Wild blueberry farms across Maine suffer as climate change upends growing seasons
Wild blueberry farms in Maine are facing increasing challenges due to climate change, which is disrupting growing seasons and causing repeated crop failures. Farmers like Seth Kroeck have seen drastic yield reductions, with some years producing only a fraction of expected harvests. The industry, vital to Maine’s economy and cultural identity, struggles with costly adaptations to drought and extreme weather.
- ▪Severe drought in 2025 caused premature leaf color change and shriveled berries, leading to a near-total crop loss at Crystal Spring Farm.
- ▪Maine produces nearly all of the commercially sold wild blueberries in the United States, generating $361 million in revenue in 2023.
- ▪Wild blueberry plants grow in low-nutrient soil and are typically harvested every other year, making them especially vulnerable to climate stressors.
- ▪The plants have existed in the same areas for millennia, historically maintained by Indigenous communities and generations of farmers.
- ▪Experts like Rachel Schattman note that climate change impacts are becoming more frequent and costly for small farms to manage.
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Sydney Cromwell, Inside Climate News Published May 16, 2026 Topic Climate + Food and Agriculture Share/Republish Copy Link Copy Link Email SMS X Facebook Reddit LinkedIn Bluesky This story was originally published by Inside Climate News and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Last summer, the wild blueberry fields at Crystal Spring Farm turned red too soon. Severe drought had gripped most of the state of Maine. At his farm near the town of Brunswick, Seth Kroeck knew the leaves were changing color prematurely because the blueberry plants were stressed. Berries shriveled before they could ripen. The farm’s 2025 harvest was almost a total loss. “We got about 7 percent of our expected harvest,” Kroeck, 55, said.
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