Farmers are no strangers to navigating uncontrollable and often unpredictable headwinds like inclement weather, labor challenges, and escalating costs, to name a few. While these pressures ripple through the entire blueberry supply chain, it’s the grower who absorbs the full impact. As the industry’s national trade association, the North American Blueberry Council (NABC) aims to serve as both a windbreak against those forces and a trusted partner to our growers when the winds are strongest.

Manage Pest With Good Cultural Practices, Proper Monitoring, and Pesticide Applications

Spotted wing drosophila (SWD), Drosophila suzukii, is an invasive pest introduced to Florida in 2009. It is common in all of Florida’s fruit-producing counties, and is active year-round, with peak activity from April to May when the blueberry harvest is highest. Although this is a significant pest of blueberries in Florida, it can be successfully managed with good cultural practices, proper monitoring, and appropriate pesticide applications. 

Evaluating the Damage and Taking Steps Toward Recovery

The freeze event beginning January 31, 2026, was one of the most significant events in many years. Extremely low temperatures and dew points, along with high sustained winds, made freeze protection very difficult in many areas of the state, resulting in significant bloom and fruit damage.

The table below lists suggested blueberry management items for April through June. Suggested management items for the entire calendar year are available in an EDIS publication, Calendar for Southern Highbush Blueberry Management in Florida (https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/HS1363). Specific disease, insect, and weed controls are listed in the 2024 Florida Blueberry IPM Guide (https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/HS380), as well as in subject-specific publications referenced below. Also, a list of all UF EDIS blueberry publications can be found at www.blueberrybreeding.com/blog, along with a summary description and link to each.

Updated Levels Are Lower Than Previously Available Thresholds

It is part of our routine. We collect leaves in the middle of the summer and submit them to a laboratory (like the UF/IFAS Analytical Services Laboratory) to find out how our plants are doing. We get a result back: 1.2% N, 1.5% N, 2.0% N. But what does this mean? Like a doctor taking a patient’s temperature, test results are only meaningful when compared to a reference standard. 104°F is a fever. 97°F is normal. Knowing where the bar is set makes all the difference in how we interpret test results.

Prior to the events of early February, Florida was positioned for a milestone year. Across the state, both evergreen and deciduous crops showed exceptional promise. We were prepared to enter a “hungry” market with high-quality berries and strong volume—momentum that was abruptly challenged by a historic “super-cooling” freeze.

Watch for Botrytis, Anthracnose, Phytophthora, and Stem Blight in Wake of Freeze

TUESDAY FEB. 10TH 9A-11A

Our newest premium variety, FL19-006, now has a name – ‘Sharper.’ The name is

Understanding Blueberry Rest Periods

In most of the state, blueberry bushes take the winter off. Whether they are managed as deciduous or evergreen plants, they do not grow actively during this period. This temporary stop in visible growth is called dormancy. Dormancy is a natural response to internal and external stimuli. Plants have two kinds of dormancies: endodormancy and ecodormancy. Understanding how each one works is important, because together they play a major role in determining when plants resume growth—and ultimately, when we harvest fruit.

The Florida flower thrips (Frankliniella bispinosa Morgan) is primarily a pest of southern highbush blueberries during the bloom period in Florida. Larvae and adults feed on all parts of the flowers (ovaries, styles, petals) and developing fruit. Feeding damage can reduce pollination of the injured blooms, and the subsequent quantity and quality of fruit produced from those blooms. Adult females can also cause indirect injury to fruit when laying their eggs inside flower tissues (Figure 1 c). The newly hatched larvae create holes in the flower tissue when they emerge, resulting in scarring of the fruit. 

Seasonal Insights and Industry Updates 

October 23, 2025
Lakeland, Florida
photos by JESS McDONALD and TYLER DiGIOVINE

There’s an old joke about farmers being outstanding in their fields, and in Florida, it rings true on both counts. I’ll be the first to champion the dedication and perseverance of our growers. The flip side of that joke, of course, is that you’re almost guaranteed to find a farmer literally standing alone in a field. Farming can be a solitary lifestyle much of the time, which makes it all the more important for growers to seek out meaningful connections with their peers. 

BerrySmart Field was established by the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council (USHBC) to ensure emerging technologies are tested, validated and refined on real farms — so growers can make better decisions with less risk. Launched initially in the Pacific Northwest, the program expanded in 2025 to include on-farm deployments in Florida and New Jersey, reflecting USHBC’s commitment to learning across diverse production regions and conditions. Rather than asking individual growers to experiment on their own, BerrySmart Field invests nationally to generate practical, transferable insights that benefit the entire U.S. blueberry industry.

Latest Research and Best Practices to Fight the Disease

“This is the story of Johnny Rotten, It’s better to burn out than it is to rust.” 

Disease

Pesticide Efficacy Hinges on Spray Water pH

Virtually all blueberry fields in Florida are subject to late winter or early spring freezes, which can cause serious reductions in yield. This is a list of activities for freeze preparation. The list was originally published by Mike Mainland in the North Carolina Blueberry News, Vol. 7, No. 1 and has been modified by IFAS faculty and FBGA board members.