The year 2011 hasn’t been very sweet for Louisiana so far.
Cold weather has limited the availability of strawberries in the state for about a month, but experts expect production to pick back up by next month.
Harry Pizzolato, owner of Southside Produce Co. on Perkins Road, said his market hasn’t had any strawberries since the middle of December.
Pizzolato said the market normally offers strawberries this time of year, but this winter has been exceptionally cold.
“That cold weather came in after Christmas,” he said. “That’s what’s causing the delay.”
Pizzolato said he expects to have strawberries to sell sometime in the next two weeks.
Regina Bracy, horticulturist and resident coordinator at the LSU AgCenter’s Hammond Research Station, said production should pick up in February.
Bracy said most growers are picking berries now, but the yield is much smaller than other times during the year.
She said cold weather in Louisiana is typical for January, and many growers harvest their crops in November and December in anticipation of the oncoming cold snap.
Russell Saia, owner of Fresh Pickin’s Market on Coursey Boulevard, said a hazard of selling produce is the inability to control the weather.
“The same plant produces berries all year long — that plant will go dormant from time to time depending on the weather,” he said. “It doesn’t care what month it is.”
Saia explained when growers know a freeze is coming, they protect their crops with thermal covers similar to blankets.
He said the crops under the covers continue to produce but at a slower pace than normal, which means less berries are available to markets.
“We’re currently getting berries but not as many as we’d like to see,” Saia said.
Saia said he had to raise the prices for strawberries in his market because the supply is so low, but he expects to lower them when production increases.
 
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Contact Rachel Warren at [email protected]