Blueberry Crops Top Peaches in Georgia
GeorgiaBlueberries.org
Over the past few years, a blue fruit has earned Georgia farmers a lot of green.
The Peach State’s most profitable fruit is the blueberry.
According to the Georgia Blueberries Commission, blueberries brought in $94 million for farmers in 2012. That’s triple the amount peaches earned last year.
“We’ll, you know, probably never pass, you know, chickens and some other commodities, but we’re on the road to 100-to-120 million pound crops in Georgia,” says the commission’s chairman Joe Cornelius.
Cornelius says Georgia’s blueberry growing season is from April through July, which is longer than the rest of the U.S.
Other factors are also in Georgia’s favor when it comes to blueberry crops.
“Down in Southeast Georgia, we have prime soil. The climate is, most of the time, workable for the blueberries, you know, between the cool and the hot,” says Cornelius.
Blueberry farming has surged in popularity within Georgia as a number of farmers have moved away from growing tobacco.
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