South America Will Not Drive Down Prices for Michigan Blueberry Growers

I just had to blog about an article I read on April 6th on mlive and clear up any misconceptions the article might have construed to American readers.

Inaccuracy #1) First, the title, “South American bumper crop of blueberries expected to drive down prices for Michigan farmers” is not true.

Fresh blueberry imports from Chile do not overlap with the production in Michigan. In fact, according to an article in ThePacker, blueberry imports from Chile will be completed by the second week of April. Michigan’s blueberry production will not start until the middle of June. Therefore, their statement that South American imports will drive down Michigan blueberry prices is not true.

Inaccuracy #2) According to Carlos Garcia Salazar, a small fruit specialist for Michigan State Extension Service’s Ottawa County office, “about 150 million tons of blueberries are now in storage nationwide.”

This information is not accurate. According to the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council USHBC cold storage report, there were only 130.9 million tons of frozen blueberries in storage in February. In addition, very little of that fruit is from South America. The majority of the frozen blueberries in storage is from U.S. blueberry producers.

Inaccuracy #3) “One reason why the processed blueberry market is overwhelmed is because of expanded imports from South America.”

In fact, over 80% of South America’s blueberry production is shipped for the fresh market. Although the U.S. remains the primary market for South American fresh blueberry exports, significant volumes are sent to Europe, Asia and many markets in the northern and southern hemispheres.

The article was probably accurate in predicting that prices for Michigan blueberries may be lower than the last few years. However, the article’s claim, that South America imports are “expected to drive down” Michigan’s blueberry prices, is false. If prices do drop for Michigan growers, it will be our own fault. The U.S. has increased its blueberry acreage 90% since 1995. Thus, boosting production.

Economics 101 taught me, if you increase supply significantly, prices will drop. As history tells us, Protectionism is not a good strategy for economic growth and claiming that South America will drive down prices for Michigan blueberry growers is inaccurate and Protectionism rhetoric.