Trials Give Hope to Blackberry Production

Chris Torres
Staff Writer

MANHEIM, Pa. — With its lack of cold hardiness, blackberries have always been a difficult fruit to grow in Pennsylvania.

But that doesn’t mean you should forget about it altogether.

Tim Elkner, an extension educator from Lancaster County, has been growing blackberries with some moderate success here at Penn State’s Southeast Agriculture Research and Extension Center.

He shared his experiences at a Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA) field day held last week.

Elkner attended a meeting in Arkansas several years ago, where he gathered information on various varieties of blackberries and decided he wanted to do a trial of his own close to home.

After receiving the necessary funding, he started the trial in 2005, with 13 different varieties of blackberries.

Results were mixed, as seen in Elkner’s report that was handed out to the 30 or so attendees at the meeting.

He judged each variety based on its thorniness, cold hardiness, vigor and other factors, including it’s susceptibility to Japanese beetles.

In the end, the best variety appeared to be the “Illini Hardy”, which was developed several years ago by the University of Illinois to withstand cold temperatures. It withstood winter cold better than any other variety and also had high yields. The main drawback is its thorniness, which on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being lowest, 5 being highest) Elkner gave a 4.9.

Compared to the other varieties, the Illini Hardy proved to be the most consistent one, at least when judged by Elkner.

Some varieties yielded well but didn’t withstand the cold, while others withstood the cold but didn’t have good yields.

Elkner urged growers to think about their situation before they dive right into blackberries. Kathy Demchak, senior extension associate at Penn State, who also spoke at the meeting, noted she has had little or no success growing blackberries at the Rock Springs research farm near State College, Pa.

The next part of the project will look at winter survival and how temperature fluctuations affect emergence in the spring and summer.

Demchak spent most of the morning discussing what’s she’s seen in raspberry and black raspberry fields so far this growing season.

Orange rust, a disease that results in the spread of orange or brown-like spores on leaves, has been the biggest issue she has seen so far. Once it invades a planting, it’s hard to get rid of.

“If you see symptoms of orange rust, the entire plot is infected,” Demchak said. “The only thing to do is to get rid of it.”

Prevention, she said, is the best way to deal with orange rust. Start with clean plants and keep them away from wild raspberry plants. Wild brambles, she said, tend to carry the disease and spread it.

If a plant is infected, dig it out, along with the entire area around it.

Japanese beetles, she said, have been a big problem as well. Unfortunately, she said, there isn’t much available to stop these invasive critters from destroying an entire planting.

Milky spore, which is injected into the ground to kill off the beetle larvae in the spring, is expensive and takes years to achieve its full effect.

She doesn’t recommend traps as she said it actually attracts more beetles, making a bad situation potentially worse.

The meeting also covered issues with high tunnel raspberry production.
Demchak has used high tunnels with success at the Rock Springs farm. She noted the use of high tunnels at the farm has led to longer growing seasons and higher yields.

Controlled irrigation is also a benefit.

But high tunnels may not be for everyone.

The cost to get one going is high, anywhere between $30,000 and $40,000 for a 24-foot wide tunnel.

Since the growing season can be extended using a high tunnel, she said growers should be aware of the challenge of balancing a summer and fall crop.

If done right though, having a high tunnel can be profitable. According to Demchak, based on a raspberry yield of 10,000 pounds per acre and prices ranging anywhere between $1.50 and $3 a pound, profits can range between $21,000 and $35,000.