PORTLAND, Maine (AP) _ A University of Maine scientist says the volume of this year's wild blueberry crop in Maine was slightly behind recent trends.
Horticulture professor David Yarborough says the harvest is likely less than 90 million pounds, and possibly as low as 85 million.
Recent years have yielded about 90 million pounds per year, and the 2014 total was 104 million. That was the second-highest total on record.
Yarborough says this year's cold spring weather wasn't optimal for bees to pollinate the blueberries. The berries also suffered from die-off during the winter months and a dry summer.
The 2015 wild blueberry harvest is finished for the year in Maine and wrapping up in Canada. The wild ``low bush'' blueberries are only harvested commercially in Maine and eastern Canada.