SALEM, Ore. — Oregon’s berry crop is high quality despite unusual weather this season, according to crop consultant Tom Peerbolt.
Record winter rain was followed by unseasonable heat and stretches of cool days, The Capital Press reported. The weather swings caused berries and many other crops to mature about two weeks earlier than usual.
“The earliness of everything has thrown everybody off center a bit,” said Peerbolt, co-owner of Peerbolt Crop Management in Portland with his wife, Anna. “It’s hard on logistics when everything comes at once.”
Oregon ranks first nationally in blackberry production, third in raspberries and strawberries, and fourth in blueberries and cranberries.
Oregon’s premier type of blackberry, the Marion, is traditionally harvested the day after the Fourth of July holiday. This year, it will likely start about two weeks earlier than that, according to Peerbolt.
