In 2017, Maine exported nearly 2 million pounds of blueberries to China. The trade disputes have cha

[jpak]

In 2017, Maine exported nearly 2 million pounds of blueberries to China. The trade disputes have changed that.

https://bangordailynews.com/2018/07/26/homestead/maine-blueberry-industry-expected-to-be-affected-by-trade-disputes/

Most of the news stories about farmers negatively affected by President Donald Trump’s trade disputes with China and other trading partners have been focused on big Midwestern producers of agricultural commodities such as soybeans and pork.

But here in Maine, growers of wild blueberries, a locally iconic but much smaller industry, have also felt the ripple effects of the tariffs. In 2017, the state exported nearly 2 million pounds of wild blueberries to China, according to Nancy McBrady, the executive director of the Wild Blueberry Commission of Maine. So far this year, Maine has exported only 75,398 pounds of the fruit.

“We had really been seeing some positive movement, and this round of trade disputes has thrown some cold water on that,” she said Tuesday. “We’re not soybeans. We’re not pork producers from the midwest. [But] it is still a sizeable market and one that we had hoped to grow. This escalating trade war is unfortunate.”

After the president increased tariffs, or import taxes, on billions of dollars in Chinese goods in a dispute over Beijing’s high-tech industrial policies, China retaliated with duties on American commodities. On Tuesday, the United States Department of Agriculture announced a $12 billion plan to assist farmers who have been hurt in the trade disputes.

<more>

[NCTraveler]

1. I wonder if this is by blueberries have been bogo at my local grocer for over a month. nt

[seleff]

2. Commercial Wild Blueberries in the US?

For years I’ve spent summers in Latvia where forest blueberries and mushrooms (chanterelles and bollettes) are collected and sold in open air markets. I didn’t know the forest berries were grown commercially in the US. Doubt that you would see them in chain grocery stores. Maybe the’ll find US markets.

[eShirl]

4. They're not forest blueberries, they grow out on open barrens.

They're native to North America.

[Achilleaze]

9. Go out on Maine's Blueberry Barrens at harvest time

and the air is rich with fruitful fragrances. There's no comparison between wild bluebs and the cultivated bluebs. Make mine wild every time.

Now the republicans are out to destroy that, too. Is this something else the kremlin is paying them off to do to help further weaken America?

[GoCubsGo]

8. Lucky you.

I have been waiting for the price of blueberries to come down in my area for weeks. No such luck. I'm paying more for them than I did this time last year. It's pretty amazing, actually. I have been reading and hearing stories about how there's all this meat sitting unsold in meat lockers, which will probably be turned into pet food. Yet, they're still charging an arm and a leg for it in the grocery stores. Pet food hasn't gotten any cheaper, either. The same with the produce. One would think that, if there was such a glut due to them being unable to export their products, that they'd dump it all on the American market, lowering the prices here. I haven't seen it, yet. The only exception has been cherries. I rarely see them under $2/lb. here, except for maybe one week out of the summer. But, they've been around that for at least three or four weeks now.

[markses66]

3. Maine farmers need to determine if their Senators (yes, both of them) are doing enough

to block Trump's insane trade policies. They should then look to their governor for assistance. They elected an insane Trumper twice, after all.

What is Bruce Poliquin doing, other than issuing statements about lobsters?

If they don't like it, they can vote the trash out of office and put real curbs on Trump's catastrophic and ignorant trade philosophy. Otherwise, lose your farm or get on the dole.

[workinclasszero]

5. So much winning

[KT2000]

6. Washington cherries too

the smaller players are totally left out.

from Yo Momma Been Loggin' https://www.democraticunderground.com/10827900

[joshcryer]

7. Some guy in some "shithole country" right now is jumping for joy over this.

And are ordering blueberry seeds as I type.