Creating Conditions for a Small Sustainable Commercial Organic Blueberry Operation

This website describes the development of a model system of specialty agriculture by creating and documenting the formation of a small sustainable commercial organic blueberry operation involving about 165 bushes. The project targets two major populations--small local community farmers in the Shenandoah Valley and undergraduate students in biology/environmental science at Eastern Mennonite University. Our objective is to determine the economics and best practices in developing an organic blueberry operation in contrast to a traditional (non-organic) operation. Specific investigations include optimization of horticultural practices involving soil preparation and amendments, fertilizers, herbicides versus mechanical tillage, pest management, overall plant health and productivity, selection of suitable cultivars for the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, marketing strategies, and cost benefit of using drip irrigation. Experimental and practicum opportunities in blueberry horticulture are provided for undergraduate students through summer projects. This organic blueberry model system may be of interest to regional farmers, students, and horticulturists. Information about this project will be disseminated on this website, as well as through professional presentations at regional conferences and publications in journals and trade magazines.

Five Specific Project Goals

ONE: Illustrate, promote, and publish this small commercial organic blueberry production as a model system of a sustainable specialty crop that has economic viability within the expanding small farm diversification and initiatives of farming in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

This project will be a successful model system only to the degree that its information is available to others including Virginia farmers. As a model, the production strategies of a viable small commercial blueberry farm that incorporates organic practices, drip irrigation, high-hoop horticulture, specific approaches to bird predation, low-raised bed borders, etc. will encourage initiation of these practices for other berry crops as well. Promoting this on-going model system will occur via three main venues: (a) a dynamic internet website that includes a periodic blog describing the project, (b) periodic news articles in the local paper and trade magazines, and (c) periodic invitations for area farmers to visit the production site when it becomes operational. A commercial operation is sustainable only to the degree that it is profitable. The costs and steps in initiating and the potential profitability of a small organic blueberry production facility have not been fully explored or documented. Two studies of the economics of commercial (non-organic) blueberry production in Oregon and Georgia were published a few years ago which detailed the development of a multi-acre plots designed to be both machine harvested and hand-picked.[1] While information from these studies is helpful, it is difficult to extrapolate these findings to smaller organic production efforts, since organic horticulture is so different from traditional non-organic horticulture. Detailing yearly costs and returns related to land preparation, planting, fertilizer and weed control, pests and disease control, fixed equipment costs, on-going operating costs (fertilizers, weed, pest, and disease control, harvesting and marketing costs, pruning, irrigation, overhead and management, equipment, etc), and finally income from marketed produce are major items in describing blueberry economics.

TWO: Determine, detail, and publish the best organic practices in developing a blueberry operation including soil preparation and enhancement, predation and insect control, selection, maintenance, and productivity of cultivars, selection of fertilizers and mulch, usage of low-raised bed borders, and control of weeds and plant diseases.

The decision to investigate the contrast between organic and traditional (non-organic) practices will provide further insights. Our plans are to focus on an experimental organic production with approximately 165 bushes consisting of five different cultivars while using a traditional planting (non-organic) of 10% of these bushes at a site located about 200 yards from the organic planting as a control planting. Expenses, soil preparation and amendments, health and vigor of various blueberry cultivars, fruit production, predator and disease issues, productivity, and marketing of these contrasting plots will provide the data needed to assess the value and sustainability of an organic versus traditional blueberry production.

THREE: Install a hoop (high tunnel) system over a portion of the blueberries to determine effects on productivity and costs in constrast with non-hoop plants.

The hoop system (about 20’ x 48’) will be constructed over a small area of the organic blueberry plot (about 25 bushes) and will be contrasted with organic blueberries not grown with a high hoop system. Information gleaned from this portion of the project will have specific relevance for the production of other berry crops also such as blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, etc.

FOUR: Control bird predation with the installation of netting system and provide supplemental water with a sustainable drip irrigation system that uses both collected rainwater and well water.

Based on our prior experience with garden blueberries, bird predation control and some supplemental irrigation are two essential elements of viable blueberry production. A drip irrigation system will be installed for the blueberry plants which will be contrasted for experimental and illustrative purposes with only a very few of the organic plants relying on natural rain.

FIVE: Provide academic educational experiences for undergraduate students in sustainable agriculture through summer practicum projects.

Experimental project opportunities for students will include

(1) comparing the organic and non-organic plantings for soil quality, plant physiology and vigor, production, resistance to pests and diseases, etc;

(2) contrasting the health, vigor, and productivity of various blueberry cultivars;

(3) comparing the effectiveness of specific types of mulches and soil amendments on pH and soil quality;

(4) influence of high hoop system on plant health and productivity versus non-hoop horticulture and

(5) the cost-value benefit of drip irrigation on plant health and productivity.

Experimental Design

Compare organic versus traditional (non-organic) practices on blueberry plants considering the following aspects: (1) economics, (2) plant health & vigor, (3) productivity, and (4) resistance to disease and insects.
Contrast the suitability of five blueberry cultivars for our area of the Shenandoah Valley.
Determine the cost/benefit and productivity values of three introduced growing practices on the organic plot: (1) low-raised bed borders, (2) drip irrigation, and (3) high hoop horticulture.

Quantifiable Measures

Economics or cost analysis of the varied aspects of blueberry growing including: soil preparation, soil amendments and fertilizers, mulch, equipment costs, purchase of cultivars, insecticides and predation control, labor, harvesting and marketing expenses, and income from produce sales.
Periodic measures of soil conditions including (1) pH; (2) content of elemental phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, zinc, manganese, copper, iron, and boron and (3) and organic matter will be done using the services of the Virginia Cooperative Extension Soil Testing Laboratory.
During mid-summer determine annual foliar measures of nutrients and trace elements from mature leaves taken from the mid-portion of the current season’s growth through a commercial testing laboratory.
Early measures of plant health including: plant growth (direct measures of plant growth), quantitative measures of plant physiology as indicated by carbon dioxide assimilation (photosynthesis) and water transpiration rates (stomatal conductance) using infrared gas analysis (IRGA) as a measuring technique. Plant growth will be assayed by two direct measurements: (1) Branch RGR (relative growth rate) of three selected representational primary branches labeled on a given plant that will be measured twice—once in early spring and then again in the fall prior to pruning—using the following formula: Branch RGR = BLf – BLs / BLs) x 100 where BL = branch length (cm) and s = spring.

Potential Impact

The audiences and operations affected by this proposal and its outcomes include: (1) community farmers in the Shenandoah Valley and (2) undergraduate students in sustainable agriculture at Eastern Mennonite University.

In spite of pressures of increasing costs and uncertain market prices, agriculture is thriving in Rockingham County of Virginia. While beef, dairy, and poultry farming represent the major agricultural operations in our area, farming dynamics continue to shift as illustrated by the increasing dairy herd sizes and the increasing number of small farmers having fewer total acres. (For example, gone are the small dairy herds of 30-40 milk cows that were prominent forty years ago.) In our area of the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, many family farms have increasingly diversified their operations in recent years to remain economically viable. For some diversification has involved added small commercial components such as raising vegetables and fruits. These efforts have been encouraged by the presence and success of local retail Farmer Markets in Harrisonburg,[3] Broadway, and Staunton, Virginia and by the wholesale Shenandoah Valley Produce Auction located west of Dayton, VA (west Rockingham County). This auction, which is open two days each week during the summer months, has provided an economically viable outlet for larger quantities of produce that could not be

marketed by the local retail farmers’ markets in our area. The Shenandoah Valley Produce Auction has room for expansion of specialty produce as its buyer base and auction crowds continue to increase from season to season. At the retail markets and at the wholesale produce auction, organically grown products of good quality typically bring higher prices than non-organic products.

Only a very few blueberry producers are active in our immediate area. Information from the 2002 Census of Agriculture indicated the presence of 6,428 blueberry farms involving 52,002 acres nationally; Virginia had 151 blueberry farms comprising a total of 223 acres; Rockingham County had 6 blueberry farms with a total of 8 acres in production.[2] Of these only a minor number represent organic production facilities. Public information about the economic costs in initiating and maintaining an organic commercial blueberry operation in our area is not available. Consequently, publication of the steps in creating such an operation along with the costs and benefits of the various aspects will provide helpful guidance that will enhance the participation of more farmers in raising organic blueberries.

At Eastern Mennonite University our major mission is academic education. The Biology department offers a Biology major that has a plant component as well as a major in Environmental Science that optionally includes a concentration in Sustainable Agriculture that reflects back to historical Mennonite practices of stewardship farming. As part of their training, upper level undergraduate students are expected to participate in practicum and research experiences related to their studies. Located only four miles from the university campus, this particular project proposal provides opportunities and support for undergraduate student participation in selected aspects of blueberry production including agronomy, horticulture, and marketing by functioning as a dynamic, on-going laboratory. Three specific biology courses that connect to some aspects of this project include: BIOL 311 Sustainable Agriculture, BIOL 372 Plant Physiology; and BIOL 411/2 Agriculture Practicum (an independent type experience designed for specific students). The PL in this project will offer a summer term version of the Agriculture Practicum for 1-3 students (each summer) who wish to focus on some aspect of blueberry production as the basis of their practicum experience. The Business & Economics Department offers an Independent Study/Research course option for their majors. At least one of the summer student practicum slots is available for a business student to do a mini-research project. In addition, consulting faculty, who participate directly in this project, have opportunity to bring enrichment insights gleaned from this sustainable blueberry production project back to their teaching classrooms.

Cited References

[1] “Blueberry Economics: The Costs of Establishing and Producing Blueberries in the Willamette Valley” Oregon State University Extension Service, January 2005; and “Economic Analysis of Producing Southern Highbush Blueberries in Soil in Georgia,” University of Georgia Cooperative Extension, March 2006.

^[2] From 2002 US Census of Agriculture, http://www.agcensus.usda.gov/Publications/2002/index.asp

[3] See website for further market information: http://www.harrisonburgfarmersmarket.com/index.html

Scientific Name
Vaccinium corymbosum

Common Name
Highbush blueberry