Blue Notes from Fall Creek®

Our demo site in Meterik, The Netherlands, is open, and you’re invited. It’s a chance to get a close-up look at 17 exciting Northern Highbush varieties, all growing under cover in a fertigated substrate system.

This May, Fall Creek®’s Grower Support Representative, Arkadiusz Bajak,  joined Marcel Belen and Leon Driessen from FineField to visit several leading blueberry growers across Poland. Their goal was to explore the role that machine harvesting might play in the future of blueberry farming across Poland and Central Europe.

In the world of blueberries, pricing never stands still. Over the past year, European grower returns have reflected not only local conditions but also broader global shifts in supply. El Niño-related weather disruptions in Peru, the world’s largest exporter, resulted in a 23% decline in export volumes (IBO Report 2024), leading to a noticeable increase in prices. Combined with the changing dynamics of the European summer season, these developments underscore the increasing interconnectedness of the blueberry market.

Discover more about our participation at Fruit Attraction 2024, the appointment of our new Key Account Manager, and the introduction of two Interim Co-Commercial Managers.

Fall Creek®, a leading provider of blueberry genetics, recently hosted a remarkable event that brought together growers and producers for an enriching experience at the Field & Forum in Spain. What was anticipated to attract 50 attendees surpassed expectations, drawing in over 100 enthusiasts, and demonstrating the immense interest and relevance of such gatherings.

For the past two decades at Fall Creek®, we’ve been dedicated to pushing the boundaries of blueberry genetics, resulting in exceptional varieties that have revolutionised the global industry. Our breeding programme — with a strong emphasis on flavour, yield, disease resistance, and adaptability — consistently delivers results loved by both growers and consumers. In the final chapter of our journey, we proudly showcase our star performer: the Fall Creek® plant.

Fall Creek® Farm and Nursery is globally renowned for providing exceptional plants to the blueberry industry. These exceptional plants come from carefully designed proprietary tissue culture-, rooting-, and hardening-off processes. A significant challenge during the quarantine period of imported varieties, is the inefficiency of tissue culture facilities to successfully root- and harden-off plants under optimal conditions.

It was a day filled with knowledge exchange, updates, and networking, where we brought together both current and futureFall Creek® blueberry growers in an intimate gathering. Here are some of the highlights:

Paarl, South Africa – Fall Creek ® South Africa has established good ground for success in just three years of operation, thanks to a three-pronged competitive advantage: it enjoys a wealth of expertise provided by its global parent company, strong relationships within its region, and it is also deeply rooted in South African soil.

Occasionally, a person enters your life and leaves an indelible mark. Rarely does a person leave their mark on an entire industry. Dr. Bernadine Strik was one of these people. We were deeply saddened to learn of Bernadine’s passing. She was a friend to so many of us and has left the entire small fruit industry a rich legacy of research and learning.

Los esperamos este 08 y 09 de marzo en el XXIV Seminario Internacional Blueberries Perú 2023.

Fall Creek Farm & Nursery, Inc.™, has announced the promotion of Amelie Aust to executive chair of the family-owned blueberry breeding and nursery company’s independent board of directors. She has served as the company’s executive vice chair of the board since 2020, formerly served as co-CEO, and is a second-generation owner. She succeeds Fall Creek® Co-Founder Dave Brazelton, who is now chair emeritus of the 10-member board.

Today we hosted about 30 growers for our annual Field & Forum at our demo field in Spain.

At Fall Creek®, we are pleased to share our latest grower support video - a grower’s guide to pruning high chill blueberries presented in Punjabi language (with English subtitles) by Ranjeet Randhawa, Ph.D., one of our US & Canada Grower Support Representatives.

Our CoCEOs Oscar Verges and Cort Brazelton had an engaging interview with Kasey Cronquist in the Business of Blueberries podcast.