The mild winter meant that the strawberry harvest in Germany began unusually early. But now heavy rain is causing problems for strawberry farmers. Some fear that there will be crop failures.
After the mild winter this year, it actually looked like there would be a good strawberry harvest. But after heavy rain, especially in western Germany, strawberry farmers are now hoping for a change in the weather. “Due to the mild winter, many of the early varieties are already outdoors,” said Simon Schumacher from the Association of South German Asparagus and Strawberry Growers (VSSE).
But growing the fruit outdoors poses risks, especially during periods of persistent rainfall: if the fruit is wet, it cannot be harvested, which reduces its shelf life. In addition, moisture poses a risk of fungi, said Schumacher. The losses caused by rotten strawberries grown outdoors are also likely to have an economic impact, stressed the Hessian Farmers’ Association.
Hygienic picking to remove rotten fruits
Farmers certainly have options to keep the strawberries clean and prevent them from rotting using mulching film and straw. And: “We are also lucky in misfortune: it is not too warm, not humid,” said the expert. Otherwise the fungal problem would be even bigger. Nevertheless, “hygiene picking” is always recommended to remove rotten fruit.
And a sudden onset of summer could also bring the strawberry harvest to a quick end. “The fruit needs time to ripen, to store aromas and sugar,” said Schumacher. 25 degrees, slightly cloudy, not humid – that would be ideal. If it gets too hot, the strawberries would suddenly turn red, but would remain softer and would then again offer a larger surface area for fungal diseases to attack.
Harvest started in April
How long the season will last depends mainly on the weather, explained Schumacher. “It may be over here and there by the end of June.” But that is also because the harvest season started much earlier in some regions this year thanks to the mild winter months. Thanks to plastic tunnels and a very mild March, some farms have been harvesting since mid-April. Imported strawberries from Greece or the Netherlands, for example, no longer played a major role in May.
The strawberry is one of the most popular summer fruits in Germany: According to the GfK household panel, every private household consumed 4.13 kilograms of the sweet fruit last year – a good half of which came from German cultivation, as the VSSE further announced. This Friday, the industry wants to drum up more publicity and celebrate the first “German Strawberry Day” that it has launched itself. There will be special offers in many places then – from strawberry secco to strawberry cake, the association representative announced.