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The Rural Maine Reporting Project is made possible through the generous support of the Betterment Fund.

Maine's wild blueberry harvest declined by 26% last year, USDA report finds

FILE - In this July 30, 2015 file photo, a blueberry harvester makes its way through a field near Appleton, Maine.
Robert F. Bukaty
/
AP
FILE - In this July 30, 2015 file photo, a blueberry harvester makes its way through a field near Appleton, Maine.

Maine's wild blueberry harvest declined by more than 25% last year.

According to a report from the USDA, farmers produced about 78 million pounds of wild blueberries in 2022, a 26 percent drop from 2021. The value of the crop also fell significantly, from about $80 million to $55 million.

Despite the decline, the harvest was still much more robust than it ha\d been in several other recent years. Most farmers described the rainfall conditions last summer as "fair" or "good."