Estimates vary on how many blueberries were damaged during a series of late February south Georgia freezes.

The freezes hit Feb. 17-20 and during the early morning hours of Feb. 20, temperatures fell into the low 20s for several hours in the Alma, Ga., Baxley, Ga., and Homerville, Ga., blueberry growing regions, damaging the early part of the southern highbush crop.

Damage estimates are 10%-30%, said Lee Cobb, vice president of business development for North American blueberries for Salinas, Calif.-based Colorful Harvest LLC.

Georgia harvests two crops.

The southern highbush typically starts in mid- to late April while the rabbit eye crop usually begins in late May.

Temperatures were so cold that some growers ran frost protection until the morning of Feb. 21 and the ice damaged many limbs, he said.

“The net result is Georgia is going to start later because their very earliest fruit was what they lost,” Cobb said Feb. 24. “They may not pick until late April, which means Florida will be more out of the picture than normal when Georgia starts picking.”

South and central Florida usually finish in early May with north Florida harvesting through late May.

Losses were higher for growers that didn’t irrigate, said Stacy Spivey, the Vidalia, Ga.-based North American berry program director for Alpine Fresh in Miami.

“We took a hit with the cold and wind,” he said Feb. 24. “I’ve visited a lot of fields. The growers that didn’t run water, it looks like they may have lost as much as 30%-40% of the early crop. The growers that ran frost protection only lost 10%-15%.”

Spivey said he expects harvesting to begin on-time and said buyers should expect high quality fruit in volumes similar to industry projections.

Last year, Georgia growers harvested 56 million pounds of fresh berries, higher than the 32 million they harvested in 2013.

Eric Crawford, president of Sunrise, Fla.-based Fresh Results LLC, said damage is likely minimal and shouldn’t affect the deal’s overall production.

“They certainly lost 10%-15%,” he said in late February. “Some lost more than others but they’re upbeat and feel they haven’t really lost a lot. I think we got through it better than anyone expected.”

Because of the region’s many microclimates, Crawford said it’s difficult to make blanket damage statements and said larger growers experienced higher percentage of losses because of bigger and more open fields.

Homerville, which normally starts April 10 with an early variety, likely won’t begin until April 20 with Alma and Baxley set to begin closer to May 1, said Teddy Koukoulis, director of blueberry operations for Plant City, Fla.-based Wish Farms.

“A lot were hoping to be early this year but that won’t happen,” he said Feb. 25. “Instead of starting the first week of April, they’re now looking at the third week of April.”

In north Florida, temperatures also fell into the low-mid 20s while south Florida vegetable growers saw temperatures around 30 degrees.

Florida grower-shippers of blueberries, tomatoes and other vegetables report minimal damage.

Source - http://www.thepacker.com/