, Florida blueberries will be in prime position for big demand during April.
The Florida blueberry crop is doing well despite a pretty hard freeze.
Generally, Florida blueberry acreage is increasing, but not as rapidly as a decade ago. The number of growers may be declining as smaller growers leave the business.
The USDA reported that Florida’s blueberry acreage in 2020 was 4,400 acres, up from 3,500 acres in 2010 but down from 5,100 acres in 2019.