Mississippi's blueberry supply could be scarce this season after a Sunday night, Monday morning freeze.
"Anytime you have a crop failure or crop loss it's going to affect it," said Tim Cooper, owner of Cooper Farms in Morton.
The blueberry supply will depend on what shape out-of-state farmers are in after temperatures here in the Jackson-Metro tanked to the 20s.
"Hopefully the other states that grow blueberries didn't have this widespread freeze that we did," Cooper said.
The fruit could be hard to find in local markets like the Downtown Jackson Farmers Market and the Dorris Berry Farmers Market in Pearl. It's just two of the places Cooper sends his Blueberries.
“I knew there was going to be damage, it was just a matter of coming out and confirming it," said Cooper.
Cooper has 1 acre of blueberry bushes.
He said he won't know the extent of the damage for the next one to two weeks, but from the looks of the browned blooms, he estimates a 50-75% loss.
“Say we pick 1,000 gallons a normal year. This year probably 200-250 gallon," Cooper said.
Cooper said overall the farm is still in good shape.
"Blueberries is just one of our many crops. We don't solely rely on blueberries like some farmers do," said Cooper.
Source - https://www.wapt.com