By Clint Thompson
The lingering impacts from Hurricane Helene continue to be felt among Georgia’s specialty crop producers. It’s just a matter of how bad for the state’s blueberry producers who are approaching harvest season.
Georgia blueberry grower Johnny Allen estimates that producers should soon know the full extent of the September storm’s impact.
“I don’t think we’ll know until we see how pollination comes out. We’re right in the middle of pollination right now. We’re going to have to wait to see what kind of drop we got, how much we got pollinated,” Allen said. “We’ve just got to watch and see what kind of damage, if there was any damage or how much damage we got concerning the storm. We know the roots got loosened up pretty well, because it’s dropping bushes one side to the other. Some of them, it uprooted, the smaller plants. It’s a wait and see thing, yet.”
Pollination is nearing completion for southern highbush varieties but will last a little longer for rabbiteyes.
“It loosens a lot of roots up, so you just have to wait and see. Is that going to have an impact or not? We’ll be able to tell that when we see them and how much fruit drop we’ve got and that kind of thing,” Allen said.
Initial estimates for the economic impact of Hurricane Helene topped $6 billion, according to totals released by the University of Georgia (UGA) College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES).
Georgia’s blueberry industry suffered a $52 million impact following Hurricane Helene. An additional $150 million impact could also be realized with future quality losses.