By Clint Thompson
Count Alabama’s strawberry growers as one ag group benefiting from the current hot and dry weather conditions.
David Lawrence, regional Extension agent in central Alabama, explains why.
“It’s good for the strawberries. The strawberry guys are loving it,” Lawrence said. “Not a lot of berries are going to waste being as dry as it is.”
Extreme drought conditions are being observed in Southeast Alabama and in the southern part of the state. North-central Alabama has sufficient moisture. Lawrence’s coverage area is mostly experiencing abnormally dry and moderately dry conditions.
The prolonged drought, dating back to last August, has provided ideal weather conditions for the strawberry plants to grow, noted Lawrence.
“There’s two aspects of it; plant diseases. If they stay wet, you get a lot more gray mold and also just soft berries. As we get heavy rains, anything that was close to being ripe will get soft and are just not suitable for market,” Lawrence said. “Not only do you have disease but a fruit quality issue.
“This year they haven’t had to deal with that near as much. It’s been a good strawberry season so far.”
The conditions are much different weather patterns than what Lawrence and his farmers experienced last year.
“It’s a lot better than last year. Last year we were getting pounded by rain just as far as fruit diseases go with strawberries,” Lawrence said. “This is definitely a lot drier than it normally is this time of year.
“I don’t have any numbers in front of me, but yeah, just thinking back, this is probably the driest April we’ve had.”