N.B. wild blueberry crop drops by tens of millions of pounds: executive

Donald Arsenault with Bleuets NB Blueberries discusses the impact of the ongoing drought.

New Brunswick typically produces an average of 68 million pounds of wild blueberries annually, but an executive with Bleuets NB Blueberries says that number could be down by nearly 70 per cent this year due to a “pretty tough season.”

“This year has really hit us hard,” Donald Arsenault told CTV News Atlantic’s Todd Battis on Thursday. “The drought has really had a tremendous impact on the harvest this year. Very dire straits.”

Arsenault said the wildfire season in the province also impacted berry crops. In August the New Brunswick government closed all Crown lands and prohibited all forest harvesting operations over wildfire safety concerns.

The province ultimately allowed blueberry growers to apply for permits to harvest on Crown lands or use Crown lands to access their private fields.

“We only have three-to-five weeks to harvest the crop, so if you take away two weeks, it makes it harder on our farmers,” Arsenault said.

Arsenault noted there are roughly 175 farmers in New Brunswick and some of them may have to consider selling their land after the rough season.

“Farmers are facing a dilemma of if they want to sell or not,” he said. “How many people are lined up to buy land? It’s a tricky situation for investors. Hopefully they don’t have to get to that point.”

Arsenault said his group is speaking with the government about potential financial compensation for farmers.

“Our farmers are in a very precarious situation right now,” he said. “We thought we were going to have a great year.”

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