The Small Fruit Update

I think we all appreciated the lack of precipitation last weekend. You know what we can’t appreciate right now? Rodents running through their nice little tunnels under the root zone…

We have reached a crucial moment in the season where it’s important to remind everyone that sampling soil and leaf nutrients is vital for planning for next season. The success of your efforts depends on understanding the health of your plants at the end of their fruiting period.

We are seeing higher SWD populations than we have seen in the past few years. But that said, field issues have not materialized and field finds have been random and isolated. There will definitely be an opportunity to review/discuss at the end of this season what ‘normal’ should mean for SWD as a pest and how it is managed.

Not sure why we’re always surprised to see the beginning of the end of many caneberry and blueberry varieties at this time of year. Plans and pricing are impacted by the concurrent PNW blueberry harvests taking place at this moment, leading to a typical decrease in price.

There shouldn’t be much for weather related harvest interruptions. We’ve noticed that the typical last picks are making an appearance alongside some SWD. This is not surprising, especially given the varied weather we’ve experienced. However, the recent hot days have somewhat suppressed the population.

Does anyone know what day of the week it even is? The overlapping harvests with overlapping field needs means demands are never-ending. We’re on the downswing for raspberry harvest (already finished in Oregon) and machines are cleaning up early season blueberry fields with final picks.

Harvest is saturated for all types of harvesting crops. Processors are experiencing an influx of fruit, which is notably higher than usual, especially with the Duke and Draper blueberry varieties.

There are a few moderate temperature windows, but the overall forecast indicates predominantly hot weather. Please take all the necessary steps to ensure adequate water and cooling to counteract the increased evapotranspiration rates.

In the Willamette Valley, rainfall has ranged from half an inch to one inch. Additionally, there are reports of fruit damage due to hail.