By Clint Thompson
North Florida watermelon producers have the majority of this year’s crop in the ground … and there is a lot of it following a substantial increase in acres.
“I think the consensus is there is an increase in acreage in this vicinity. Exactly how much? It seems like it’s 10% more,” said Bob Hochmuth, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Regional Specialized Extension agent in Live Oak, Florida. “If we figure that there is 8,000 acres, more or less, in this area, then we’re talking about an additional thousand acres; would be something in that particular vicinity. It’s a very significant increase, and I think it just a matter of whether we get some room on the front end of the season with the acreage in South Florida or we get a break on the back end from Georgia.
“One of those two is what’s going to happen for us to be able to get all of that through. That’s the name of the game every year; whether we get a little bit of a break on the front end or back end. That’s what we’re looking for.”
Last Year’s Success
Increased acres this year is not surprising for the North Florida region considering the quality and quantity of last year’s supply was high. Growers planted earlier and capitalized on a favorable market. It is also a reason that producers are 95% done planting by mid-March. They started planting in mid-to-late February. That was not always the case.
“When I started here, this would have been the very beginning of the planting season. There were some frost periods around (Feb.) 15, 16, 18, and when that group of cold mornings cleared, then the larger operations in particular started to go,” Hochmuth said. “It just hasn’t slowed down or stopped since. Especially over the last 10 days, there’s just been an incredible amount of watermelon transplants going in the ground.”