Unusual weather pattern puts region's strawberry crops at risk

Unstable weather in the last few months has raised concerns about the fresh strawberry yields in the region. 

Erratic weather threw some crops off their normal growing trajectory, says Taylor Darnell, an agricultural extension agent for Forsyth and Stokes counties. 

He says many strawberry farmers installed row covers to alleviate any possible cold-weather damage. 

The National Weather Service’s office in Blacksburg, VA, confirmed the abnormal weather conditions farmers have been navigating in 2023. Unusually high temperatures in February may have kickstarted crop growth, which was threatened by local freeze warnings issued on icy March mornings. 

Darnell says he’s seeing a significant increase in strawberries planted in the fall as demand goes up each spring. Farmers’ real concern with weather will come in mid-April, when late-season freezes pose a risk to crops just beginning to sprout.