Good Florida strawberry season despite late start
Good Florida strawberry season despite late start
Each strawberry season in Florida is different because of the things that affect it " not the least of which is the weather.
?Hurricanes Charlie and Frances blew through the state in early fall before we had begun our strawberry deal," said Chip Hinton, executive director of the Florida Strawberry Growers Association. "But Hurricane Jeanne, the third storm to hit the peninsula, arrived after we had put about 5,000 acres out. The total damage that resulted [had] a negative impact of about $10 million."
Mr. Hinton said that growers had to wait until the ground was dry enough to start prepping the land for the second attempt, so growers in affected areas were pushed back.
?Our plants come from Canada, and they were also getting some bad weather at the time, so our crop was delayed even further because we had to wait for plants to arrive," he said. "Overall, we were pushed back by about two weeks."
Florida growers usually begin picking berries in late October. Due to the delays, this season?s harvest did not begin until the second week of November. Truckloads started shipping around Thanksgiving. Mr. Hinton said that movement in California generally dictates the remainder of the season.
?Depending on California?s crop movement, we can either grow all the way through Easter or be cut short as early as the third week of March," he said. "We like to say that our season runs from October through Easter. A good season for Florida is one where we ship between 14 million and 15 million 10- pound to 11-pound flats."
The good news for this year?s early berry crop was the perfect growing conditions Mother Nature delivered after the hurricanes stopped pummeling the state, which enabled growers to catch up on production by Christmas. January began with very warm temperatures in Florida, which resulted in a record harvest for that period of time " more than 850,000 flats during the second week of the month.
?We actually picked a week-and-a-half?s worth of berries in one week," said Mr. Hinton. "However, we produced about half the amount the following week, so it balanced out. As we drew closer to the backside of the month, we had a couple of nights where the temperature dropped to below freezing, but growers protected their crops, and the damage to the blooms was minimal, if any."
Mr. Hinton explained that if growers can get adequate water to the plants to protect them, they can tolerate temperatures into the 20-degree range for a short time. He added that strawberries are one of the few commodities that can endure a freeze one day, and harvesting can proceed the following afternoon. Without freeze protection, however, blooms can suffer damage immediately when the thermometer falls to 32 degrees.
The association must perform and show results of its efforts, according to Mr. Hinton, because growers always have the option of walking away from the organization and refusing membership.
?We have to perform," he said. "We are probably among the last bastions of family farmers today, even though our acreage is pretty small compared to the overall scheme of things. We have about 7,500 acres of strawberry farms in the state, most of them in the Plant City area, and between 80 percent and 85 percent of the growers are members of the organization."
(A full report on the Florida strawberry deal appears in the Feb. 7 issue of The Produce News.)
?Hurricanes Charlie and Frances blew through the state in early fall before we had begun our strawberry deal," said Chip Hinton, executive director of the Florida Strawberry Growers Association. "But Hurricane Jeanne, the third storm to hit the peninsula, arrived after we had put about 5,000 acres out. The total damage that resulted [had] a negative impact of about $10 million."
Mr. Hinton said that growers had to wait until the ground was dry enough to start prepping the land for the second attempt, so growers in affected areas were pushed back.
?Our plants come from Canada, and they were also getting some bad weather at the time, so our crop was delayed even further because we had to wait for plants to arrive," he said. "Overall, we were pushed back by about two weeks."
Florida growers usually begin picking berries in late October. Due to the delays, this season?s harvest did not begin until the second week of November. Truckloads started shipping around Thanksgiving. Mr. Hinton said that movement in California generally dictates the remainder of the season.
?Depending on California?s crop movement, we can either grow all the way through Easter or be cut short as early as the third week of March," he said. "We like to say that our season runs from October through Easter. A good season for Florida is one where we ship between 14 million and 15 million 10- pound to 11-pound flats."
The good news for this year?s early berry crop was the perfect growing conditions Mother Nature delivered after the hurricanes stopped pummeling the state, which enabled growers to catch up on production by Christmas. January began with very warm temperatures in Florida, which resulted in a record harvest for that period of time " more than 850,000 flats during the second week of the month.
?We actually picked a week-and-a-half?s worth of berries in one week," said Mr. Hinton. "However, we produced about half the amount the following week, so it balanced out. As we drew closer to the backside of the month, we had a couple of nights where the temperature dropped to below freezing, but growers protected their crops, and the damage to the blooms was minimal, if any."
Mr. Hinton explained that if growers can get adequate water to the plants to protect them, they can tolerate temperatures into the 20-degree range for a short time. He added that strawberries are one of the few commodities that can endure a freeze one day, and harvesting can proceed the following afternoon. Without freeze protection, however, blooms can suffer damage immediately when the thermometer falls to 32 degrees.
The association must perform and show results of its efforts, according to Mr. Hinton, because growers always have the option of walking away from the organization and refusing membership.
?We have to perform," he said. "We are probably among the last bastions of family farmers today, even though our acreage is pretty small compared to the overall scheme of things. We have about 7,500 acres of strawberry farms in the state, most of them in the Plant City area, and between 80 percent and 85 percent of the growers are members of the organization."
(A full report on the Florida strawberry deal appears in the Feb. 7 issue of The Produce News.)
