Age of Michigan Blueberry Pantings

Michigan was one of the first states to have commercial blueberries plantings. The Michigan Blueberry Industry developed due to the efforts of Dr. Stanley Johnson, at the MSU South Jersey Blueberries

Haven Experimental Farm. He was looking for a profitable crop for the area's, sandy glacial soils with high water tables and acid soil pHs. In 1936, Dr. Johnson helped organize the Michigan Blueberry Growers Association. By 1950, there were about 2,200 acres of blueberries in Michigan. Today, Michigan is the number one state in highbush blueberry production with 18,500 acres. Over 8,000 of those acres were planted thirty years ago.

In fruit crops plantings need to be replaced as the plants age and fruitfulness declines. In peaches orchards are replaced every 10 to 15 years, tart cherries are replaced when they reach about 20 years in age. Apples and blueberries should be replaced when the cost of maintaining high vigor and fruitfulness decreases the income from the field so that it is less than a younger mature field.

Blueberry varieties by age and acreage in 2003
Variety	Planted before 1973	1974 to 1983	1983 to 1993	1993 to 2003	Michigan Total	Change Since 1994
Berkeley	120	9	7	10	145	-35
Bluecrop	1,580	1,400	1,640	410	5,030	400
Bluejay	30	54	166	11	280	50
Blueray	265	52	95	28	440	-160
Bluetta	78	41	45	1	165	-25
Brigitta	0	0	2	63	65	63
Burlington	75	43	37	20	175	15
Collins	43	16	5	1	65
Coville	37	11	7	0	55	0
Duke	0	2	138	220	360	140
Earliblue	44	14	8	4	70	-20
Elliott	51	357	860	762	2,030	710
Jersey	4,770	1,580	690	150	7,190	-240
Nelson	0	0	7	83	90	65
Northland	3	54	38	30	125	25
Patriot	0	11	40	9	60	-80
Pemberton	58	7	5	0	70
Rancocas	100	43	12	0	155	-5
Rubel	1.210	230	167	53	1,660	60
Spartan	6	32	27	5	70	-20
Weymouth	36	9	5	0	43	-7
Others*	74	14	29	33	167	-13
Total	8,580	3,980	4,030	1,910	18,500	700
* Concord, Stanley and are included in Others

Created: December 23, 2004