The Business of Blueberries

In this episode of “The Business of Blueberries,” Kasey Cronquist, president of the U.S. Highbush Council (USHBC) and the North American Blueberry Council (NABC), is joined by Tom Barnes, interim director of data and business intelligence at the USHBC and NABC, and president and CEO of Category Partners. Barnes is a veteran of the perishables industry with a deep passion for how data drives retail success. He has spent over two decades helping major retailers and suppliers navigate the relationship between business insights and market performance. Under his leadership, Category Partners has become a go-to resource for primary consumer research and technology solutions in the fresh food space. He joins the podcast to share his unique perspective and insight into the impact of market data on the blueberry industry.“ Price is always a factor and always will be a factor. You can't just sell it for whatever you want, but it tells you that there is higher demand for blueberries every year, and the consumption is moving up, which isn't the case for every commodity.” — Tom BarnesTopics covered include:An introduction to Barnes and his work for USHBC/NABC and Category Partners.How the data behind blueberry sales can inform future decisions and opportunities.The excitement Barnes feels regarding the direction and growth of the blueberry industry based on the data.Crop ReportThe Blueberry Crop Report is an update on crop conditions and markets throughout important blueberry growing areas. You’ll hear from Brittany Lee in Florida, Eliza Spreitzer in Michigan, Alan Schreiber in Washington, Michelle Borges in California, TJ Hafner in Oregon, Derrin Wheeler in Georgia, Kristin Brinkley in North Carolina, Luis Vegas in Peru. This was recorded on April 2, 2026.

In this episode of “The Business of Blueberries,” we welcome guest host Steve Mantle, founder and CEO of Innov8.ag and USHBC’s partner in the BerrySmart Field program, who’s joined by Charlie Andersen, CEO and founder of Burro, and Noe Toribio, customer success manager at Burro. Together, they discuss on-farm efficiency potential using autonomous robotics. They share the impact this technology can have on labor costs for producers and how that may affect the agriculture industry.“There’s a lot of areas in agriculture and beyond where there are no robots today and people are moving around doing work that requires movement, plus perception, plus manipulation … and inspecting things on sites and doing data capture. They're all things where there's a real need for robots, but the way to get them going isn't to try to do it all at once. It's to do it in a stepped or phased approach, which is kind of the genesis of Burro.” – Charlie AndersenTopics covered include: An introduction to Anderson and Toribio, and their work. The ideas that led to the creation of Burro, and the impact autonomous tractors can have for producers.An exploration of the evolution of autonomous tractors and what the future may hold.Crop ReportThe Blueberry Crop Report is an update on crop conditions and markets throughout important blueberry growing areas. Today you’ll hear from Brittany Lee in Florida, Derrin Wheeler in Georgia, Eliza Spreitzer in Michigan, T.J. Hafner in Oregon, Luis Vegas in Peru and Mario Ramirez in Mexico. This was recorded on February 26, 2026.

In this episode of “The Business of Blueberries,” Kasey Cronquist, president of the U.S. Highbush Council (USHBC) and the North American Blueberry Council (NABC), is joined by Lisa Wasko DeVetter, Ph.D., a professor of small fruit horticulture in the Department of Horticulture within the College of Agricultural, Human and Natural Resource Sciences. Her work focuses on applied research and extension related to small fruit production systems, with an emphasis on improving fruit quality, production efficiency and sustainability for crops such as blueberries. DeVetter reflects on the recent flooding of the Northwest, its impact on blueberry producers and the evidence-based recommendations she can make to producers if another flooding event is experienced. “Fortunately, there was enough time that elapsed between the 2021 flooding and this flood event so some of those fields that were impacted, they were either replanted because the damage was so severe or the planting was young and the grower took advantage of the opportunity just to start over with variety replacement or the field was managed and rejuvenated in such a way that it recovered. So, by the time it had this second flooding event, you know, we're not expecting kind of a double-whammy effect, if you will, from subsequent floodings from relatively close periods of time together.” – Lisa Wasko DeVetter, Ph.D. Topics covered include: An introduction to Devetter and her work. An exploration of the factors that influenced recommendations for producers that were impacted by these two major flooding events.Crop ReportThe Blueberry Crop Report is an update on crop conditions and markets throughout important blueberry growing areas. Today you’ll hear from Brittany Lee in Florida, Ross Phillips in Georgia, Luis Vegas in Peru, Andres Armstrong in Chile, Mario Ramirez in Mexico, T.J. Hafner in Oregon, Alan Schreiber in Washington and Sunny Brar in British Columbia. This was recorded on February 12, 2026.

In this episode of “The Business of Blueberries,” Kasey Cronquist, president of the U.S. Highbush Council (USHBC) and the North American Blueberry Council (NABC), is joined by Tim Miles, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences at Michigan State University, where he leads the Small Fruit and Hop Pathology Program. Miles’ research focuses on the diagnosis, epidemiology and management of diseases affecting small fruit crops, with particular emphasis on blueberries and hops. He works closely with growers and industry partners to develop practical, science-based solutions that improve crop health, sustainability and productivity. “ That's probably the most impactful or rewarding thing at the end of the day, is actually diagnosing what someone has in their field and then delivering sound, science-based management recommendations to help manage that disease.” – Tim Miles, Ph.D. Topics covered include: An introduction to Miles and his work. The process and threat posed by fungicide resistance, as well as practices and options producers can use to avoid its persistence.The value of identifying specific plant pathology to target best practices and treatments.Crop ReportThe Blueberry Crop Report is an update on crop conditions and markets throughout important blueberry growing areas. Today you’ll hear from Brittany Lee in Florida, Derrin Wheeler in Georgia, Luis Vegas in Peru, TJ Hafner in Oregon, Alan Schreiber in Washington, Pat Goin in Indiana and Sunny Brar in British Columbia. This was recorded on Feb. 5, 2026.

In this episode of “The Business of Blueberries,” Kasey Cronquist, president of the U.S. Highbush Council (USHBC) and the North American Blueberry Council (NABC), is joined for the fourth time by Patricio Muñoz, Ph.D., associate professor of blueberry breeding and genomics and the Endowed Chair of Horticulture Crop Breeding at the University of Florida. When he’s not shaping the future of blueberry breeding, Muñoz also serves on the USHBC Council as the alternate public member. He’s an experienced plant breeder with involvement in multiple crops and cultivar releases whose research focuses on creating cultivar development at a faster and more efficient pace. Muñoz also has a deep understanding of the berry global market.“The products that we are developing now … are the ones that are going to come in 5 to 10 years from now, and in that moment we need to do even more differentiation … like how do you stack them with other traits? I mean, can you make them crunchy? Yes, we can. And you'll see them soon, hopefully. Can you make them larger? Yes, we can. Can you make them healthier? Yes. Can you make different colors? Yes.” – Patricio Muñoz, Ph.D. Topics covered include: An introduction to Muñoz and his work. An exploration of the strategies and traits Muñoz and his breeding team focus on. Muñoz’s perspective on global demand and emerging blueberry markets. Crop ReportThe Blueberry Crop Report is an update on crop conditions and markets throughout important blueberry growing areas. Today you’ll hear from Mario Ramirez in Mexico and Luis Vegas in Peru. This was recorded on January 22, 2026.

In this episode of “The Business of Blueberries,” Kasey Cronquist, president of the U.S. Highbush Council (USHBC) and the North American Blueberry Council (NABC), reflects on 2025 and shares some of the most impactful insights that emerged from the last season of the podcast. Common themes of interest over the last year include quality, genetics and global supply and demand.“ What's not to be excited about the blueberry industry?... I mean everything that drives consumption in an agricultural commodity, blueberries has it. Convenience, health, snackability, flavor, fun, photogenic. It's an awesome category, commodity fruit to be a part of.” – Wade Jackson“I think what's great about this industry is we have really passionate people that love what they do. Obviously, you know, you've brought a good young team in that really is trying to push this thing and convince all growers, it's the right direction to take. But I'm just most excited about the momentum we have.” – Greg WillemsEpisodes covered: Episode 199: Wade Jackson on Berry Genetics at Family Tree FarmsEpisode 200: Farming, Finance and The Future With JC Clinard of FruturaEpisode 218: Berry Business Leadership: A Conversation With Garland Reiter Jr.Episode 204: Developments in Blueberry Breeding With Paul Sandefur, Ph.D.Episode 191: Blueberry Industry Growth Drivers: Part 2 With Hector LujanEpisode 205: Innovation, Impact and International Growth: The IBO’s Mission With Mario StetaEpisode 206: From Data to Decisions: AI’s Role in Blueberry SuccessEpisode 197: The Impact of Genetics on Blueberry Quality With Greg WillemsCrop ReportThe Blueberry Crop Report is an update on crop conditions and markets throughout important blueberry growing areas. You’ll hear from Mario Ramirez in Mexico and Luis Vegas in Peru. This was recorded on January 15, 2026.

In this episode of “The Business of Blueberries,” Kasey Cronquist, president of the U.S. Highbush Council (USHBC) and the North American Blueberry Council (NABC), is joined by Jaclyn Bennett, general manager at Parabug, a company that’s changing the game when it comes to pest management. We caught up with Bennett at The Blueberry Convention back in October. Founded in 2016, Parabug uses drone technology to enhance the efficiency and affordability of biological pest control for growers. She shares about how drone technology is being adopted in blueberry fields, the benefits growers are seeing and what’s next for innovation in this space. “ What Parabug does is we apply beneficial insects with drones. So we have a proprietary mechanism that mounts to essentially an off-the-shelf ag drone. That mechanism is incredibly gentle for beneficial insects and allows for another avenue of integrated pest management to be economically viable to growers.”  – Jaclyn Bennett Topics covered include: An introduction to Bennett and her work at Parabug.An exploration of the innovative technology created by Parabug and the benefits it can provide in pest management for producers.A glimpse into Parabug’s next innovation. Crop ReportThe Blueberry Crop Report is an update on crop conditions and markets throughout important blueberry growing areas. You’ll hear from Mario Ramirez in Mexico and Luis Vegas in Peru. This was recorded on December 18, 2025.