In this episode of “The Business of Blueberries,” host Kasey Cronquist, president of the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council (USHBC) and the North American Blueberry Council (NABC), is joined by two blueberry growers who are also members of our USHBC BerrySmart Technology Task Force: Paul Macrie of Macrie Bros. Blueberry Farms and Noel Sakuma of Sakuma Brothers. One of the highlights of The Blueberry Convention last February was showcasing the new technologies being developed for blueberry growers. Together, these industry stakeholders share their perspectives on upcoming technology for blueberry producers. 

“As far as technologies and groups of people kind of coming together to make positive change for our industry, I would say the pollination category is doing a very good job at seeing the problems that are here and kind of trying to address them. … I think that we really need to figure out how to get them into fields and get people to get firsthand access to the technology, and to get researchers more involved with this whole project.” - Noel Sakuma

 Topics covered include: 

• An introduction to Macrie and Sakuma. 
• A discussion of the advances being explored on BerrySmart Farms. 
• A look at the topics being addressed by the BerrySmart Technology Task Force. 

Crop Report

The Blueberry Crop Report is an update on crop conditions and markets throughout important blueberry growing areas. Today you’ll hear from TJ Hafner in Oregon, Jason Smith in British Columbia and Brody Schropp in Michigan. This was recorded on August 2, 2023.