COLUMBUS, Ohio — The accurate chant might be “The blueberries are coming; the blueberries are coming!” if they weren’t already in place in Ohio – but Ohio State University researchers are working on a multiyear research trial to increase the fruit’s production.

One individual heading up this blueberry effort is Gary Gao, an OSU extension small fruit specialist and associate professor of small fruit crops at the OSU South Centers.

“The demand for blueberries has exploded in recent years because consumers want the tiny, sweet, blue fruit for its many health benefits,” Gao said. “Add to that the increasing consumer demand for more locally grown foods, and growers who add blueberries to their lineup of fruits and vegetables can significantly increase their profit potential.

“A lot of people are looking to buy foods that are grown or produced closer to home because they want to eat healthier, and many see blueberries, for example, as a poster child for healthy foods. Because blueberries also taste very good, it’s easier for people who want to embrace a healthier lifestyle to eat more and more of them.

“So we want to help Ohio growers increase their acres of blueberries to try to get more on par to what growers in neighboring states such as Indiana and Michigan are doing,” he said.

To do that, growing conditions have to be right to cultivate the berries, including fostering the right soil conditions, he said. Expansion of blueberry acreage in Ohio is one of the goals of the two-year, $60,000 blueberry project, which is funded with a USDA specialty crop block grant through the Ohio Department of Agriculture.

The grant allows Gao and his colleagues to work on revitalizing Ohio’s current blueberry plantings, to get more growers to add blueberries to their fields to expand blueberry production and to extend the state’s growing season for blueberries using various techniques, including high tunnels.

“Some studies say the use of high tunnels can improve blueberry yields by as much as 50 percent, and we want to see if that is the case here in Ohio,” he said.

One of the main goals for the project, in terms of acreage expansion, is to double Ohio blueberry acreage in 3-5 years.

“Ohio has only about 378 acres of blueberry production, which is very small in comparison to other states,” Gao said. “But the problem is, blueberries are much more difficult to grow than other small fruits in Ohio because they require very acidic soil, which is not natural to the state. However, many years of blueberry research at Ohio State have shown that blueberries can be successfully grown in Ohio.”

Can any grower get involved? Not so fast, Gao warns.

“A new grower can plant two-year-old blueberry plants and can harvest a crop the year after,” he said. “Some nurseries sell three-year-old plants, which are more expensive. It is hard to know if that approach will work, since growers are supposed to remove fruits in the year of planting; however, there has not been much study on the benefits of using older plants and if it is necessary to remove fruits in the year of planting, when planting older plants.

“I would still encourage perspective growers to do their homework though before they get into this ‘gold rush.’”

Although blueberries are more challenging to grow in the region, the return on investment is well worth the effort, Gao said. For example, a grower who produces 3,000 pounds of blueberries per acre (which is about average for Ohio) and earns $5 a pound can see $15,000 per acre in gross revenue. That compares to the $8,000-$10,000 per acre needed for a new grower to get started, which includes soil preparation, blueberry bushes, irrigation setup, materials and labor.

Drawbacks to growing blueberries are few, Gao said. Birds and soil status are key concerns.

“One of the biggest challenges is birds,” he pointed out. “Bird love blueberries and can sometimes clean up berries from a planting. Netting is just about the only effective method for controlling bird damage. Netting is labor-intensive and expensive. Other methods might only work for a while.

“Soil acidification can be hard too, and can take up to eight months. Some soils might be too alkaline and it may not be realistic to lower pH to 4.5 to 5. Weather or climate can be a factor; blueberry growers in northern Ohio had sustained some frost damage this year.

“The upside, though, is that blueberry plants do not seem to get many diseases and insects in Ohio. But they still need to be sprayed on a regular basis,” he concluded.

Benefits of growing blueberries outweigh the cons, Gao said.

“Adding blueberries to your crops is just another way to diversify and reduce risk,” he said. “Diversification is even more critical than ever this year because of the hard freezes in March and April that damaged peach crops and apple crops in many parts of the state. Growers who need to diversify can find many financial benefits in choosing blueberries.”