Blueberries are better late than never.

Austin Doong, with Doremi Blueberry Farm in Pitt Meadows, said the season got started a bit later than expected for his mid-season crops, but he expects the recent sunny weather will make the berries ripen sooner.

Overall, the crop in B.C. is expected to surpass last year香蕉视频直播檚 total.

For Doong, this is his first year of harvesting the 12 acres of blueberry bushes on his farm.

He had little trouble finding workers. He has around eight regular pickers at his farm, plus around 10 students hired through the Canada Summer Job Program.

When he advertised online for help, he had a few hundred applications.

香蕉视频直播淔or pickers, it香蕉视频直播檚 just you put it on there and people just swarm,香蕉视频直播� said Doong.

香蕉视频直播淭hen student-wise, there are another few hundred, so it香蕉视频直播檚 not too bad to find people,香蕉视频直播� he continued, adding that maybe he had so much interest because they are paying pickers a little bit higher than at other farms.

香蕉视频直播淎pparently our pruning did not go well, so [the berries are] a little bit harder to pick, so we put the money a little bit higher,香蕉视频直播� Doong added.

He has reserved around two to three acres of his fields for 香蕉视频直播榰-pick香蕉视频直播� and around another two to three acres that his own workers pick and sell fresh. The other eight acres are intermittently cleared by pickers supplied by a packing house.

香蕉视频直播淎s a grower, the packing houses have their own processing plants, so they help us out by sending in a few hundred people to pick and clean our fields,香蕉视频直播� said Doong.

香蕉视频直播淭hen they bring it back and record how much weight has come out of our field and it香蕉视频直播檚 just like if I sold it to them myself,香蕉视频直播� he said.

Navdeep Middar, sales and operations manager at Twinberry NRK Sahota Blueberry Farms, also in Pitt Meadows, said her workers started picking at the end of June, about a week earlier than last year.

She said that although they are having a bit of a struggle with the hot weather, the crop is good.

香蕉视频直播淚f it香蕉视频直播檚 too hot, the berry over-ripens or softens, so there are more berries on the trees. Which is not a bad thing if you can pick it. But then the rain comes and then that slows down the people香蕉视频直播檚 picking,香蕉视频直播� said Middar

香蕉视频直播淭he season is more of a bumper crop than last year for sure,香蕉视频直播� she added.

NRK Sahota Blueberry Farms has been in Pitt Meadows for 33 years with 168 acres of mostly blueberries and a small amount of raspberries.

She sells five variety of berries, the most common being 香蕉视频直播楧uke,香蕉视频直播� the sweetest of the early season crop, 香蕉视频直播楤luecrop香蕉视频直播� in the mid-season and 香蕉视频直播楨lliott,香蕉视频直播� the late-season crop that the farm grows more to export than for local markets because the berries are more tart.

Middar said that every year the farm struggles with finding workers and usually hires contractors to harvest the fields.

Across the province, the season is looking better than last year.

But Anju Gill, executive director of the Blueberry Council of B.C., won香蕉视频直播檛 know for certain until about October, when the numbers are finalized.

香蕉视频直播淟ast year, the crop size was down about 30 million pounds,香蕉视频直播� said Gill.

The total for the year was about the 135 million pounds.

The biggest year for the industry was in 2016, with a crop total of 170 million pounds.

香蕉视频直播淥ur numbers are based on levies received. That doesn香蕉视频直播檛 meant there isn香蕉视频直播檛 more crop out there,香蕉视频直播� explained Gill.

香蕉视频直播淟et香蕉视频直播檚 say you香蕉视频直播檙e doing u-pick and other ways of selling your berries, we香蕉视频直播檙e not going to know about that,香蕉视频直播� she explained.

香蕉视频直播淚t looks better this year than last year for sure,香蕉视频直播� Gill added.

香蕉视频直播淒efinitely not the 2016 season.香蕉视频直播�