Brambles - Production Management and Marketing

Bulletin 782-99

Chapter 1 Management

Brambles - raspberries and blackberries - are grown extensively in Ohio and many parts of the United States where soils and climate are favorable. The supply of brambles available to the general public is relatively small because of unfavorable soil types and climate; the cost of production, disease control, and harvest labor; and rapid respiration after harvest (the crop is highly perishable). The demand for fresh and processed berries continues to increase in restaurants as fresh desserts, in mixed and single fruit juice drinks, jams, pastries, and other desserts.

Brambles are an ideal crop for both large and small farms. Family labor can be employed for many duties on small plantings, but large plantings may require additional help in the pruning and harvesting seasons. Because brambles require high investments initially and returns come slowly at first, long-term management of capital is required.

Goal Setting and Decision Making

The long-term success of any bramble grower relies on achieving two basic objectives. One objective is to produce high-quality bramble fruit. The other is to realize a profit through proper resource management. These two long-term objectives are crucial for any commercial grower, regardless of size.

The first objective involves establishing a market. You must have an item of value - high-quality fruit - for the consumer or you have no outlet for your produce. Markets are vitally important in the fruit business. Bramble fruits are extremely perishable and must be consumed or processed quickly after harvest. No market means no guarantee of profit.

Profit, the second objective, is the result of income minus expenses. Income is determined by a grower's marketing and production skills. Expenses are determined by the mix of four inputs - land, labor, capital, and management.

Figure 1. Blackberries in pint containers.

Once you have accepted these two objectives, you can move to the next challenge - what should be the size of my operation? Determine the size of your operation by the proper mix of these five factors:

1. The market potential for raspberries and blackberries in your area.
2. The available land that is suitable for bramble production.
3. The available labor, either family or hired, that can do the jobs, at the proper times, and by the appropriate methods.
4. The amount of investment that you can make in plants, supplies, and equipment.
5. Your management ability to oversee the input of resources, the marketing of produce, and the solving of problems in the operation.

The proper mix of these five factors is different for each grower. Each grower must evaluate his or her position in each factor and determine how it will affect the size of the operation. Further, other enterprises may be necessary to increase the market that you develop, to reduce risk, or to increase income for family living.

The Bramble Plant

The brambles - raspberries and blackberries - are perennial plants with a biennial growth and fruiting habit. The perennial part is in a storage root, which has enough cold hardiness to continue above-ground growth from year to year. The biennial part is in the new growth (primocanes) which can overwinter, flower (floricanes), bear fruit the following season, and die after fruiting (Figure 2). This situation makes it necessary to prune or remove the canes that have produced fruit.

The red raspberry root system develops in the upper 10 to 20 inches of soil (Figure 3). Roots develop shoot buds in fall and emerge in spring as floricanes. The leader bud produces vigorous canes until cold weather limits further growth; these canes then become floricanes in the second year on June-bearing cultivars. Fruit buds form in autumn under low temperatures and short day length. Some buds at the top may be immature (Figure 3). Buds in red raspberries may tolerate -30°F to -40°F without injury. The rest period is short and may be broken with a few hours above 40°F and a rapid loss of hardiness occurs. If this is followed by severe cold, plant injury or bud kill may result. Reducing the effects of fluctuating temperatures through cultivar and site selection or use of protective cover may be necessary to achieve consistent yield. Yellow raspberries are similar in hardiness and root system as red raspberries.

Figure 2. First- and second-year raspberry cane.

Most fruit buds for June-bearing cultivars are between 1.5 and 4.5 feet from the ground. Reveille and Sentry may bear between 1.5 to 5.5 feet. The number of flowers is a function of cane vigor. Cane vigor is measured by floricane diameter. Generally, larger and taller canes produce more than shorter canes.

In Heritage, primocanes change into floricanes the first year when the cane has 10 to 12 nodes. It can develop flower buds and flowers the following spring, but there are fewer of them than in the previous season.

Black raspberries, certain purple raspberries, and thornless blackberries under cultivation do not spread by underground roots but do have crown buds arising from the crown of the plant. Therefore, a planting that has missing plants needs interplanting for maximum returns. Plants can be started by placing a tip of a young shoot underground in August if virus symptoms are not present.

Black and purple raspberries and thornless blackberries are less winter hardy than red raspberries. Primocanes have been damaged or killed by strong, cold winds or dramatic temperature fluctuations. Generally, yields of black raspberries, thornless blackberries, dewberries, and tayberries have been reduced in winters where temperatures were recorded at -10°F to -15°F.

Figure 3. Root distribution and nomenclature of red raspberry.

Although a perennial with biennial characteristics, each bramble cultivar has its own growing habit; therefore, each bramble requires different cultural practices.

Included in the brambles are raspberries, blackberries, dewberries, loganberries, bayberries, and the wineberry. Raspberries and blackberries are the most popular and profitable fruit-bearing brambles in Ohio.