A very little bit of research that went nowhere - but interesting

Yesterday evening Rachel mentioned the labor shortage problem that agriculture is facing in Georgia caused by the enactment of a bill that ran 'illegal immigrants' out of the state. It is reported that as much as $1 Billion worth of crops have or may rot in the fields. I have seen several references to the problem this morning too, and one thing they all have in common stuck me as odd. In each of the reports it was mentioned that the Blue Berry crop would be one of those most effected. What stuck me as odd about that statement was that I didn't know Georgia even had a Blue Berry crop. I always thought of Blue Berries as a crop of the cooler north. I had no doubt someone in Georgia was growing Blue Berries, I just couldn't imagine that it was a crop of such import that it would be included in the mention of those contributing to a pending economic disaster for Georgia's farmers.

So I went looking for information on Georgia's Blue Berry crop. After all, if it is significant then my understanding of Blue Berries needs some serious correction. Well, as it turns out Blue Berries are a very small part of Georgia's agricultural output. In fact there are only about 5000 acres devoted to their cultivation in the state. For comparison there are individual farms in the mid-west that grow corn that are larger than Georgia's entire blueberry acreage. And on top of that the report I read said that half of those 5000 acres are located in one county. Hmmmm. I wonder who it is in that one county that grows Blue Berries that is so important as to deserve mention in this Governor-caused disaster for Georgia's farmers? Just seems odd to me.

Little known fact - while Frankenberry and Count Chocula are both European, the Boo-Berry Ghost is in fact a southerner... in fact, when he was alive, he was a high-ranking soldier in the rebel army during the Civil War. He died while on leave defending his plantation, which he had planted blueberries on (which he was personally obsessed with). Now he haunts his descendents making sure that they continue to grow blueberries, not only for his cereal but also for regular consumption.

That ought to be enough new info for you to find out who it is.

TlalocW - Hasn't had his morning cereal yet so some of this info may be suspect

Blueberries produce a dense crop with a high value. Corn produces very little profit per acre compared to blueberries. Blueberries are long-lived bushes where corn requires intensive efforts to plant, weed, and so forth every year. Blueberries are worth something like ten times as much per pound as corn.

Blueberry picking and packing is highly automated. Can't imagine what they're talking about.

through northern Minnesota with all the pine trees I saw.
Was very surprised. Blueberries grow wild in Minnesota...........

Whole families will go in search of the berries however
they need to watch for the bears that like to pick them also

Mostly the "you pick" type - one is down the road from us and during the season they have a sign out on the side of the highway. Many people have blueberry bushes in their yards and blueberries grow wild around here. A friend south of Tallahassee bought some undeveloped property and there were a lot of wild blueberry bushes on it. About this time of year you can go out to her place and fill a large bucket with blueberries in less than an hour.

We have a few bushes, but if they produce berries, the deer and birds get them before we ever see them.