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Blueberry farmers picking biggest crop in Michigan history

Posted at 5:00 PM, Aug 08, 2016
and last updated 2016-08-08 17:00:50-04
 

SOUTH HAVEN, Mich. -- The FOX 17 Road Trip will be stopping by the South Haven Blueberry Festival this Friday. Just down the road from the festivities is DeGrandchamp farms, where harvest is well underway.

Michigan is on track to have one of the highest yielding blueberry crops in state history, but with so many acres of blueberries hand picking just isn't feasible.

That's where the blueberry harvester comes in, straddling the row, shaking the bush, dropping the berries and lifting them to the top where workers collect them in lugs, row after row.

This year, harvesters will have to drive down the rows a few times because Michigan is seeing what could be its largest crop in history, all thanks to the weather.

"Last summer was a  tremendous growing season, the bushes set a lot of fruit buds in the fall and we had a good spring. We didn't have spring freezes, so we have potential for a huge crop. We'll probably pick our biggest crop ever this year," says farmer Mike DeGrandchamp.