Until in recent times, finding commercial blueberry farms in California would have been about as likely as finding a herd of moose. Blueberries usually were adapted to northern forests, and it took an extraordinary confluence of scientific advances, daring growers and market forces to fuel the great California blueberry boom of the last decade.
As recently as 1997, California grew only 196 acres of blueberries but now it has about 4,500, which are expected to yield more than 20 million pounds this season. That's still well short of Michigan, the nation's major producer at 110 million pounds last year. But when California's plantings grown-up, its production may reach 50 million pounds, exceeding Oregon's, now the third-largest U.S. producer.
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