Thanks for the opportunity to be here today.
I represent about 630 growers in Nova Scotia as the executive director of the growers association. First, I want to highlight a little about our industry before I talk about some of our challenges.
We are a unique industry. Throughout the world, wild blueberries are only grown commercially in the state of Maine and the provinces of Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. That's where our blueberries are grown. The bulk of our crop is cleaned and individually quick-frozen within 24 hours of harvest. This fruit is shipped around the world, mainly into the ingredient market—think yogourts, jams and so on. Nova Scotia, in particular, is around 15% of the total wild blueberry industry, but the largest processor, Oxford Frozen Foods, is based in Nova Scotia.
It's an extremely unique crop, as the fields are not planted. Rather, naturally occurring stands of plants have evolved in our climate, and these ecosystems are managed by our farmers. This means there is an abundance of plant biodiversity within every field. Farmers don't breed or select varieties. They manage the existing stands that have developed over hundreds or even thousands of years.
It's a long-term perennial crop. Some existing fields have currently been in production for over 70 years. It's managed as a two-year production cycle. Fields are mowed off to the ground in the fall after harvest. The next year, they grow vegetatively. The second year is when the fruit is produced.
Our industry has challenges similar to those of other horticultural crops: access to labour and increasing input costs. However, we have some unique challenges with subtle nuance in our industry.
We compete on the world market against the highbush blueberry—which is grown year-round in multiple countries around the world—and, of course, other fruit. Increases in highbush blueberry or European bilberry production can affect our market price here at home.
The nature of our crop doesn't allow for some common on-farm adjustments like crop rotation because we are a long-term perennial crop. As a matter of fact, we've run into climate change issues that are impacting us. Spring frost, exposed winters with low snow cover, excessive summer rains and periodic droughts have all impacted production in the last 10 years. Support for climate change adaptation is a strong priority in our industry and something we greatly encourage.
Consistency of production has also slowed market development, partly due to climate change impacts. It is part of the reason for our variable on-farm returns. Funding for applied research is needed. Our crop is only grown in northeastern North America, so that work has to be done here.
Fluctuating returns for growers have slowed on-farm development and investment. Farm-gate prices have gone from $1.12 a pound to 35¢ a pound in the last three years. Farm-gate pricing has always been very volatile. It highlights the importance of a robust business risk management program that needs to level out returns and allow for growth in our industry.
Pollination is a critical component of our industry. If we don't have access to reliable pollination services, our yields will fluctuate as well. A reliable supply of honeybees and complimentary pollinators such as bumblebees and leaf-cutter bees is very critical to our industry.
We have a lot of opportunities in our industry. All blueberries are extremely healthy when part of a regular diet. There's a significant amount of peer-reviewed data that shows this, much of which our industry has funded. Wild blueberries are smaller fruit and tend to have more concentrated anthocyanin, the beneficial compound. It's the one thing we like to leverage in our industry.
Wild blueberries are very sustainable and have a low carbon footprint compared with some other crops, because it's a long-term perennial crop with no soil tillage and it's only on a two-year production cycle. We also have a very good taste profile because of the amalgamation of a lot of different varieties within a crop.
Market differentiation is really critical in our industry for finding niche markets around the world where customers are going to be interested in buying our product. We highlight taste, health, environmental sustainability and the impact of our crops. Support for international market development is critical to the success of our industry.