You might consider that growing blueberries means spending time eyeing your yield, ensuring that the berries are plump and colorful with a taste ready for breakfast tables or fresh salads.
But Chris White of Appling Blueberry Farms in Georgia uses a much deeper lens to gauge the health of his crop. If he wants to maintain his yield of 8,000+ pounds of fresh berries, for Chris, success starts in the soil.
“Blueberries are very easy to kill,” Chris says. “They are very, very sensitive.”
What is the number one threat that Chris sees for his berries? Hands down, he says its root rot.
Protecting the plant’s sensitive root systems is Chris’s top priority right now on his 144-acre farm. He is a conservation early adopter and has practices in place for nutrient and water management. Working alongside team members from Farm Journal’s Connected Ag Project, Chris is using the grant to get financial and technical assistance in boosting those existing practices and implementing new soil health measures.
Through the grant, Chris is receiving support in:
- Establishing a nutrient management plan to improve soil health and yield
- Irrigation management support for water efficiency
- Cover cropping
All of these practices triangulate toward a healthier environment underground for his crop’s root system and, therefore, a plant with healthier yield and berries with more flavor. Added nutrients increase carbon and biological activity in the soil. Cover crops add soil infiltration, ensuring that his soil stays in place when Georgia rains hit, and protection from disease. Irrigation management using drip irrigation protects his crop from overwatering, leaving roots in saturated soils for too long.
The data that Chris is collecting through the grant will combine with his current data monitoring to bring value to the overall conservation goals for his operation.
“Data has been a gamechanger for me, specifically in water management and fertilizer management,” Chris says. “Now we can see where fertilizer is and how much is there, so we are staying on target and not over-fertilizing.”
With drip irrigation and consistent water monitoring, Chris is seeing significant savings on water costs.
“It has probably saved us 50% because we were just way over watering before,” he says. “We were just drenching them and didn’t realize it.”
In September 2024, Appling Blueberry Farms suffered the same fate as many Southeast farms when Hurricane Helene washed through, decimating crops and farm infrastructure under mountains of water.
For Chris, recovery from that devastation starts from the place where it always has been for him – the soil.
“We are proud that our grant can be part of the rebuild for Chris and his farm,” says Dr. Stella Suddarth, sustainable commodities technical manager. “We are already working with him to put into place conservation practices that can support his soil health going forward into future crops.”
“The work that we are doing now will also help build resilience so that future climate issues can possibly be mitigated.”
