Why Maine's Blueberry Farmers Are Losing Millions

Blueberries have grown wild in Maine for 10,000 years. These aren't your typical grocery store blueberries. They're smaller, sweeter, and healthier. They're the backbone of a valuable industry in Maine, especially for Indigenous groups who've returned for generations to hand-harvest the fields. But in 2025, wild blueberry farmers in Maine experienced one of the worst seasons this decade, losing $28 million. So what happened? And how are farmers, processors, and scientists racing to save their ancestral wild blueberry?

00:00 - Intro
00:28 - Wild v. Bred Blueberries
02:18 - Processing at Wyman's
03:56 - Growing Wild Blueberries
05:02 - Han Harvesting: A Dying Art Form
06:47 - Tariffs On Machine Harvesters
08:02 - Why Maine Farmers Are Losing Millions
09:26 - Inside A Passamaquoddy Harvesting Campsite
11:53 - Wild Blueberries Are Sacred To Wabanki
13:08 - A Photographer Archives the Barrens for 30 years
15:57 - How Tribal Blueberry Land Was Stolen
18:12 - Wyman's Diversifying
18:25 - Scientists Fighting For Wild Blueberries
19:53 - Irrigation Could Save Wild Blueberries
22:08 - Emergency Funding
22:35 - A Superfood On The Rise
23:21 - Credits

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#blueberries #wildblueberries #maine #usagriculture #bigbusiness