Wild Blueberry Technical
Assistance Curriculum
David Yarborough, the University of Maine
Outline for Today
• Overview of TAA
• Where am I?
• Where do I want to be?
• How can I get there?
National TAA Technical
Assistance Website
http://www.agrisk.umn.edu/taa
• A one-stop site for Extension’s Technical
•
•
Assistance effort
Host for all training materials and
presentations for each commodity
120 page printed version provided to growers
Blueberry Production North America
250
200
150
100
50
0
93
94
95
96
Million pounds Maine
97
98
Canadian
99
00
Cultivated
01
02
03
Wild Blueberry Production and Price
Maine Process Market
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
93
94
95
96
Million pounds Maine
97
98
Field Price
99
00
01
02
03
The Future of Wild Blueberries
Competition from Cultivated blueberries and Canada will continue
Prices will be similar or less for the processed berries
Increases in production to reduce production costs per pound
will be necessary to stay competitive
Investment in improved production and eliminating practices
that give poor returns will be necessary
Alternatives such as fresh market, value added or organic
production need to be considered
Evaluating Financial Viability
Three Major Financial Objectives
• Solvency to track changes in net worth
• Profitability to monitor earnings
• Liquidity to estimate cash flow
Evaluating Financial Viability
Adding up the Evidence
• Financial analysis may reveal problems but
may not point to specific solutions
• Understanding your financial position is key
to evaluating what specific adjustment will
work for you
• Remainder of the TAA Technical Assistance
materials will help you dig deeper into those
options
Inventory of
Resources and Talents
Factors Affecting the Future Direction
of Your Business
•
•
•
What you want to do (your goals)
What is happening within the industry
Your skills, resources, interests, and talents
This presentation help ask a number of questions to
help you evaluate your skills, resources and talents.
Inventory of
Resources and Talents
Summary
•
Are your skills, resources, interests, and talents well
matched with your prospective business plan? If not:
– Look for educational opportunities to improve your
skills, or
– Consider alternative business plans.
Options to Improve Profitability
There are four general options available
to increase profits:
• Improve the profit margin
• Expand the business
• Create innovative alternatives
• Exit/transition to new business or job
Goals
Summary
• Goal setting is especially important for family
•
•
farms and small businesses because of
family and business interrelationships
Goals give structure to the management and
decision-making process
Reviewing and revising goals as a family
should be an annual part of the business
management routine
Blueberry Enterprise Budget Fact Sheet No. 260
UMCE No. 2016
On web at http://www.wildblueberries.maine.edu in fact sheet
section or paper copy at your County Cooperative Extension
Office
Budgets list the costs and returns of production to help you
make wise management decisions
Reducing pruning costs
By mowing and
Harvest cost by
Mechanical harvesting
Reduced cost of production
From $0.39 to $0.26 per pound
Increasing fertilizer, herbicides,
Pollination and fungicides
improved the yield from 2197
to 4123 lb/a
Grower reduced land from 500
to 400 acres to improve
efficiency
Uses for the Enterprise Budget
Identifying the costs and returns in your operation will help you direct
your resources where they will provide the best return.
Identifying fields that lose money and removing them from production
will improve the return for your operation.
It is not only the cost but what return you get for it that is important.
The Production Efficiency segment will focus on identifying the best
production practices to improve the efficiency of your wild blueberry
operation.
Improving Production Efficiency
Reducing the costs of inputs only part of the process
Identifying and investing in the inputs that give you the best return
Preventing loss of insect or disease protects your investment
Improving Production Efficiency
Maine production vs acres, hives and irrigated acres
80
Acres
Harvest(5 yr average) x million
Hives x 1000
Irrigated acres X 1000
60
40
20
0
1980
1990
2000
Quality Introduction
Five Factors You Can Control to improve quality
There are five factors you can control.
1. Raking
2. Winnowing
3. Tote Color and Filling
4. Holding time
5. Holding Temperature
Market Alternatives- Introduction
99% of Maine blueberries sold to processors
Increased return from:
Cooperatives
Fresh market
Direct Market
Pick your own
Value Added
Organic production
Diversify Products
Market Alternatives
Develop alternative markets or enterprises
Need to consider marketing alternatives to processor
sales or diversify in order to increase income for your wild
blueberry enterprise.
Program Results
Survey was sent following the blueberry harvest in late
summer of 2004 to 91 producers
Of the 91 surveys sent, 50 were returned for a 55%
response rate
Percentage of Surveys Returned
100
80
60
91
40
50
20
0
Surveys Sent
Surveys Returned
Program Results
Of the 50 respondents, 33 received their Technical
Assistance Training in group meetings or counties were
group meetings were held and 16 in smaller sessions or
one-on-one.
Type of Assistance
40
30
20
33
10
10
7
0
Workshop
Individual Meeting
Other
Program Results
Asked to rate the usefulness of the information they received (1 being low and
5 being excellent), only three producers said the information was of little or no
value. The remainder, 43 producers, rated the TA information average or
above in terms of its usefulness with thirteen rating it at 5, the highest rating.
Usefulness of Assistance
20
15
19
10
13
11
5
3
0
1's
0
2's
3's
4's
5's
Program Results
Conclusion
This financial assistance and training provided to Maine
wild blueberry growers will give them the educational
resources to produce a wild blueberry crop that will be
competitive with Canadian wild blueberries and other
cultivated blueberries produced in North America.