What's New and Exciting?

A new early variety of blueberry was released from the breeding program
of Dr. Jim Hancock at Michigan State University. ‘Huron’ (MSU47) will be
released in 2010. It is an early mid season ripening cultivar between ‘Duke’
and ‘Bluecrop’. We have seen this selection in our MSU test block 10 years
ago. I was impressed with ‘Huron’ at that time. I am hoping to have some
plants available in 2011. Make sure to contact me if you are interested in a
trial on your farm.

If you watched Fox Business News last August, you might have seen a live
remote that was broadcast from DeGrandchamp Farms. We had the honor
of hosting this remote about blueberries and the agriculture economy in
Michigan. Until you are involved in such a broadcast, you can’t believe how
much is involved to air 30 seconds!

DeGrandchamp Farms is fortunate to have teamed up with a local plastic
recycler. All of our used plastic, pots, trays, greenhouse poly film and stretch
wrap are now being recycled. It’s nice not to have to pay to send this to a
landfill. All of this used plastic gets reground and made into nursery pots.

You may have heard about two blueberry viruses “Shock” and “Scorch” that
were discovered in Michigan last summer. The Michigan Department of
Agriculture took immediate action to eliminate the plants that were found. It is hopeful that the isolated problem has been eradicated. It is also assuring that DeGrandchamp Farms have been testing our nursery for these two viruses for the last 5 years. This is a prime example of why it pays to buy “Virus Tested” blueberry plants.