From the field: black raspberry harvest

Black raspberry harvest 8 June 2013, Jackson Springs NC.

So, after a long wet couple of days, we had a large harvest of black raspberries in Christine's black raspberry trial (see earlier post http://teamrubus.blogspot.com/2013/05/black-raspberry-research-in-nc-and-or.html). Each of these little jewels weighs about 1 gram, and each of these are gallon sized bags. So if there are 3 kg in a gallon, that would mean they (Christine, and her crew of 2) picked 14 bags X 3000 g = 42,000 berries in one day? (UPDATED DATA ABOVE, 1 gallon bag weighed less than we thought)

Managing (?) older plantings of raspberries and blackberries

In our raspberry trials in the NC mountains, where raspberries are adapted and are capable of producing good crops, we have seen productivity decline after the 5th year of fruit production. While in the peidmont areas, we see a dramatic decline in the 2nd year of fruit production of raspberries (they are not adapted to the region). Blackberries on the other hand, tend to be more adapted and will live longer in most regions of the state. However, how long they will last is not known. In North Carolina and other states in the Southern US a recent rise in acreage of blackberries occurred in the past few years and as these plantings age, we need to monitor them to determine how long they will be productive both in terms of fruit and profits.

In the southern US, heat, drought, insects, diseases, if not controlled can take their toll on the productivity of a blackberry and raspberry field. Likewise, plant and soil health needs to be monitored in order to provide a plant with optimal nutrition.  Because this is a fairly new industry, we don't have long term experiences with the crop, however, below are a list of things to think about and address as needed as your plantings age.

Observation of annual growth. Growers should keep good records of individual fields and compare productivity from year-to-year. In addition to yield records, the plants health can be monitored by looking number of canes/plant, cane diameter,  and number of fruiting laterals. You do not need to count each of these, but a picture taken at the same spot in the field each year could help you identify any issues.

Diseases and insects. There is a long list of diseases that can negatively impact  blackberry or raspberry plant health.  In fields that are lightly managed, I most often see cane blight and viruses, and borers negatively impact productivity. 

Weeds. Perennial weeds harder to control over time and annual weeds will compete with crop. Both will impact productivity if left unchecked.

Fertility. There is no known long term research for caneberry fertility in the southern US. However, routine soil and plant tissue samples will help you determine needs and adjustments. Tissue samples should be taken each year and sent for evaluation. In NC, samples should be taken after fruit harvested from the plants. Leaves from the 3-5th node of the primocane plant should be taken and sent to NCDA and they will make recommendations for the following season. Keep your records so you can see if there are trends in your fields. Below are the recommended levels of macro and micronutrients.

Yield and prifitabilty. Good yield records for each field should be taken every year. A simple comparison each year will be your most useful indicator of planting productivity over time. Based on a budget developed at NC State University, when a grower is getting $14/flat, a 10% reduction in yield, their returns fall from $6036 to $4359/acre (see blue font below). You can get a copy of this budget and play with the inputs (any boxes that are blue can be edited).  http://ncsu.edu/enterprises/blackberries-raspberries/management/blackberry-raspberry-budgets-pricing/

Estimated Returns per Acre for Commercial Blackberry Production
for Varying Yields and Wholesale Prices per Flat.  Total yield 19,000lbs/acre, 80% marketable, so net of 15,200 marketable lbs/acre.
	Wholesale Market ($/flat)	Marketable Flats per Acre
		1,621	2,027	2,533	3,040	3,648
	$8.96	($8,173)	($7,533)	($6,732)	($5,932)	($4,971)
	$11.20	($4,542)	($2,993)	($1,058)	$878	$3,200
	$14.00	($2)	$2,682	$6,036	$9,390	$13,415
	$16.80	$4,538	$8,356	$13,129	$17,902	$23,629
	$20.16	$9,986	$15,166	$21,641	$28,116	$35,887

Estimated Returns per Acre for Commercial Blackberry Production
for Varying Yields and Wholesale Prices per Flat. Total yield is 17,100 lbs/acre, 80% marketable yield, so net of $13,600 lbs/acre.
	Wholesale Market ($/flat)	Marketable Flats per Acre¹
		1,459	1,824	2,280	2,736	3,283
	$8.96	($8,429)	($7,853)	($7,133)	($6,412)	($5,548)
	$11.20	($5,161)	($3,767)	($2,025)	($283)	$1,807
	$14.00	($1,075)	$1,340	$4,359	$7,377	$11,000
	$16.80	$3,011	$6,447	$10,743	$15,038	$20,193
	$20.16	$7,914	$12,576	$18,403	$24,231	$31,224

NARBA 2013 Pre-conference tour

In the picture above, taken at the NWREC, canes are trained in an "Arc-Cane" to the I trellis. This is the type of system that is used for their fields that are mechanically harvested. 

Last week the North American Raspberry and Blackberry Association (NARBA) held it annual meeting in Portland, OR. Prior to the meeting, Drs. Chad Finn and Bernadine Strik took 3 busloads of berry enthusiasts to the North Willamette Research and Extension Center (NWREC) and local farms.  We took a look at several research trials including an organic blackberry trial that is part of a large federally funded OREI grant, an organic blueberry trial, and Dr. Finns strawberry and caneberry breeding trials. More on the tours in a later post, for now, here are some amazing stats...

Collectively Oregon, Washington and British Columbia (Canada), produce most of the processed caneberries you eat in your jams, jellies, yougurts, ice cream and as those whole frozen berries.  Most of the raspberry production is in Washington and British Columbia, while Oregon has more blackberry production.

According to National Agricultural Statistics Service, in Oregon in 2011 there were:

1,200 acres of red raspberries, valued at $6,400,000. The majority of the production (5,000,000 lbs) was used for processing.

1,100 acres of black raspberries, valued at $5,510,000. The vast majority of this crop is also used in the processing industry.

There are 7,900 acres of blackberries, and about half (4,000 acres) are Marion(black)berries, the primary variety used for processing. The value of the blackberry crop in OR is $43,000,00.

Marionberry has been the primary blackberry used for the processing market for many years. However, the new cultivar, from Dr. Finns program, Black Diamond, is increasing in popularity.

Meet 'Von', a new thornless blackberry

'Von' thornless erect blackberry.

‘Von’ is the first erect thornless floricane-fruiting blackberry to be released from the NC State University caneberry breeding program.  ‘Von’ is named after Harvey Von Underwood, who was a Researcher at NC State University. Mr. Underwood worked at NC State University muscadine and bramble breeding program in the 1950’s-70’s and was responsible for saving valuable germplasm from those programs.

'Von' was selected by Jim Ballington in 1998 as tested as NC 430. We have been evaluating 'Von'   at the Mountain Research Station in Laurel Springs, the Moutain Hort Crops Research and Extension Center in Mills River and at the Piedmont Research Station in Salisbury, NC. Dr. Penny Perkins-Veazie conducted extensive post harvest evaluation of 'Von' since her arrival at NCSU in 2009.

Here are some key attributes of 'Von':

• In a replicated trial at the Piedmont Research Station in Salisbury NC, total yield of ‘Von’ was 12,017 g/plant (24063 lbs/acre).

• In that same trial, marketable yield of ‘Von’ was 10,704 g/plant (21,434 lbs/acre). 

• Fruit of ‘Von’ is medium size  (6.6 g) has smaller drupelet and seed size compared to other cultivars.

• ‘Von’ produces fruit in the late season, with average date of harvest commencing in the third week of June, peaking in the second week of July and ending the first week of August. 

• ‘Von’ has a marketable post harvest score of 90.6, which is as good or better than the leading commercial cultivars.

• Soluble sugars content of ‘Von’ was 9.4% and pH was 3.57, traits that characterize ‘Von’ as sweet with low acid. 

I will be posting a list of nurseries that will be propagating 'Von' later this year. 

For list of nurseries propagating Von go to
http://teamrubus.blogspot.com/2013/09/nursery-list-for-von-blackberry.html

Natchez overcropping?

Rows of Natchez (left) and Ouachita (right) blackberries, June 2012.

As blackberries are ripening across the SEUS, some questions about  Natchez are 'cropping' up. In the picture above, the two rows look dramatically different, in particular, here are a few things to note:

Natchez:

- Has lots of red fruit, very few leaves on the floricanes and essentially no primocanes. 

Ouachita:

- Abundant fruit (harder to see),  abundant leaves on floricanes and primocanes are emerging above the canopy. 

Here are some of my thoughts and things you need to think about.

- Leaves are the primary source of food (sugars/carbohydrates) for plants   

- If there are not enough leaves, the fruit will not have the sugars/carbs it needs to fully ripen. (Viticulturalists long ago determined a certain number of leaves are needed to ripen a cluster of grapes)

- Natchez produces very large fruit and plants can produce large yields.

- However, sometimes it makes TOO much fruit. 

- This could be alleviated with special pruning in the dormant season? 

- Although no one has done any studies that I know of, one suggestion for next year is to make sure that when you prune laterals in the winter, you do not leave them too long. We recommend 12-18, so for Natchez, so, I would suggest you try to prune to the shorter part of that recommendation. That will reduce your crop load.

What will happen to the fruit in the picture above? Only time will tell, but likely the fruit will not be able to ripen fully, what does get ripe will be not very sweet (tart?). AND the crop next year may be reduced because there are no primocanes emerging.

Ouachita looks great and should produce a nice crop. 

Blackberry tipping

Now is the time to tip your primocanes. The arrow shows the point were the cane was tipped. Tipping means that you only need to use your fingers to remove the top of the cane. This results in a smaller wound and will be less likely result in diseases entering this area (see earlier posts on Cane Blight). If you need to use pruners, you will need to apply a fungicide afterwards.

Two ovals show where the axillary buds below the tip are starting to elongate. Instead of having just one cane to produce fruit, you now will have 2 branches.

For floricane-fruiting blackberries, you should be tipping them about 6" below the top wire. This will enable you to redirect the growth in a "horizontal direction" and increase your fruiting area for next year. I use "" around horizontal because the canes are growing vertically in this picture and will do so in your field. Later in the year, they will start to bend over and will form the framework for next years fruiting laterals, and be more or less horizontal with some strategic training.

For primocane-fruiting types, we have found that tipping them at about 3-4 ft., will result in higher yields. We have yield data and a published paper that shows all this data, however, validation in the field is always great. Last week I was visiting a grower that had some Prime-Ark 45. He tipped some plants (on my recommendation) and did not tip some, just to see what happened. He told me last week, yields were much better when the plants were tipped. The picture above is from his field, where all plants were recently tipped.

Also see last years post on this subject:
http://teamrubus.blogspot.com/2011/05/blackberry-pinchingtipping-vs-pruning.html

Blackberry Yield Data

Growers that had hail damage to their blackberry crop this spring are trying to estimate their crop losses. I have been asked to provide recent yield data. We collected this data at the Piedmont Research Station from 2008-2010. Table 1 is our actual data, Table 2 is converted to yield per acre based on our original plant density.

I realize that the plants fill in the rows after you plant and that it may be hard to figure out how many plants there are per acre. However, for our purposes it is easier to present yield per plant based on the original planting density, e.g. plants were set 4 ft apart in the row and rows are 12 ft apart. This would be the equivalent of 907 plants per acre.  Keep in mind that there can be distortion of data as we multiply up from our 20 plants to 907. Your plant density may have been different and this will change the yield/acre. In addition, actual grower yields may be higher or lower and may vary due to trellis type, year to year yield variations, and other production practices.

Sorry about the quality of the print, pasting tables into blogger is not that easy. Contact me if you want a copy of this data in PDF form.