Anticipation: Local strawberry crop delayed a week or two by cool weather, rain

Ripened strawberries at Tidwell's Berry Farm in Spring City, Tenn., await a customer's purchase in 2012. Bad weather may delay the crop this year.
Ripened strawberries at Tidwell's Berry Farm in Spring City, Tenn., await a customer's purchase in 2012. Bad weather may delay the crop this year.

Around this part of the world, strawberries mean spring.

Tennessee's famous strawberry crops ripen annually sometime in the four-week span between mid-April and mid-May, the same time traveling carnivals roll into town and schools start winding down.

But strawberries can be fickle. And this year, they -- like many people -- are waiting on a prolonged stretch of sunshine and warm weather before they usher in springtime.

Jim Cooper, owner of Cooper Berry Farm, says all the rain his Whitwell farm has received in the last couple of weeks has put the farm's strawberry plants "a little behind."

"The cool, damp weather has got them delayed a little bit," he said. "They're at least a week behind."

Fast facts

* No. 1: The United States is the world's largest producer of strawberries * 36 billion pounds: Strawberries produced in the U.S. * 29 percent: Portion of the world's strawberry production claimed by the U.S. * $2.2 billion: Estimated value of American fresh-market strawberry production (2012 figures) Source: Agricultural Marketing Resource Center

Cooper said the rain hasn't killed any of his plants. In fact, it's saved him the trouble of irrigating.

But the berries need some sunshine after they bloom, and that's been in short supply lately. Chattanooga has received 7.8 inches of rain since the beginning of April, a 2-inch surplus compared to normal.

"If it stays cloudy for four or five days, you lose the flavor," said Cooper.

In years past, some growers already have been selling ripe berries by this point.

Last year, a late spring freeze decimated strawberry crops across the state.

Cooper said this year is "probably not an excellent year" for strawberries, "just an average year, really."

In Rhea County, with the annual Tennessee Strawberry Festival just around the corner, the county's best-known, hometown strawberry grower is saying, like Cooper, that berries are probably a week or two away.

"It's looking like it's probably going to be the last of April or first of May before we start picking strawberries," says the recording at Tidwell's Berry Farm. "It does look like a great crop, it's just a little bit slow in getting here because of all the cool weather we've had."

Tammy Algood, marketing specialist at the Tennessee Department of Agriculture, had an advisory notice written up and sent out to Tennesseans notifying them that strawberries a little behind.

"Everybody gets impatient for strawberry season," she said.

Strawberries are one of the most popular crops grown in the state, and while Tennessee can't compete with the likes of mega-producing states like Florida and California, it hangs its hat on strawberry growing in the Southeast.

Tennessee is an important producer for the region, and "strawberry festivals have really done a lot to heighten the anticipation for that crop," said Algood.

Farmers don't worry about being left with a surplus of strawberries. "It is by far the easiest crop to sell of any produce grown in Tennessee," said Algood. "From a farmer's standpoint, it is gold. It's easy to sell. People love it."

Contact staff writer Alex Green at agreen@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6480.

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