Brodis Wild Blueberries, of Hope, was the featured farm on season two of Farms of America, which crosses the country sharing stories of farm families facing tough decisions, adapting in unexpected ways and fight to secure a future for the next generation.

The Brodis family’s story starts in the 1760s when Oliver Simmons received a land grant to begin clearing the land for his family’s homestead. In those days, to secure actual ownership of the land, grantees were required to clear a certain amount of land, build a homestead and volunteer so many hours for the church and the town, according to Ron Howard, farm manager of Brodis Blueberries, in a news release. 

"Oliver evidently met those requirements and so began the family story in that now extends to the 9th generation that lives and works on the farm," said Howard.

While the farm over the years produced many different crops and meat products, for the last several generations it has primarily focused on its 170 acres of wild blueberries and selling most of them to one of the major processors here in Maine. Over the last 15 years or so the imports of wild blueberries from Canada and cultivated high bush blueberries from all over the world have led most wild blueberry growers to be paid less for their crop than the cost to grow and harvest them, according to Howard.

"This has led to many growers to give up and resulting in the loss of thousands of acres of wild blueberries, as the Brodis family saw happening all around them," he said.

In 2017 following the passing or farm patriarch Dick Brodis the family decided the only way to possibly save their farm was to return to selling their berries directly to the public, which Dick and wife Gwen Brodis had done so successfully years before. Along the way they have introduced innovative new techniques and high tech equipment to their operations all of which is captured in the Farms of America episode.

“It was an intense 4 days of filming during our harvest season, but we felt it was an important way to help people all across the country learn more about Maine’s amazing wild blueberries," said Howard. "Given all the news about wild blueberry farms struggling with low prices and the drought, we also thought it would help to show that there are exciting new opportunities for growers to look forward to.”