RAYMOND, Miss. -- This year, Julie Bounds was expecting a bumper crop of blueberries. What she could not anticipate was the excess amount of rainfall her family’s blueberry farm would receive.

“In the last few years, we’ve had drought and a tornado, so we do have a bigger crop than we’ve had the last couple of years. But we’ve also gotten a lot of rain. We’ve had over 11 inches just this week,” Bounds said on June 17.

Bounds, who runs Bounds Blueberry Farm in Wiggins with her husband Dennis and his brother Robert, pointed out that large amounts of rain at once make the berries softer and not as sweet. It also hinders farmers from getting into the fields to pick their berries, especially if they use mechanical pickers. The Bounds use a mixture of handpicking and mechanical pickers to gather their berries.

This untimely rain has been the biggest challenge for growers across the state, said Eric Stafne, fruit and nut specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service.

“Overall, the crop looks good. The rain has just recently been a problem, mostly in June. We did not have a late freeze so that was good news for our growers,” he said. “The severe cold we had this winter seemed to have no negative effects.”

While high amounts of rain can make conditions more favorable for disease and prevent timely disease treatments, Stafne said he has not seen anything out of the ordinary when it comes to diseases.

Getting the mechanical pickers into the fields is one challenge. The other is getting parts for the machines when they need repairs or maintenance.

“The rain makes it hard to get in and out of the fields, but we also have had problems getting parts and things that we need to fix and maintain the machines,” Bounds said. “It’s not just us. Everyone who grows blueberries is in the same boat.”

Stafne estimates Mississippi has around 800 to 1,000 acres of blueberries, which is down from the 2,500 to 2,000 acres the state had in the mid- to late 2010s. The acreage decline is due to aging out of producers, declining market prices, and farm diversification.

While Stafne noted the industry is in a down cycle, the market for blueberries is good.

“The market has been decent so far this year, and prices have been good,” said Stafne, who is also a researcher with the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station. “We are rapidly approaching the point where prices drop abruptly, though.

“Another reason we’ve seen acreage decrease is that growers are diversifying what they grow and the products they offer,” Stafne said.

Since 1990, Bounds Blueberry Farm has grown from 1.5 acres to 43 acres, with 5 acres of different varieties of blueberries and 5 acres of thornless blackberries. They also grow figs, muscadines and mayhaws. They offer both U-pick and pre-picked produce.

“Our U-pick has been wonderful,” said Bounds of the option they added in 2020 when supply chain issues interrupted the commercial supply portion of their operation. “People love it. They know which variety they want each year. They may not know the name of it, but they can tell me they want the yellow one or the purple one (referring to the tag colors on the bush), and I know which one they want.”

Bounds said she has discovered that people want the experience as much as they want the blueberries and other produce at the farm.

“I had a lady come on Father’s Day weekend who came for blueberries and didn’t realize we also had blackberries,” Bounds said. “But when she heard that, she wanted to pick blackberries too. She said it was something she used to do with her grandfather. Not only did she want the blackberries, but she also wanted to pick them in his honor, she told me.”