Prolonged drought stunts the renowned wild blueberry crop in the Maritimes

By Canadian Press on September 30, 2025.

HALIFAX — This summer’s prolonged drought across Atlantic Canada has had a costly impact on wild blueberry growers in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

Donald Arseneault, general manager of the NB Blueberries industry group, says that as this year’s harvest was wrapping up, the total yield was 70 per cent less than the previous three-year average.

He says some farmers are now thinking about selling their land make ends meet and they want financial compensation from the province’s Liberal government.

Meanwhile, the head of the Wild Blueberry Producers Association of Nova Scotia says the hot, dry weather is being blamed for reducing yields by 55 per cent.

Executive Director Janette McDonald says higher-than-average overnight temperatures also hurt the plants.

North America’s wild blueberry industry is concentrated in Atlantic Canada, Quebec and Maine, where the industry routinely boasts of how its wild varieties produce a sweeter flavour than their cultivated counterparts.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 30, 2025.

The Canadian Press