Sweet Pursuit

THE STATE OF THE 2020 STRAWBERRY EASON AND WHAT IT MEANS FOR FLORIDA GROWERS

- TERESA SCHIFFER

THE STRAWBERRY SEASON GOT OFF TO A SLOW START IN NOVEMBER, BUT VOLUME IS PICKING UP AND GROWERS ARE SMILING. While the quality level has been acceptable, berry size has been on the small side. Growers are expecting the berries to get larger as the season continues. Some farms got a late start planting because of cold weather in the fall, contributing to the delay in picking. Despite these minor setbacks, there have been more berries picked this year than last year at the same time, and while they have brought a good price, the price is lower than last year due to the difference in volume. We talked with Carl Grooms, owner of Fancy Farms in Plant City, for some insight as to how the industry is faring this season overall.

“The season this year is going fairly decent,” Grooms says.

“We’ve actually, industry-wide, picked more berries than we did last year. We’re not making quite as much money on average per container, but it’s OK, and we’re going to get into the peak season here in the next couple of weeks and pick a lot of berries. We’re looking forward to that.”

Strawberry plants that are put in the ground in late September and the first half of October begin producing harvestable fruit around Thanksgiving and continue to do so until March.