Last week the Atlantic Tech Transfer Team for Apiculture had the pleasure of attending and presenting at the Wild Blueberry Producers’ Association of Nova Scotia annual general meeting for 2025 in Truro, NS. Read this week’s blog for a summary of the event, and to learn more about the 2025 wild blueberry season in Nova Scotia.
Review of the Wild Blueberry Producers’ Association of
Nova Scotia Annual General Meeting
The Wild
Blueberry Producers’ Association of Nova Scotia (WBPANS) held their annual
general meeting last week on November 20th and 21st. To
start the event, Andrew Dobson (WBPANS president) and Janette McDonald (WBPANS
executive director) welcomed everyone to the conference and gave an overview of
the two-day agenda.
The first
presenter of the conference was Gilbert Lavoie (Forest Lavoie Conseil) who
provided a wild blueberry market update. Wild blueberry production was down
across the Maritime region with New Brunswick producing 25 million lbs., Nova
Scotia producing 20 million lbs., and Prince Edward Island producing 21 million
lbs. (Maritimes = 66 million lbs., and North America = 213 million lbs.). This past
year was the lowest production of wild blueberries seen in North America within
25 years. Low production can be attributed to drought conditions persisting
throughout the growing season, which were extreme within the Maritime region.
The market price of wild blueberries continues to increase due to low
inventories and production this past season. The demand for wild blueberries
remains high. Despite high market price and good demand, revenue will be a
continued challenge in the Maritime region due to exceptionally low production
and high input costs.
Next, the
Atlantic Tech Transfer Team for Apiculture provided a research update. To learn
about ATTTA’s 2025 research projects read the past blog post “Summary of ATTTA
Summer Field Work 2025” published on September 18th. Our team will
also continue to provide research updates through reports and throughout the
2025 meeting season.
Members of
the Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture discussed various business risk
management programs offered by the federal and provincial governments. These
programs consist of Agri Invest, Agri Insurance, Agri Stability and Agri
Recovery. These programs can help growers protect their livelihood during a
poor growing season as observed this past summer. To learn more about each
program visit https://agriculture.canada.ca/en/programs.
To start the
afternoon session, Hugh Lyu (Perennia) provided a wild blueberry extension
report. Hugh highlighted the severity of this past season’s drought conditions
which, depending on the region of Nova Scotia, caused high yield reduction
(various regions reporting between 55 to 100% reduction). Hugh also discussed
how drought impacts the wild blueberry plant, where primary indicators of plant
stress include a reduced number of berries and buds, and changes in leaf
colour. It is still unknown how this past season’s drought will impact next
year’s crop fields.
The Minister
of Agriculture, Honorable Greg Morrow, addressed members of Nova Scotia’s wild
blueberry industry, and demonstrated that the department of agriculture
recognizes the extreme impact the 2025 drought has had on growers, and that the
department is working to support growers however they can.
To conclude
day one of the event, WBPANS held their annual business meeting. The business
meeting included a president’s report (Andrew Dobson) and executive director’s
report (Janette McDonald). The executive director of the Nova Scotia Federation
of Agriculture (Carolyn Van Den Heuvel) gave an update on the various
activities of the NSFA and the agriculture programs that NSFA supports. The
business meeting also consisted of a promotion committee report (Sam Haley) and
research committee report (James Fullerton).
Day two of
the event started with a presentation from Patrick O’Neil (Wild Blueberry
Association of North America – WBANA). Patrick discussed the structure of WBANA,
and the various partners of the association. Patrick highlighted the marketing
priorities of WBANA, and discussed various promotional activities and events
that have recently occurred to promote the wild blueberry industry.
Dr. Collen
Craig (Chair of the WBANA Health Research Committee) gave a health research
update highlighting current and upcoming projects being funded and/or supported
by WBANA. Some of the areas of wild blueberry health research currently in works
include the benefits of wild blueberries for protection against ultraviolet
rays, prevention of inflammation in the body, stress management and improved
brain function.
Next, Dr.
Scott White (Dalhousie University) provided a weed management update discussing
the efficacy of various herbicides to manage hair fescue and sheep sorrel. Dr.
White discussed which products are best to be applied in sprout versus crop
year fields, and the optimal timing of application within the season.
Members of
Dr. Chris Cutler’s lab (Dalhousie University) provided research updates on the
biology and management of two insect pests of wild blueberries – spotted winged
drosophila (SWD) and blueberry maggot. Samantha Van Wart discussed monitoring
techniques for SWD including lures and traps highlighting crucial times for
growers to be monitoring. Janelle MacKeil provided a research update on
blueberry maggot which provided insight to the biology of the pest, when
growers should be monitoring in their fields and what treatments are currently
available and effective to manage blueberry maggot.
Patrick
Hennessy (Dalhousie University) gave an update on his research regarding new
technology in pesticide applications. Patrick discussed the results of field
trials for using smart sprayers and machine vision technology to treat various
weeds, and to detect and treat various wild blueberry diseases.
Dr. David
Percival (Dalhousie University) presented on the impacts drought stress has on
the physiology of the wild blueberry plant. Overall, the wild blueberry plant
is resilient to both water and heat related stress, but prolonged stress
impacts the plant’s ability to photosynthesize and in turn produce fruit.
Additionally, environmental stress creates competition for resources between
the wild blueberry plant and various weeds (ex. hair fescue), further impacting
the health of the plant.
To conclude
the meeting, Dr. Harrison Wright (Agriculture and Agrifood Canada) gave a
research update on wild blueberry hardiness. Dr. Wright explained three
techniques that can be used to assess plant hardiness and provided preliminary
results comparing the hardiness of wild lowbush blueberries to cultivated
highbush blueberries. Dr. Wright also explained some of the impacts dramatic
winter temperature fluctuations can have on plant hardiness as observed during
the winter of 2023.
This past
year the wild blueberry industry experienced one of their most challenging
growing seasons as their industry was significantly impacted by drought
conditions, and it remains a challenge for the industry to generate sufficient
revenue with high production costs and low yield once again. Despite the many
challenges the industry has, the wild blueberry industry is resilient, and it
works to produce a quality product for which there is high demand. Thank you to
all members of WBPANS who helped organize this great event, which provided an
opportunity for growers to recap the 2025 season and to learn from ongoing
research.
Connecting with ATTTA Specialists
If you’d like to connect with ATTTA specialists or learn more about our program, you can:
visit our website at https://www.perennia.ca/portfolio-items/honey-bees/
Email attta@perennia.ca