Is it Right for Your Site? Climate. Soils. Microclimate. Soils. Water. Berry Crops for Small Acreage Operations 3/8/2011

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1 Berry Crops for Small Acreage Operations Dr. Brent Black Extension Fruit Specialist Utah State University Climate Mid winter cold Mid summer heat Temperature fluctuations Light Wind Length of growing season (FFD) Website: climate.usu.edu Microclimate Soils Soils Water Quality Salinity ph (alkalinity) Availability Irrigation (30 to 40 ) Evaporative cooling? Frost protection??? 1

2 Operational considerations Labor Availability Equipment Needs Capital Investment Background / Experience Market Opportunities Wholesale Pre picked retail Pick Your Own Ask not What can I grow? but What can I sell? Marketing On farm marketing: Proximity to population centers (20 miles) Easy to find (near or on major traffic routes) (nearoron traffic routes) You re selling the experience not the fruit High quality Pleasing environment Don t try to be the low cost leader Raspberry types Summer bearing a.k.a. Floricane fruiting Examples: Meeker, Tulameen, Cowichan, Killarney, Canby C Fall bearing a.k.a. Everbearing, Primocane fruiting Examples: Heritage, Polana, Autumn Britten, Caroline Year 1 Year 2 Raspberry: pruning Summer bearing Remove spent canes Remove small and weak canes Thin out remaining canes Cut back Raspberry: pruning Fall bearing Option 1, Mow everything off Option 2, Cut canes back just below last fruiting node. Leave remaining canes for summer crop. Prune out floricanes after summer crop. Raspberry: floricane cultivars 1 pound per row foot with 10 row spacing is 4,400 lbs/acre 2

3 Raspberry: primocane cultivars Primocane raspberry yields (lbs/foot) average z score grade Joan J A+ Polana B+ Caroline B Polka B Summit B Ruby C Heritage C Jaclyn C Himbo top D+ Anne D 1 pound per row foot with 10 row spacing is 4,400 lbs/acre Raspberry production considerations Root diseases Phytophthora root rot wet feet (resistant varieties) Fungal wilt (Verticillium) Virus diseases Raspberry bushy dwarf virus Stunted growth and crumbly fruit Pollen borne Tomato ringspot Stunted growth and crumbly fruit Nematode vectored Insects Cane borer (raspberry horntail) Crown borers Rose stem girdler Spotted wing drosophila Should I grow them? Blackberry types Advantages Gross income potential 2,000 lbs/acre (2,700 pints) $2.50 per pint pre picked $6,750 Few equipment costs Small tractor? Cultivator/Rototiller Sprayer? Low establishment costs Full production in 3 rd year Consumers love fresh raspberries Disadvantages Labor requirements Hand harvesting Intense season Short harvest season Short shelf life Specific site selection Avoid rocky, clay or alkaline soils Heat tolerance Growth habit Erect Semi erect erect Trailing Stems Thorny Thornless Blackberry hardiness Planting instructions Depends on cultivar Some erect and semi-erect types hardy to -20 F Chester, Triple Crown, Illini Hardy Some erect types less hardy -10 F Cheyenne, Shawnee, Cherokee, Arapaho Trailing types are least hardy (5 to 10 F) Establishment Planted 3 5 apart Rows apart plants/acre $280 per 1000 Will need trellis support 3

4 5 x12 = 726 plants/acre 3 lbs/plant = 2,180 lbs/acre Blackberry yields Blackberry yields (pounds per plant) average grade Triple Crown A+ Doyle's A+ Hull A- Chester B+ Illini Hardy B+ Loch Ness B Ouachita B Arapaho B- Kiowa C+ Navajo C+ Apache C C Prime Jim C Siskyou C Obsidian C Black Diamond C C Prime Jan C C- Marion D+ Metolius D+ Should I grow them? Advantages Gross income potential 2,000 lbs/acre (2,700 pints) $3.00 per pint pre picked $8,100 Few equipment costs Small tractor? Cultivator/Rototiller Sprayer? Low establishment costs Consumer demand Alkaline soil tolerant Disadvantages Labor requirements Hand harvesting Intense season Short harvest season Short shelf life Specific site selection Cold injury Why Strawberries? Matted Row Yields: 6,000 to 20,000 pounds per acre $1.00 to $2.50 per pound PYO $2.00 to $3.50 pre picked $3 picked Attracts customers Spring planted Cold stored dormant plants Low initial plant density 1 2 within row 3 5 row spacing Runners fill in rows Yields related to plant density Matted Row: Plant density Close rows 8 row width Row spacing 3 to 3.5 on centers Typical 18 row width Row spacing 4 to 5 on centers Matted Row: Renovation Narrow rows Mow off leaves Break out old crowns Control weeds Fertilize to stimulate new daughters Throw soil up on to row to invigorate new root formation 4

5 Matted Row: Seasonal cycle Year 1 Plant early spring Establishment fertilizer application Frequent irrigation to promote pegging Cultivation and hand weedingand Fall/winter pre emergent herbicide and mulching Year 2 Early spring remove straw to row middles Post bloom fertilizer application May June crop Summer renovation Late fall mulching and herbicide application Years 3 5 Repeat of year 2 Annual Hill (Plasticulture) Raised beds with plastic mulch and drip irrigation One to two year duration Planted in late summer l Fresh dug bare root??? Plug plants (9/1 in N. Utah) Dormant plants (7/15) Should I grow them? Advantages Gross income potential Equipment costs? Tractor Bed shaper and plastic layer Cultivator/Rototiller Sprayer Ready market Early season Disadvantages Labor requirements Hand harvesting Hand weeding di Intense season Short harvest season Short shelf life California competition Currants and Gooseberries Tolerant of more alkaline ph Very cold hardy ( 30 F) Plant spacing Gooseberries 3 to 4 apart Currants 4 to 5 apart Jostaberries 6 to 8 apart Renewal pruning Ribes: production issues 9 canes for red and white currant, gooseberries, jostaberries 3 first year, 3 second year, 3 third year 12 canes per plant for black currant 6fi first year, 6 second year Production Ribes: production issues First harvest in 4 th year Full production in 6 th year Yields in full production -Red and white currants 10,000 lbs/acre -Black currants 5,500 lbs/acre -Gooseberries 6,000 lbs/acre 5

6 Chokecherry Prunus virginiana Common landscape plant Leaves are poisonous to horses Pits also contain toxins Elderberry Sambucus S. canadensis (American) S. nigra (Black elder) S. cerulea (Blue elderberry) Uses Jelly, syrup, juice, food colorant Toxicity Seeds, leaves and twigs contain toxin Pedicels also contain toxin Honeyberry a.k.a. Edible Honeysuckle Lonicera caerulea var. edulis Cultivars Blue Belle Berry Blue Blue Bird Productive in northeast Utah 6000 elevation, 87 ffd Yield of ½ to ¾ pound per plant in 3 rd year Plant 3 to 4 apart (rows 10 to 12 apart) Goji berry a.k.a. Goji or Wolfberry Lycium barbarum Native to China Hand harvested Sun dried Pendant habit Need trellis Prolonged ripening season Cultivars Crimson star Phoenix tears 33 Serviceberry a.k.a. Juneberry, Saskatoon berry Amelanchier spp. Native to North America Wild fruit seedy and pulpy Very cold hardy Cultivars Thiessen Smoky Pembina Additional information Steve Fouch Benzie County Extension, Michigan Sea buckthorn a.k.a. Sea Berry Hippophae rhamnoides Native to Central Asia Very thorny High in vitamin Cin Very cold hardy Dioecious (male and female plants) Harvest Clip off clusters Freeze and thrash 6