By Clint Thompson
Florida’s strawberry farmers produced a viable and productive crop this year despite being challenged by Hurricane Milton just after planting season. It speaks to the resiliency of the state’s producers, says Nick Wishnatzki, public relations director at Wish Farms in Plant City, Florida.
“We obviously started the season with a lot of uncertainty, with the hurricane on the way, and it really made a direct hit to our area. It really impacted our growers in a meaningful way,” Wishnatzki said.
Not only did Milton rip up plastic and flood fields, but it also brought ocean water from the Gulf of America and deposited it onto strawberry fields in its path.
“When it first happened, we didn’t realize what the issue was but soon discovered there was this elevated salt level. Fortunately, we were able to adjust and adapt to it, but it did definitely stunt yields early on in the season,” Wishnatzki said. “We’ve been pretty lucky in the past with hurricanes avoiding our area. We get some impacts but never a direct hit like we had.”
Milton’s Impact
Milton made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane near Siesta Key, Florida, on Oct. 9. Much of Florida’s strawberry crop had already been planted.
“It really did affect yields early on in the season which is a time in the marketplace you really want to have better yields. You’re getting a better price at that time. Our yield came on a little later than we would have liked,” he added. “But just the fact we were able to have a season, and it wasn’t a complete disaster was a win in our book.
“The fact that we were able to have a moderately successful season with all of the challenges we had from the hurricane, it just speaks volumes of how amazing our growers are here in Florida.”