WHITEHALL, Mich. — West Michigan fruit farmers have seen a change in this summer’s blueberry crop due to the region’s changing climate.
A study published by Michigan State University Extension found an early arrival of spotted wing drosophila and anthracnose fruit rot.
Typically blueberry crops have signs of infection in mid-August but frequent storms, like the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl, have impacted crops. Rain water washes away pesticides, leaving berries vulnerable to spotted wing drosophila and anthracnose fruit rot.
“With this kind of weather conditions we spray, and actually the insecticide is washed off all the plants and we have to reapply the insecticide,” said small fruit educator Carlos Garcia-Salazar.
Increasing the amount of times pesticides are applied can prevent crops from becoming infected. This method has been practiced at West Michigan farms like Palmer Blueberry Farm in Whitehall.
“We used to plan week by week but because of the rain now we actually had to plan day by day,” said Linda Palmer Soraruf, owner of Palmer Blueberry Farm.
This method allowed Soraruf to have a successful blueberry crop this season.
“We’ve navigated through that,” she said. “We still have a lot of good berries for people to come out and pick.”