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Freeze Cost Strawberry Growers $15 Million

Tribune photo by JAY NOLAN (Jan. 3, 2008)

Picked strawberries are stacked and ready for a truck at Florida Star's fields south of Plant City on County Line Road.

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By RUSSELL RAY | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 1, 2008

Last month's freeze destroyed more than a third of Florida's strawberry crop, costing growers and farmworkers more than $15 million, the Florida Strawberry Growers Association said Friday.

Until last week, strawberry production had been steadily falling, said Shawn Crocker, the association's executive director.

But production is beginning to rebound because the plants survived the freeze, Crocker said. Growers are expecting a big strawberry crop after Valentine's Day.

"The numbers are moving back up towards what we normally pick," Crocker said. "We're expecting to recover probably the day after Valentine's Day."

Florida strawberry growers planted a record 8,320 acres this season and were expecting sales of $300 million. Last season, sales totaled $273 million, an all-time high.

Reporter Russell Ray can be reached at (813) 259-7870 or rray@tampatrib.com.

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