Freshly harvested blueberries are pictured here.

(MICHAEL URBAN/AFP/Getty Images)

At a Glance

Hurricane Irma is among several factors expected to lessen the yield of Florida's blueberry harvest this year.A recent survey found 95 percent of the state's blueberry growers had some damage to their crops.Nevertheless, projections still show the 2018 harvest is likely to be as good as 2017's above-average season.

Hurricane Irma willbe partially responsible for a smaller blueberry crop in Florida this year after the powerful hurricane destroyed some of the plants in September, growers in central Florida said.

The damage left behind by the storm is likely to temper what was expected to be a season that could've yielded , the Orlando Sentinel reported. Instead of getting 27 or 28 million pounds of blueberries from this year's crop,Florida Blueberry Growers Association president Brittany Lee told the Sentinel they're only expecting 19 or 20 million pounds.

"Irma was bad," David Hill, owner of Southern Hill Farms near Clermont, Florida, told theSentinel. "We were predicting really high numbers [of blueberries] this year, but the numbers are going to be lower. ... Across the board, we figure about a 10 percent loss."

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But it isn't all bad news in central Florida; even though a recent FBGA survey revealed 95 percent of blueberry growers had some damage to their crops, the group expects the 2018yield to be as high as the 2017season, , WCJB.com reported.

In addition to the damage caused by Irma, several other factors are also likely to contribute to a smaller blueberry yield in 2018. Severe freezes damaged additional crops this winter, and Gall Midge flies caused more problems, WCJB.com also said. The number of pollinating insects was also smaller, the report added.

Despite the projected $2.5 billion loss in agriculture statewide from Irma, Florida'sblueberry industry doesn't believe 2018 will be a year to forget.

"FBGA is positive about this year and the future ," the group said in a release obtained by the Packer.