Dr. Paul Sandefur will head Fall Creek Farm & Nursery, Inc.’s U.S. breeding operations

Lowell, Ore. – Fall Creek Farm & Nursery, Inc., a global blueberry breeding and nursery stock company, has named Dr. Paul Sandefur as manager of its U.S. breeding program. Sandefur will lead the mid- and high-chill blueberry breeding program based in Oregon and he will collaborate closely with Fall Creek’s breeding teams in Mexico and Europe.

“After an extensive nationwide search, what stood out about Paul beyond his training and expertise was his drive to be a truly great fruit breeder. He has an excellent reputation as one of the top up-and-coming fruit breeders in the country,” says Fall Creek’s president Dave Brazelton. “Throughout the search, his name kept coming up. And now, we are proud to welcome him to the Fall Creek family. He is a perfect match for our World with Better Blueberries vision.”

Sandefur received his Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Horticulture from the University of Arkansas and his Ph.D. in Horticulture from Washington State University.

Brazelton adds, “Paul’s path through Arkansas under Dr. John Clark and Washington State under Dr. Cameron Peace is exceptional. These are well-known, robust breeding and genetics programs and two top level professors. Dr. Sandefur brings the latest technology developments in breeding paired with a passion for field-breeding to produce the world’s best blueberries.”

About his new Fall Creek position, Sandefur says, “I’ve been so impressed with how connected Fall Creek is as both a company and a breeding program to other blueberry companies, marketers, producers, food companies, and the industry as a whole. Everything Fall Creek does is focused on making better blueberries.” He added, “Fall Creek released its first cultivars in 2013 and has seen great success in a short time and yet, the program is still young. I look forward to helping to lead it into the future.”