By Clint Thompson
Persistent rainy days and cloudy weather in recent weeks have impacted strawberry production in South Florida. Producers like Matt Parke are behind with their volume due to the lack of sunshine in the region.
“I’d say 70% of the days have been overcast with no sun since the season started. Production is off, and we’re throwing fruit down from water damage, trying to keep up on the rot,” said Parke, farm manager of Parkesdale Farms in Plant City, Florida. “The ripening process takes a lot longer when it’s not sunny. When it’s cold and overcast, it just starts stacking up berries on top of each other.
“This week we’re supposed to go through seven days of 75 (degrees Fahrenheit) to 80-something. What’s going to happen is it’s going to open up the floodgate with these berries. They’re going to ripen real fast, and we’re going to have an overabundance by the weekend. But then it’s supposed to cool down for next week, so we’ll see what happens.”
Statistically Speaking
Parke said all growers have felt the sting of El Niño weather this winter. It has shown in the quantity of flats producers are picking per acre.
“The industry average is probably in the 600 range. You want to be plus-1,000 heading into this month. I don’t see a lot of people making it,” Parke said. “I believe we can get there on my farm. We’re still down, but we’re high for an average if you’re going across the industry. I think we’re sitting at like 860 (Tuesday) as a farm average.
“I think we can make it, but a lot of people in the industry are behind at 500 to 600 to the acre. I’d like to be sitting at well over a 1,000 by the end of the month, but we’re probably going to be just over the top.”