Yarborough, UMaine blueberry statistics cited in Ellsworth American editorial on challenges facing growers
The Ellsworth American used crop data compiled by David Yarborough, a professor in the School of Food and Agricultural and wild blueberry specialist with the Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station and University of Maine Cooperative Extension, to highlight recent revenue declines facing wild blueberry growers in Maine. According to Yarborough’s numbers, Maine’s glacial barrens and fields have yielded 100 million pounds of blueberries, on average, for the past three years. At the same time, growers have seen their earnings drop from an average of 75 cents per pound in 2013 to under 40 cents per pound in 2016.