By Clint Thompson
When Hurricane Debby made landfall in Florida earlier this week, it dumped excessive amounts of rainfall. One strawberry producer experienced the torrential downpours in Plant City, Florida.
Matt Parke, farm manager of Parkesdale Farms in Plant City, Florida, highlighted how devastating the rains were on Monday and the impact he’s experiencing as he readies for the upcoming planting season.
“I got, on average, about 11 inches; some fields a little heavier, some a little lighter. We have a lot of water. My drier fields look like we’re going to be able to play with them here in a couple of days but the wet fields, it’s going to be a little bit, depending on how much more rain we get.
“It’s been a wet summer. It’s been tough trying to get the soil amendments done and get plastic rolling. Spreader trucks can’t get into the field to spread sulfur. I’d rather it been a Category 2 come through real fast. All these depressions and tropical storms are so slow and just dump the water. I’d rather deal with downed tree limbs than deal with just a monsoon.”
Upcoming Schedule
Parke hopes to begin laying plastic by Monday. Strawberry plantings usually start around Sept. 24.
“We’re not crunched for time yet. I don’t imagine us being too delayed. I’m an early bird when it comes to laying plastic. I like to get it out and get it done,” Parke said. “Some people like to wait until the last minute. They don’t like to deal with any chance of a storm coming through with plastic on the ground. I like to get it done and take my time hooking up all the irrigation. I like taking my time when it comes to that stuff, so I like to get my plastic done so we can take our time to get all of this done.”