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Dry weather leads to strawberry shortage at local farms

By Jon Andreassi staff Writer jandreassi@observer-Reporter.Com 4 min read
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Jon Andreassi/Observer-Reporter

Mary Dye hands a strawberry to her son, Benjamin Dye, at Simmons Farm during a pick-your-own event.

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Jon Andreassi/Observer-Reporter

Desiree Montgomery of Lone Pine and her daughter Salem Montgomery pick strawberries at Simmons Farm last week.

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Photos: Jon Andreassi/Observer-Report

Simmons Farm in Peters Township has seen a spike in interest in their strawberries while some other local farms have struggled with their supply.

Contrary to the Beatles’ song, strawberry fields may not be forever, or at least not this growing season.

A series of poor weather conditions throughout the year has led to some local farms struggling with their strawberry supply.

Soergel Orchards in Wexford canceled its annual Strawberry Festival scheduled for June 11. The event has been running for about 20 years and attracts thousands of people, according to Adam Voll, the head farmer.

“You need to have quite a few berries,” Voll said.

Voll explained that the strawberries got off to a bad start with cold temperatures in the winter and spring followed by a 21-day drought.

“Because of the real dry weather, the berries didn’t pick up in size. When they’re small, it takes a lot more to fill up the baskets,” Voll said.

Overall, the size of the berries was more of an issue than the amount, and Voll did not believe they were suitable for an event as large as the Strawberry Festival.

Strawberries still grew at Soergel, however, and with multiple days of rain last week, they were able to hold a pop-up “pick your own strawberry” event on June 13. The smaller-scale event helped keep the crowd size more manageable.

“It wasn’t like there were no strawberries at all. We couldn’t do a proper event. The berries still weren’t to the quality we truly want, but they weren’t bad by any stretch,” Voll said.

Trax Farms in Finleyville also announced on its Facebook page earlier this month that it would not offer pick-your-own strawberries this year due to a poor harvest. However, it still plans to sell strawberries in the market.

In Peters Township, Simmons Farm has not experienced issues growing strawberries.

“They’ve been pretty much normal for us. We’ve had a normal crop. We’ve been irrigating them,” said Scott Simmons, the farm’s owner.

Because of the problems at other farms in the area, Simmons said the demand for their strawberries has been strong. So strong, in fact, the farm is limiting the days it offers pick-your-own strawberries.

“We don’t have a lot, so we have had to limit,” Simmons said. “Primarily because we do not have the acreage.”

Simmons Farm held a pick-your-own event June 15 and will announce future dates at simmonsfarm.com.

Last week’s rains could cause other issues with the crop, Voll said.

According to Voll, when dry berries get too much moisture, they can grow faster than the skin, causing them to crack.

“A farmer is never really happy with the weather. It’s never perfect, never going to be ideal. The rain was much-needed and we’re very thankful for it,” Voll said.

The rain will help other crops grow as Soergel Orchards looks beyond strawberry season.

“We’ll still have some berries, but the season itself is fairly short. It’s unlikely we would be doing too much more (pick-your-own events),” Voll said.

The weather is not the only obstacles for farmers. Duda’s Farm in Brownsville has seen its strawberries decimated by deer.

“The deer 100% wiped out our crop,” said Mark Duda, co-owner of the farm. “We don’t have any strawberries at all.”

According to Duda, keeping the plants watered during the drought was not an issue, but the dry weather made the animal problem worse.

Even an electric fence has not stopped the deer.

“The population of deer is out of control,” Duda said.

The deer do not just eat the strawberries. Duda estimates that deer destroyed about 25% of their cabbage.

“Every single head had bite marks taken out of it,” Duda said.

Animal damage is part of the reason the farm filed for Chapter 12 bankruptcy protection earlier this year.

Duda said they do not plan on planting more strawberries.

“Now, we’re just trying to focus on what is going to be the best for us to be successful and to get out of this,” he said.

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