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Florida's volatile weather providing unique challenges opportunity this strawberry season

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Published  January 8, 2025 7:52pm EST
Hillsborough County
FOX 13 News

Strawberries recover from hurricane season

FOX 13's Lloyd Sowers reports on how back-to-back hurricanes on the verge of strawberry season in Florida affected the state's many strawberry fields and the people who make a livelihood growing them.

The Brief

    • Florida exports millions of strawberries annually, and many depend on it for their livelihood.
    • Back-to-back hurricanes in the Bay Area struck as Florida's strawberries were growing ahead of Florida's strawberry season, offering new challenges to their development.
    • However, the cold weather the region is now facing offers the possibility of producing the sweetest strawberries in recent memory.

TAMPA, Fla. - Kenneth Parker, the head of the Strawberry Growers Association, has worked in the strawberry fields of East Hillsborough County for decades. 

He thought he'd seen everything until back-to-back hurricanes hit the Bay Area towards the end of 2024.

Strawberries.

Strawberries.

"The early part of our season was unlike anything my generation has ever seen. We've never had strawberries in the ground when a hurricane came," says Parker.

The hurricanes delayed planting, so workers are racing to pick Florida's winter strawberries. The strawberries may be sweeter than ever due to our recent cooler but above-freezing temperatures.

The weather may have delayed the planting, but now they are racing to pick Florida’s winter strawberries, which may be sweeter than ever thanks to our little cold snap. 

"This weather is making them so good," smiled Parker as he finished a bite of a new strawberry variety called Encore, which growers say could be the best berry yet. 

"It's not just the flavor but the color inside and out, the firmness of the fruit, which indicates something about its shelf life," says Vance Whitaker. 

Some could call Whitaker and his research partner Cheryl strawberry scientists. 

"We get to eat strawberries for a living," laughs Whitaker. 

The pair work mainly in a laboratory at the University of Florida's Gulf Coast Research and Education Center in Southeast Hillsborough County. There, they breed strawberries, matching parent plants to produce better offspring. 

Whitaker trying one of Florida's new genetically modified strawberries.

Whitaker trying one of Florida's new genetically modified strawberries.

"And that's what happens in breeding. You make small improvements over time," says Whitaker.

Growers have worked to improve their berries since the late 1800s, when railroad man Henry Plant built a spur to load frozen berries in Plant City and ship them up north. 

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Photo Plant City spur built by Henry Plant in the 1800s.

"There are farms here that have been in constant production for over 120 years," says Parker. 

There have been a lot of berries since Plant built that spur-to-load frozen berries in Plant City.

"And you can see a lot of difference in the varieties of today and back then," says Whitaker. 

There's always something new in the field. This season, it's racing to catch up after two hurricanes. 

All the growers hope for now is good weather and other things.

"We want people to buy Florida Strawberries," smiles Parker. 

Parker also promised plenty of berries for the Florida Strawberry Festival in Plant City, which begins Feb. 27.

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